Two months into his tenure as Warren Buffett’s successor, Greg Abel is demonstrating his commitment to the firm through personal investment.
The Berkshire Hathaway CEO stated in a CNBC interview on Thursday that he intends to invest his entire $15 million after-tax salary—derived from a $25 million gross salary for 2026—into company stock annually for the duration of his leadership.
These yearly acquisitions, scheduled to occur following the release of the company’s annual financial results, are expected to total “hundreds of millions of dollars” in share purchases over time. According to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Abel has already purchased approximately $15.3 million in shares this week.
“Absolute alignment with our shareholders, our partners, our owners is critical,” Abel told CNBC. “I already have some shares, but the goal was to continue to demonstrate alignment with them.”
Despite Buffett’s well-known aversion to stock-based compensation, Abel noted that the decision to utilize his salary for share purchases was his own.
“It’s a logical thing to do when you’re leading the company,” he said.
Aleksandar Tomic, director of the master’s programs in applied analytics and applied economics at Boston College, suggested to Fortune that Abel is attempting to signal his dedication to the market.
“Abel is really trying to signal strongly that the company will survive even after Buffett’s departure,” he said.
The strategy appears to have had an immediate impact, as Berkshire’s stock price increased following the announcement.
In a separate development, Berkshire announced Wednesday that it would begin repurchasing its own shares, marking a shift from Buffett’s historical stance. Share buybacks typically benefit investors by reducing the number of shares in circulation, which can boost the stock price and increase the ownership stake of major shareholders. Buffett has previously expressed skepticism toward executives who prioritize share repurchases.
“I can’t help but feel that too often today’s repurchases are dictated by management’s desire to ‘show confidence’ or be in fashion rather than by a desire to enhance per-share value,” he wrote in his 1999 shareholder letter.
Nevertheless, Abel informed CNBC that the firm maintains a long-standing policy of repurchasing shares when it determines their “intrinsic value” exceeds the current market price. Abel also noted that he consulted with Buffett before finalizing his decision.
Buffett, Abel, and Berkshire Hathaway did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
‘He’ll be fine’
While Abel is committing his entire post-tax salary to company stock, Tomic noted that he is unlikely to face financial hardship.
Prior to his appointment as CEO, Abel operated under an almost entirely cash-based compensation structure, consistent with Buffett’s philosophy of avoiding stock-based pay. Abel earned $20 million in 2023 and $21 million in 2024. Given his previous earnings, he likely has accumulated savings, Tomic observed, adding that Abel could also liquidate his newly purchased Berkshire shares if he required liquidity.
“I believe that he probably has enough reserves for his living expenses, that his living expenses are probably not as high as his salary, and that there might be other parts of compensation that could put cash in his pocket like bonuses,” said Tomic.
Abel’s $25 million pre-tax salary, as noted in an SEC filing, is exceptionally high compared to other prominent CEOs, who typically receive the bulk of their compensation through stock grants, Tomic added. For context, the highest-paid S&P 500 CEO as of January received a base salary of $2 million, with total compensation reaching $47 million largely due to performance-based stock awards.
While Abel is directing most of his salary toward company shares, Tomic noted that ostentatious displays of wealth were never part of Buffett’s approach at Berkshire.
Buffett famously lived on a modest salary for decades during his time as Berkshire’s CEO and continues to reside in the same five-bedroom Omaha home he purchased for $31,500 in 1958.
“These are not flashy guys,” Tomic said. “I think he’ll be fine.”