Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Jettisoned Amazon Earlier This Year and More Than 6X'd Berkshire's Stake in the "Apple" of His Eye
2026-10-01 09:06
•Sean Williams •The Motley Fool
•••• •••••••• Axe Cap view
Buffett’s Successor Cuts Amazon, Boosts Alphabet Bet
Greg Abel’s reshuffle of Berkshire’s portfolio signals a shift from Amazon to Alphabet amid AI optimism.
Greg Abel, Warren Buffett’s chosen successor at Berkshire Hathaway, has shaken up the firm’s $358 billion portfolio by ditching Amazon and vastly increasing their stake in Alphabet. Selling Amazon outright might look like a loss of faith, but consider this: AWS is still growing strongly. It’s likely more about taking profits and a shift in management style than a signal Amazon’s future is bleak. Meanwhile, beefing up Alphabet sixfold is a bold statement. Alphabet’s dominance in search and YouTube, along with its growing AI-focused Cloud business, makes it the ‘Apple’ of the new tech era in Abel’s eyes. For South African investors, this shift translates into watching how the USD/ZAR reacts to tech sector news, since direct JSE analogues for US tech giants are limited. A stronger dollar, triggered by these global tech dynamics, could pressure rand-exposed sectors like mining or retail. But if Alphabet stumbles on AI execution, this bet could unravel quickly. this is just our opinion and not financial advice
Stay cautious on Amazon-related plays and watch Alphabet’s developments closely via the USD/ZAR exchange rate. Consider trimming rand-hedged stocks if the dollar rallies on tech sector strength.
- Alphabet
- USD/ZAR
- Alphabet’s AI ambitions fail to deliver as expected
- USD strength hurts rand-exposed sectors more than anticipated
6/10
Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's successor as Berkshire Hathaway CEO, has significantly reshuffled the company's $358 billion investment portfolio. Abel sold off Amazon stock in Q1 2026, likely due to profit-taking and the departure of investment manager Todd Combs. Meanwhile, Abel has dramatically increased Berkshire's stake in Alphabet (Google parent) from $5.59 billion to $36.37 billion between December 2025 and September 2026, a 550% increase, citing the company's dominant search market position, YouTube strength, and promising AI ambitions in Google Cloud.
Our take is based on reporting first published by The Motley Fool.