Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Greg Abel said he intends to use his entire net salary to buy shares in the conglomerate while he remains in office.
With this objective, Abel acquired around US$15.3 million in company shares this week, according to a regulatory document. He said he intends to repeat the practice after the company’s annual results are released each year, which is expected to result in “hundreds of millions” of dollars in stock purchases over his career.
“Absolute alignment with our shareholders, our partners and our owners is key,” Abel said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday. “I already have some actions, but the objective was to continue demonstrating this alignment.”
Berkshire also resumed share repurchases on Wednesday. According to Abel, the decision came after executives concluded that the so-called “intrinsic value” of the shares was above the price negotiated in the market.
After the announcement, Berkshire shares rose as much as 2% in early trading on Thursday in New York.
The company’s shares had fallen earlier in the week after the company released its fourth-quarter results on Saturday. Berkshire’s operating profit fell 30% in the period, pressured by a 54% drop in insurance underwriting results.
Continues after advertising
Shareholders had been analyzing the numbers in search of signs about how Abel would conduct the share repurchase policy, as the conglomerate had refrained from doing so for six consecutive quarters. Last week, in his first annual letter to investors, Abel reaffirmed Berkshire’s shareholder return policy, practically ruling out the possibility of paying dividends.
“We have maintained the position that we will retain a dollar if we see the opportunity to generate more than a dollar for our shareholders — that has always been the test,” Abel said. “If we don’t meet that test, then we would pay dividends.”
The decision to resume share buybacks will not stop Berkshire from seeking other ways to allocate its $373 billion cash position, the executive added.
Continues after advertising
“There’s also the question, ‘Do we buy our own shares?’ And when we look at companies: ‘Do we buy entire companies?’ And then there’s: ‘Do we buy equity?’” said Abel. “Each of these decisions, with the amount of capital we have, can be made independently. So when we buy our own shares, it doesn’t reduce any of the other possibilities.”
©️2026 Bloomberg L.P.
