Warren Buffett’s Successor, Greg Abel, Started His Tenure With a Bang by Dumping Domino’s and Making a Virtual Monopoly Berkshire’s New No. 5 Holding

Key Points

• Abel wasted little time reshaping Berkshire Hathaway’s $332 billion investment portfolio following Warren Buffett’s retirement as CEO on Dec. 31.

• Berkshire’s new boss completely exited 16 positions in the first quarter, including Domino’s Pizza, whose valuation may have been an eyesore for the value-focused Abel.

• Meanwhile, an AI leader is now firmly entrenched as a top-five holding.

• 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet ›

For the first time in more than half a century, the trillion-dollar company that Warren Buffett helped build is in uncharted territory. Following the Oracle of Omaha’s retirement as Berkshire Hathaway‘s (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) CEO on Dec. 31, it’s his longtime understudy, Greg Abel, who’s now calling the shots.

Abel wasted little time reshaping Berkshire’s $332 billion investment portfolio. Since taking over as CEO, he’s dumped 16 positions, including the renowned pizza chain, Domino’s Pizza (NASDAQ: DPZ). At the other end of the spectrum, he’s built up a mammoth stake in Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG), which is now a top-five holding.

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Warren Buffett retired as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO on Dec. 31, 2025. Image source: The Motley Fool.

Abel places a to-go order for Domino’s

While an argument can be made that selling out of Amazon was the biggest eyebrow-raiser of Abel’s first quarter as Berkshire’s CEO, his exit from Domino’s Pizza is even more surprising.

Before Buffett’s retirement, he acquired shares of Domino’s for six consecutive quarters, building up a 3.35-million-share position. Whereas Berkshire’s Amazon stake was substantially reduced in the fourth quarter, signaling its upcoming exit, there was no indication that Domino’s would be given the heave-ho.

Although Domino’s Pizza still possesses several traits that Buffett and Abel appreciate, such as earning the trust of its consumers and providing a hearty capital-return program for shareholders, there were shortcomings that may explain this exit.

For instance, same-store sales growth has been historically subpar recently. During the first quarter, Domino’s delivered an international same-store sales decline of 0.4%. While this might not sound like much, Domino’s has increased its international same-store sales for 32 consecutive years.

Additionally, the value-focused Abel may have struggled to justify Domino’s valuation. While its current forward price-to-earnings ratio of 14 is historically attractive, Domino’s was valued at closer to 25 times forward-year earnings throughout most of 2025.

Image source: Getty Images.

Berkshire’s new boss is piling into Alphabet

However, there’s one stock — up more than 13,300% since its initial public offering — that Warren Buffett’s protégé can’t stop buying.

During the first quarter, Abel more than tripled Berkshire’s stake in Alphabet’s Class A shares (GOOGL) and opened a new position in its Class C shares (GOOG). On June 1, Alphabet announced an $80 billion equity offering to fund its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions, with $10 billion to be purchased at a modestly reduced price by Berkshire Hathaway ($5 billion of each share class).

Although Berkshire hasn’t formally announced the closure of this private placement, as of this writing on June 26, this buy increases Berkshire’s stake in Alphabet to well over $29 billion, making it a top-five holding.

JUST IN: Berkshire Hathaway increases its stake in Google by 200%

— Kalshi (@Kalshi) May 18, 2026

Buffett and Abel both love investing in businesses with sustainable moats — and Alphabet delivers on this front. Internet search engine Google is a virtual monopoly, accounting for approximately 90% of worldwide internet search traffic, per GlobalStats. When coupled with streaming platform YouTube, the second-most-visited website on the planet behind Google, it’s easy to see how Alphabet commands such phenomenal ad pricing power.

But Alphabet is also a pioneer in AI applications. Its integration of generative AI and large language model solutions into Google Cloud has reaccelerated sales growth in this high-margin operating segment.

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Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet and Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and Domino’s Pizza. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.