Greg Abel runs his first Berkshire annual meeting, Buffett attends

STORY: :: May 1, 2026New Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel presided over his first annual meeting on Saturday, looking to earn the trust of shareholders at a critical moment for the conglomerate built by Warren Buffett.The 63-year-old, who succeeded Buffett in January, kicked off the Omaha event as a banner honoring Buffett’s 60 years at the helm drew applause. Buffett, now chairman, watched from the front row.Abel's task, as one attendee put it, is formidable: "Replacing the greatest investor who ever lived." Since Buffett, who's 95, announced last year he would step down, Berkshire's shares have lagged the S&P 500 by nearly 40 percentage points.While Berkshire is sometimes considered a microcosm of the broader U.S. economy, it has also been viewed as out of step with broader market trends, most notably technology and AI-driven growth.Though Apple is one of its largest holdings, Berkshire is more known for its retail, industrial and insurance businesses, including Geico, BNSF railroad, Dairy Queen and See's Candies.Before the meeting, Berkshire reported higher first‑quarter operating profit and a record cash pile of nearly 400 billion dollars — along with its first share buybacks in almost two years.Still, questions remain over how Abel will deploy all that cash, something that also bedeviled Buffett, with Berkshire going a decade without making a needle-moving acquisition.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.