Apple and Alphabet now 30% of Berkshire's $348B portfolio under Abel

Under new CEO Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway has made a dramatic portfolio shift, with Apple and Alphabet now accounting for nearly 30% of the conglomerate's roughly $348 billion（約56兆円） stock portfolio. Apple remains Berkshire's single largest equity holding at about 20.6% of the stock portfolio—a legacy of the Buffett era. Alphabet's rise, however, is decidedly Abel's doing. Berkshire first disclosed its Alphabet stake in the third quarter of 2025 and has since tripled it. In the first quarter, Abel bought 36.4 million Alphabet shares; in June, Berkshire committed to a $10 billion（約1.6兆円） private placement, purchasing $5 billion（約8000億円） of Class A shares at $351.81 each and $5 billion（約8000億円） of Class C shares at $348.20 each. This private placement was structured to help Alphabet fund an $80 billion（約13兆円） push to build out AI infrastructure. As a result, Berkshire's Alphabet holding has swelled to roughly $41 billion（約6.6兆円）, now the portfolio's fourth-largest position, surpassing the iconic Coca-Cola stake.

Along with concentrating capital into these two tech names, Abel has narrowed Berkshire's portfolio overall, closing 16 positions and trimming the number of companies in which Berkshire owns stakes to 29. The new concentration reflects a genuine shift in investment philosophy. Whereas Buffett built Berkshire's reputation on diversification and value investing, Abel appears far more comfortable holding large technology companies sitting at the center of the AI transformation. Berkshire now views Alphabet as a potential "forever holding" alongside Apple and American Express, believing both possess durable competitive advantages. Alphabet's moat is built on network effects and Google's search dominance, paired with its own leading AI models and cloud business. Apple owns a stake in a company weaving AI features across the world's most valuable device ecosystem. Notably, Berkshire's participation in Alphabet's private placement—buying shares at a price Alphabet itself set—marks an evolution of Berkshire's traditional playbook of seeking assets below intrinsic value; instead, Berkshire effectively became an anchor investor, helping to fund the company's AI expansion.

The concentration carries material risks. Tying nearly a third of a $348 billion（約56兆円） portfolio to two stocks means a stumble at either would hit Berkshire hard. Both companies also trade at richer valuations than the deep-value bargains Buffett built his reputation on. The article concludes that Abel is signaling Berkshire's intention to participate in the AI era rather than watch from the sidelines, calling the move "a bold statement of conviction" but cautioning that investors should treat it as a starting point for research rather than a template to follow in their own portfolios.

Under Greg Abel's leadership, Berkshire Hathaway is fundamentally reorienting its investment strategy toward artificial intelligence and technology concentration—a marked departure from the diversification and value discipline Warren Buffett established. The new CEO's decision to load up on Alphabet, tripling the stake from the third quarter of 2025 through a $10 billion（約1.6兆円） private placement in June, demonstrates willingness to depart from Buffett's historical playbook in at least two ways. First, Abel is comfortable holding large, richly valued technology companies rather than waiting for deep-value bargains; the Alphabet purchase occurred at prices Alphabet itself set for its capital raise, meaning Berkshire bought in as an anchor investor supporting the company's $80 billion（約13兆円） AI infrastructure expansion rather than acquiring stock at a discount in the open market. Second, the concentration of nearly 30% into just two names—Apple and Alphabet—is aggressive portfolio construction for a conglomerate historically known for spreading bets across banks, insurers, and consumer staples.

Albel's thesis rests on identifying durable competitive advantages aligned with AI's long-term trajectory. Alphabet possesses network effects built on search dominance, paired with leading AI models and cloud infrastructure; Apple controls an ecosystem across the world's most valuable devices and is integrating AI features throughout that ecosystem. Both companies generate enormous free cash flow, and Berkshire now designates them as potential "forever holdings" alongside American Express. However, the risks are material and bidirectional: concentration means that a stumble at either company would disproportionately harm Berkshire's portfolio, and both trade at valuations richer than the bargain-basement levels Buffett built his reputation on. The article frames Abel's move as a genuine philosophical evolution—a signal that Berkshire intends to participate actively in the AI era rather than observe it from the sidelines—but also notes that participation in an expensive, unproven race to build AI infrastructure at scale carries inherent uncertainty.