Berkshire Hathaway said Thursday it has restarted share repurchases for the first time since 2024, a move that coincided with a sizable personal purchase by new Chief Executive Greg Abel<\/strong>. The Omaha-based conglomerate disclosed in a regulatory filing that it began buying back its Class A<\/strong> and Class B<\/strong> shares on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company\u2019s repurchase framework allows buybacks when the chief executive, after consulting the chairman of the board Warren Buffett<\/strong>, believes the price is below Berkshire\u2019s intrinsic value. Abel told CNBC that he consulted Buffett on valuation and timing before resuming the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abel said Berkshire would not normally announce the start of repurchases, but chose to communicate the move because of the ongoing leadership transition. Abel, 62<\/strong>, became CEO at the start of January, succeeding Buffett, 95<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The buyback restart arrives after a period of market pressure on Berkshire shares. The stock is down 3%<\/strong> so far this year and about 10%<\/strong> from its record high last May, according to the figures cited. Sentiment weakened earlier this week after Berkshire reported a near 30%<\/strong> drop in fourth-quarter operating earnings, driven largely by softness in its insurance businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Berkshire last repurchased shares in the second quarter of 2024<\/strong>. Since then, some investors have urged the company to put its large cash position to work. Berkshire\u2019s cash hoard stood at $373.3 billion<\/strong>, the filing indicated, and the lack of buybacks over the past year and a half had become a focal point for shareholders watching capital allocation under new leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In early trading Thursday, Berkshire\u2019s Class B<\/strong> shares rose about 1%<\/strong> after the buyback disclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate filing, Abel disclosed that he personally bought $15 million<\/strong> worth of Berkshire stock, an amount he said equals his after-tax annual salary. Abel told CNBC he plans to continue using the full after-tax value of his salary to purchase Berkshire shares every year while he leads the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The purchase increases Abel\u2019s personal exposure at a time when some investors have questioned whether Buffett\u2019s successor has enough skin in the game. Before the latest transaction, Abel owned about $164.4 million<\/strong> worth of Berkshire stock, according to FactSet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buffett, meanwhile, owns about 37.5%<\/strong> of Berkshire\u2019s Class A shares and has said he does not plan to sell his stake aside from charitable giving. Buffett has also said Berkshire accounts for roughly 99.5%<\/strong> of his net worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abel said the personal buying is intended to underscore alignment with shareholders as Berkshire moves beyond Buffett\u2019s day-to-day leadership. He said he has confidence in the company\u2019s intrinsic value and emphasized that he inherited a business with a strong foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abel has also leaned on continuity in messaging since taking the top job. In his first annual shareholder letter released over the weekend, he told investors Berkshire\u2019s culture of financial conservatism and disciplined investing will continue into perpetuity. Some shareholders welcomed the stability, while others had been hoping for more visible action early in the transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By resuming buybacks and pairing that with a personal stock purchase, Abel appears to be signaling that Berkshire\u2019s capital allocation playbook will remain rooted in intrinsic value assessment, while also addressing investor focus on how the company will deploy its cash over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Repurchases resume after long pause under new leadership Berkshire Hathaway said Thursday it has restarted share repurchases for the first time since 2024, a move that coincided with a sizable personal purchase by new Chief Executive Greg Abel. The Omaha-based conglomerate disclosed in a regulatory filing that it began buying back its Class A and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":13779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3682,3685,3690,3691,3689,3684,3688,3683,3686,3687],"class_list":{"0":"post-13778","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finance","8":"tag-berkshire-cash-hoard-373-3-billion","9":"tag-berkshire-hathaway-buybacks","10":"tag-berkshire-shares-down-10-from-high","11":"tag-capital-allocation-continuity","12":"tag-ceo-salary-reinvestment","13":"tag-class-a-and-class-b-shares","14":"tag-factset-abel-stake-164-4-million","15":"tag-greg-abel-stock-purchase","16":"tag-operating-earnings-decline-30","17":"tag-warren-buffett-intrinsic-value"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13780,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13778\/revisions\/13780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Stock under pressure after earnings decline and pullback from highs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Abel adds personal stake and commits to annual reinvestment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Message to investors centers on alignment and continuity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n