Abel Doubles Down on Alphabet Amid AI Ambitions
After Warren Buffett's retirement as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO on December 31st, his successor Greg Abel has made significant changes to the company's $358 billion investment portfolio.
Abel reduced six holdings in the first quarter and sent 16 others to the chopping block, including Amazon. The sale of Amazon stock is likely due to Todd Combs' departure from Berkshire Hathaway in December for JPMorgan Chase, as Combs oversaw non-core holdings that were predominantly sold.
However, Abel has found a new favorite company: Alphabet parent Google. Between December 31st and September 25th, Berkshire's stake in Alphabet grew from $5.59 billion to $36.37 billion, a staggering increase of over 550%.
The reason for this growth is Alphabet's dominant position in the global internet search market, its strong ad platforms, and its ambitious AI plans. The integration of AI solutions into Google Cloud has led to a significant increase in sales, with the company's revenue growing by 82% in the June-ended quarter.