3 weeks ago
Berkshire Hathaway's Cash Pile Declines as Greg Abel Deploys Capital
Berkshire Hathaway is a big company that owns lots of other companies.
For a long time, it kept a giant pile of money in the bank.
Warren Buffett, its famous boss, liked to wait and save that money.
This year, a new boss named Greg Abel took over.
He decided it was time to spend some of the money pile.
The company used the money to buy parts of other companies, like the one that owns Google.
It also bought some of its own shares, which is called a buyback.
Because of all that spending, the money pile got smaller.
Berkshire's business also made more money than before.
But the company says there are still worries in the world, like tariffs and wars.
Berkshire Hathaway's cash and Treasury bill holdings fell to $365.5 billion at the end of June, down from $397.4 billion at the end of March.
New CEO Greg Abel oversaw nearly $20 billion in net stock purchases during the quarter, ending a streak of 14 straight quarters of net equity selling.
The company repurchased about $4.5 billion of its own shares in the April-June quarter and more than $3.3 billion more in July.
Berkshire added $10 billion to its stake in Alphabet, making it one of the conglomerate's largest equity holdings.
Quarterly operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, while net income more than doubled to $25.6 billion.
- Who
- Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway's chief executive since January, with Warren Buffett remaining as chairman.
- What
- Berkshire Hathaway drew down its cash reserve by purchasing nearly $20 billion more in stocks than it sold and repurchasing its own shares.
- Where
- Not explicitly stated in the article.
- When
- During the April-to-June quarter, with results reported on a Saturday in late July; Abel formally became CEO in January.
- Why
- Abel has said Berkshire's capital should be deployed when the potential reward appropriately compensates for the associated risk.
Key facts
- Cash and Treasury bills (end of June)
- $365.5 billion
- Cash and Treasury bills (end of March)
- $397.4 billion
- Net equity purchases in quarter
- Nearly $20 billion
- Share repurchases
- About $4.5 billion in the quarter and more than $3.3 billion in July
- Additional Alphabet investment
- $10 billion
- Quarterly operating profit
- $12.98 billion, up 16%
- Quarterly net income
- $25.6 billion
- Revenue
- $101.81 billion, up 10%











