Greg Abel runs Berkshire Hathaway now. Warren Buffett stepped down as chief executive on Dec. 31, 2025, after more than half a century at the helm3. Abel took over on Jan. 1, 2026.
The portfolio Abel inherited looks different than the one Buffett left behind. Berkshire's most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows Apple and Alphabet together worth $103.7 billion. That is roughly 35 percent of the $299.25 billion in U.S. stocks the filing reports, as of June 30, 20261. A third company, the Italian technology acquirer Bending Spoons, joined the list this month6.
What the filing shows
Apple remains the largest single holding. Berkshire's 13F filing, dated Aug. 14, 2026, lists Apple stock worth $65.95 billion1. Alphabet ranks second, worth $37.76 billion across both share classes. Those two positions form the biggest block in Berkshire's reported stock portfolio.
Apple and Alphabet hold 35 percent of Berkshire's reported stock portfolio
Share of the $299.25 billion in U.S. stocks Berkshire Hathaway reported owning as of June 30, 2026
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. [1]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Apple and Alphabet | $103.7B |
| Every other holding | $195.6B |
| Whole | $299.3B |
Its own numbers back the case for holding on to Apple. The company's services division set the pace last fall, ahead of the iPhone. "Today, Apple is very proud to report a September quarter revenue record of $102.5 billion, including a September quarter revenue record for iPhone and an all-time revenue record for Services," Chief Executive Tim Cook said in Apple's Oct. 30, 2025 earnings release5. Services revenue reached $28.75 billion that quarter, up 15.1 percent from a year earlier.
Bending Spoons missed the filing's cutoff. Its Nasdaq listing landed a day after the June 30 reporting date6.
Berkshire's own disclosures fill the gap instead. The company invested $600 million at Bending Spoons' July initial public offering, then added $330 million in a private placement on Oct. 14. Together, the two moves total $930 million, Bending Spoons said in its own announcement, for a 4 percent stake in the company.
Berkshire adds Bending Spoons in two moves worth $930 million
Berkshire Hathaway's disclosed investment in Bending Spoons, by transaction, 2026
Each column is one investment Berkshire made in Bending Spoons this year. Together they reach the $930 million Bending Spoons disclosed, for a 4 percent stake.
Source: Bending Spoons S.p.A. [6]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| July IPO | $600M |
| Oct. 14 placement | $330M |
Abel's case for concentration
Abel wrote his first annual letter to shareholders on Feb. 28, 2026, two months into the job2. He used it to defend Berkshire's habit of betting big on a short list of companies.
"A large portion of our portfolio is concentrated in a small number of American companies such as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody's," Gregory E. Abel wrote, "businesses we understand well, have a high regard for their leaders, and expect will compound over decades."2
The letter lists four capital allocation principles. One reads plainly: "Act quickly and concentrate our capital in a few high conviction ideas." Abel inherited that approach from Buffett. He kept building on it.
Alphabet is the newer entry among Berkshire's largest holdings, and its pitch to Abel runs through artificial intelligence spending. Alphabet's own Oct. 29, 2025 earnings release put Google Cloud revenue at $15.2 billion for the quarter, up 34 percent from a year earlier4. Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told investors the company's "full stack approach to AI is delivering strong momentum and we're shipping at speed, including the global rollout of AI Overviews and AI Mode in Search in record time." He pointed to a cloud backlog of $155 billion.
Bending Spoons runs a different kind of AI business. The company buys consumer software brands other owners gave up on, including AOL, Evernote, Vimeo, Eventbrite and Airtable6. It rebuilds each one with a lean staff and AI tools.
Luca Ferrari, the company's chief executive, called the relationship with Berkshire worth deepening. "We were delighted to welcome Berkshire Hathaway as shareholders at our public listing, and we're equally delighted to reinforce the partnership through this fresh investment," Ferrari said.
The case for worry
Berkshire Hathaway's own paperwork carries a warning Abel's letter skips. The company's 10-K, filed March 2, 2026, lists concentration as a formal risk factor. "We concentrate a high percentage of the equity security investments of our insurance subsidiaries in relatively small number of issuers," Berkshire Hathaway states in the filing. A decline in those stocks' value "may produce a material decline in our consolidated shareholders' equity and our consolidated earnings."3
That risk is concrete. It names Berkshire's own Apple and Alphabet position, in the same filing that discloses Abel runs the company alone. The 10-K lists a separate risk, titled "We are dependent on a few key people for our major investment and capital allocation decisions." It names Abel as the person who now makes them.
Abel's letter and Berkshire's 10-K agree on the facts and part ways on the lesson. One treats concentration as a tested strategy, proven across decades. The other treats it as the single biggest threat to the balance sheet.
What to do
Readers tracking Berkshire for its public stock bets should watch the next 13F filing, due by Nov. 14, 2026, for the first glimpse of a Bending Spoons line item. Anyone studying Abel's method for their own portfolio should read his February letter directly. The four capital allocation principles describe a filter for picking stocks, a method worth learning on its own terms.
By the numbers
- $65.95 billion: Apple's value in Berkshire's 13F filing for stock holdings as of June 30, 20261.
- Alphabet trails at $37.76 billion in the same filing, across both share classes1.
- $299.25 billion is the total value of U.S. stocks the filing reports1.
- Berkshire's combined investment in Bending Spoons reached $930 million, through its July IPO and an Oct. 14 private placement6.
- A 4 percent stake is what that money bought in Bending Spoons6.
- Google Cloud's revenue grew 34 percent in the third quarter of 2025, year over year4.
- Apple's services revenue grew 15.1 percent for the quarter ended Sept. 27, 20255.
What to watch
Berkshire's next 13F filing, due by Nov. 14, 2026, will show whether Abel added to Apple and Alphabet, trimmed either position, or let Bending Spoons grow into a fourth large stake. Its next annual letter, due in early 2027, is where Abel is likeliest to answer the concentration question directly, as he did in February.
Sources
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc., "Form 13F-HR," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Aug. 14, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001067983&type=13F-HR
- Gregory E. Abel, "To My Fellow Berkshire Shareholders," Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 2025 Annual Report, Feb. 28, 2026, https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2025ltr.pdf
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc., "Form 10-K, fiscal year 2025, Item 1A Risk Factors," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, March 2, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000119312526083899/brka-20251231.htm
- Alphabet Inc., "Alphabet Announces Third Quarter 2025 Results," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Oct. 29, 2025, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204425000087/googexhibit991q32025.htm
- Apple Inc., "Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Oct. 30, 2025, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/320193/000032019325000077/a8-kex991q4202509272025.htm
- Bending Spoons S.p.A., "Berkshire Hathaway Invests Further in Bending Spoons," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Oct. 14, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2004711/000200471126000018/bsp_ex99-1.htm