Perhaps the most surprising thing in the report is that Berkshire has bought Alphabet for 4 billion. Apple sales have continued.
Regarding Google, a long time ago Buffett and Munger stated that they missed it. But they didn’t buy the company’s shares since then, until now a reasonably large purchase has been made. It will be interesting to follow how this position develops in the coming quarters.
I stumbled upon this old, first television appearance of Buffett from 1985.
I watched it, and it’s amazing how little anything has changed over these decades. Buffett has kept his philosophy practically unchanged since then. However, 40 years have passed,
Sijoittaja.fi had, in my opinion, clearly and nicely compiled Warren’s latest moves. 
In the third quarter of the year, Berkshire Hathaway bought shares worth approximately $6.4 billion and sold them for approximately $12.5 billion. The company was therefore a net seller of shares with a difference of approximately $6.1 billion in the third quarter of the year.
Subheadings:
4 billion could also be a purchase by either Ted or Todd. For Warren himself, it’s quite small money. 
Warren is retiring soon, and it will be interesting to see how capital allocation proceeds in the future with the trio Ted, Todd, and Greg.
Corrected the other to Todd. 
Mr. Weschler’s name is Ted, isn’t it, and his colleague Mr. Combs’ first name is Todd. Todd also seems to be the CEO of Geico nowadays.
I couldn’t find a suitable thread, so I’ll post it here.
Buffett often talks about sustainable competitive advantages. I found a video from a shareholders’ meeting where they asked how long it takes to build such a sustainable competitive advantage. The answer was interesting: it depends a lot on the industry, but generally, building it takes a long time (years / decades). In rapidly changing industries, it can be gained quickly if one happens to hit a good spot. Munger, however, reminded that in rapidly changing industries, a competitive advantage can also be lost quickly. But mainly, sustainable competitive advantages are built slowly.
Todd makes a move:
Todd Combs, a key figure at Berkshire Hathaway and CEO of Geico, is leaving the conglomerate to join JPMorgan Chase, where he will run a new Security and Resiliency Initiative. This ambitious program, initially funded at $10bn, aimed at $1.5 trillion over the long term, will target the defense, energy, healthcare, and aerospace sectors. Aged 54, Combs will work directly with Jamie Dimon and will be supported by an external advisory board including Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, Robert Gates and Condoleezza Rice.
After joining Berkshire in 2010, Todd Combs was one of two portfolio managers alongside Warren Buffett, overseeing major investments in Apple, Coca-Cola and Bank of America. His departure comes as Berkshire prepares its post-Buffett transition, planned for end-2025, with Greg Abel set to succeed him. Nancy Pierce, Geico’s current Chief Operating Officer, will lead the insurer, while other internal reorganizations are underway, including the future appointment of Charles Chang as CFO in 2027.
This strategic realignment underscores the succession challenges facing Berkshire Hathaway. Despite solid stock performance (+11% since January), the group is lagging the S&P 500 (+17%) and must reassure investors about governance continuity. Warren Buffett, aged 95, will retain chairmanship of the board, although he has acknowledged a declining physical condition. Combs’ departure, praised by Buffett and Dimon, marks a turning point in the trajectory of the iconic conglomerate
Now GEICO quickly got a new leader, from within the company, Nancy L. Pierce. She knows GEICO well, so fortunately there is a certain continuity here.
In the same announcement, it was also stated very well in advance (if it wasn’t a typo) that Marc D. Hamburg (Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer) will retire after a 40-year (!) career in the summer of 2027.
Quite a lot of changes are happening in Berkshire’s top management, but successors are found from within the company, so hopefully the changes will occur without major discontinuities.
Edit. Berkshire’s announcement on changes: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/news/dec0825.pdf
Edit 2. Berkshire’s stock price -2.3% after the news
There are now less than two weeks left until Buffett steps down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and advice is pouring in for his successor, Greg Abel, as detailed in the article below.
The general message from investors to him is: don’t try to be Buffett. Investors are hoping for a more operational approach from Abel, meaning share buybacks and a readiness to seize opportunities more quickly, etc.
Investors have also been somewhat expecting a large personal share purchase from the incoming leader as a sign of confidence (he already owns shares, see the quote below). At the same time, investors are wondering if the “Buffett premium” will vanish
On Yahoo Finance’s “Market Dominion,” Boyar Research President Jonathan Boyar told CNBC alum Josh Lipton the best thing Abel could do to win Wall Street’s trust is to “buy an extremely large amount of Berkshire stock personally and really put his money where his mouth is.”
According to the 2025 annual meeting proxy, Abel already owns what Boyar calls a “fair amount” of Berkshire shares that are currently valued at around $171 million, but he notes that “all of that was bought when, obviously, Buffett” ran the company.
Greg has been at Berkshire for so long that he doesn’t really need to listen much to others’ advice.
Somewhere it was also hoped that Greg would not maintain such a decentralized model as Berkshire has had (i.e., an extremely small headquarters and very independent business operations. In practice, only capital allocation through the headquarters). In my view, dismantling this model and exercising tighter control over the companies would not be sensible; this model has worked brilliantly and brought fabulous profits to investors. Why break a well-functioning model just because Wall Street hopes a new leader will bring new things to the company?
But it will be interesting to see how Greg starts leading the company once it is entirely in his hands. I think things are in pretty good shape, except perhaps regarding the listed equity holdings, where there might be a need for a bit more expertise in-house.
Nothing major here, the link includes some recap regarding Berkshire and Warren.
The article mentions that Warren Buffett has moved to a defensive stance in the longer term and has trimmed his portfolio by over 24 billion dollars already this year. The selling streak has continued for as many as twelve quarters, which likely signals a clear view: that the markets are expensive relative to fundamentals.
Berkshire Hathaway has significantly reduced its position in Apple, divested from things like China risks, and “fine-tuned” homebuilders. The historically large cash pile has grown even further, meaning Berkshire seems to just be waiting for better buying opportunities.
The article also recaps Buffett’s most recent moves and the reasoning behind them.
Today, by the way, is Warren’s last day as Berkshire’s CEO. He managed to spend a solid 60 years in the same position.
Buffett won’t be heading to the unemployment line or a Dairy Queen register; instead, he’ll continue his work as Chairman of the Board. Warren got quite lucky here, seeing as in today’s market, finding a new job is already a bit difficult for 55-year-olds, let alone 95-year-olds.
Buffet was probably “Chairman and CEO” previously. He just dropped the CEO role and continues only as chairman.
Greg Abel has just started as CEO and at the same time his annual salary was increased to $25 million from the previous $21 million.
Key Points
- Greg Abel became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on Jan. 1, taking over for legendary investor Warren Buffett.
- Effective on that date, Abel’s annual cash salary rose to $25 million.
- Prior to becoming CEO of Berkshire, Abel earned a salary of $21 million, plus $17,250 in “all other compensation” in 2024.
Here is a story about Warren from 1999, i.e. before the bubble burst, when Berkshire hadn’t performed so well.
