Greg Abel takes stage at Berkshire annual meeting, with Buffett in first row

OMAHA, Nebraska, May 2 (Reuters) - Greg Abel presided over his first Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, where shareholders hope to learn how the conglomerate built by Warren Buffett can evolve and grow - and resuscitate its severely underperforming stock.

Abel, 63, who became chief executive in January, must earn the trust of investors increasingly focused on technology and artificial intelligence, unlike Berkshire's collection of insurers, retailers and hard-asset businesses in energy, industrials and manufacturing.

Abel opened the event on Saturday by introducing top people at Berkshire. The company raised a banner showing Buffett's name and his number, 60, for the number of years he served as CEO, to applause from the crowd. Buffett nodded in response.

"We have to excel" across Berkshire's many business lines, Abel said in his opening remarks. "It's been our focus and it'll very much continue to be our focus."

Unlike in recent years when Buffett, now 95, presided, there were several thousand empty seats at the start of the annual meeting in a downtown Omaha arena, which seats about 18,000.

BUFFETT SPEAKS BRIEFLY

Buffett's appearance was a highlight of the first hour of the meeting. "Greg is doing everything I did and then some," he told the audience, reprising comments he made last year when he announced his retirement as CEO.

In his brief comments to the audience delivered from his seat on the floor among his fellow directors, Buffett praised retiring Apple CEO Tim Cook, who recently announced his departure as chief executive more than a decade after he took over from founder Steve Jobs. Apple has become one of Berkshire's largest holdings over the last 10 years.

"When we made our investment ... we were turning it over to Tim," who turned that $35 billion stake into a position worth $185 billion "or something" on a pre-tax basis. "We're very big around here on having other people do the work," he quipped.

Though Berkshire is often considered a microcosm of the U.S. economy, its shares have lagged the Standard & Poor's 500 by 39 percentage points since Buffett announced at last year's meeting that he would step down. He remains chairman.

Abel had been Buffett's designated successor since 2021, but the announcement was a surprise.

"Greg has a formidable challenge, replacing the greatest investor who ever lived," said Paul Lountzis, a money manager attending his 34th Berkshire annual meeting.

GETTING MORE DETAILS

It is unclear how higher inflation and slumping consumer sentiment may have weighed on demand for products and services offered by Berkshire subsidiaries.

Ahead of the meeting, Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N reported higher first-quarter operating profit while its cash stake ended March at $380.2 billion. The company also said it repurchased $234 million of its own stock in the quarter, its first buybacks since May 2024.

Though first-quarter insurance results improved, they reflected the absence of major catastrophes such as last year's southern California wildfires. Abel said the insurance sector generally is "softening" and becoming "more challenging" as more capital flows into the market, making it harder for Berkshire to charge sufficient premiums for the risks it would take.

The meeting is the centerpiece of a weekend of shareholder events around Omaha, including investment conferences, private get-togethers, and shopping from Berkshire-owned businesses in a downtown exhibit hall.

Prior to the meeting, thousands of people lined up outside a downtown arena before doors opened at 7 a.m., though the lines were considerably shorter than in recent years.

Jobby Chin, a finance student from Singapore attending her first meeting, said she got in line at 2 a.m.

"I wanted to soak in the atmosphere, and network with finance professionals," she said. "We wanted to make the most of the opportunity."

Michael DiDonna, a fashion photographer from Oyster Bay, New York, said he arrived at 3:10 a.m. for his fifth Berkshire meeting.

"We like to sit in the same seat, to feel the energy," he said. "It's a really exciting time for Berkshire. I want to feel a part of the monumental shift at the company."

CHALLENGES ON WHERE TO PUT CASH

Abel inherits many challenges that bedeviled Buffett, perhaps none more than where to invest Berkshire's year-end $373 billion cash pile.

While Berkshire resumed stock repurchases in March after nearly two years with none, it has gone a decade without a needle-moving acquisition.

Many businesses have also been sluggish, with overall operating profit falling 6% in 2025 and revenue growth nonexistent.

Shareholders may also wonder how Abel can effectively manage Berkshire's stock portfolio.

Unlike Buffett, Abel has no professional history as a stock picker, yet by February he was overseeing 94% of Berkshire's stock investments, instead of giving more responsibility to investment manager Ted Weschler, who oversees the other 6%.

NEW STRUCTURE FOR MEETING

The structure of the meeting differs from past gatherings.

Abel is expected to discuss Berkshire for an hour, and answer shareholder questions for 2-1/2 hours.

"It's watching history unfold, a reset for the next generation," said Tom Russo, a money manager who said he began attending Berkshire shareholder meetings in 1985.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; additional reporting by Suzanne McGee, Editing by Colin Barr, Megan Davies and Edmund Klamann)

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This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 8:09 AM.