As the shock of Warren Buffett’s exit settles in, one question about the succession has become the elephant in the room — Who will handle Berkshire Hathaway’s $275 billion portfolio of stocks? The legendary, 94-year-old investor is stepping down as chief executive officer at the end of 2025 after an epic 60-year run, but will stay on as chairman of the board. Greg Abel, 62, is poised to take over the reins and have the final word on Berkshire’s sprawling operations and where the conglomerate will deploy its arsenal of cash. It’s unclear if Berkshire’s equity portfolio will be managed entirely or partly by Abel, currently the vice chairman of non-insurance operations. The question left many at Berkshire’s weekend shareholder meeting feeling anxious as the Canadian executive, known for his deal-making and operational capabilities, hasn’t proven to be an exceptionally strong stock picker. “As CEO, Greg’s primary role will be to allocate capital. He will be deciding on the acquisition of entire companies, but I do not believe he will be picking stocks,” said David Kass, a Berkshire shareholder and a finance professor at the University of Maryland, who once held private lunches for his students with Buffett. Weschler and Combs Buffett’s two investment lieutenants, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, have independently managed about $15 billion each for Berkshire over …
