Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel meets with shareholders at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Nebraska.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
OMAHA, Neb. – At the shareholder shopping day that begins Berkshire HathawayA cautiously optimistic mood prevailed during the annual meeting as new and returning investors weighed the company’s direction under a new CEO.
On Friday, shareholders in a noticeably smaller audience expressed skepticism that Greg Abel, who took over as CEO in January, will command the stage with the same storytelling and wit that Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger used to delight tens of thousands of attendees for decades. At the same time, they also expressed confidence in Buffett’s decision to take over the conglomerate, as the billionaire investor has effusively praised Abel over the years.
“I spent a lot of time studying Greg,” said Robert Hagstrom, chief investment officer at EquityCompass Investment Management. “I think he’s not only the right man – and he’s been vetted by so many people for so many years – but he’s the right man at the right time.”
Hagstrom, who wrote about Buffett’s investing principles in “The Warren Buffett Way,” said Abel will bring operational expertise that is consistent with Berkshire’s future.
This confidence in Buffett’s choice was reflected in the convention center. Peter Yang, an international trading company owner who traveled 18 hours from Hong Kong to Omaha, attended the meeting for the first time. He bought Berkshire shares last year after Buffett announced his plan to step down as CEO. Yang said he was pleased with the transition and noted that Buffett’s support of Greg Abel gave him confidence in the succession.
“I have confidence in Greg because Warren wouldn’t hand the reins over to someone who isn’t capable. I’m not worried about the company,” Yang said.
Kim Shannon, founder and co-CIO of Sionna Investment Managers, a boutique wealth management firm based in Toronto, expressed skepticism, like other shareholders, that Abel will be as entertaining on stage as Buffett and Munger, but said she is still confident that Berkshire’s principles will endure.
“I think we’re all going to be cautious about legacy continuity, but I think some of his comments in this year’s annual legacy legacy report suggest that it was structured to withstand the test of time,” Shannon said. “And we’ll figure it out in time.”
“For institutional investors like me, the reason for being here is not just to see what happens on the annual meeting stage during the day, but also to meet the colleagues in the group,” Shannon also said. “So for me it was already a win, and tomorrow it could be a bonus.”
The official pivot point
Among the first-time participants was a farmer in her 60s from Wahoo, Neb., who said she made the trip after buying Berkshire shares five years ago. She expressed her unwavering confidence in Buffett and said she viewed Abel as a trusted successor who had long served as Buffett’s right-hand man.
Still, she noted that increasing economic pressures, including inflation and affordability, were at the forefront, adding that she hoped Abel would address those challenges more directly as he continued to step into the spotlight.
Over on the East Coast, Wanda Lee and Susan Chan have decided to skip the conference this year and instead stream it from Chan’s home in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The two friends have been going to the annual meeting for about 15 years, leaving their husbands at home for a girls’ trip to Omaha. But Lee said they are taking a break this year while they process the leadership change, although they were confident Buffett used good judgment in choosing Abel. She also has no plans to get rid of her Berkshire Class B shares, which she first invested in 17 years ago.
“The official pivot at Berkshire Hathaway begins on Saturday,” said Hagstrom of EquityCompass Investment Management. “And the whole world will see it.”
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