But, in hindsight, it was a moment frozen in time.

Two of the three have since left Berkshire, making this one of the very few chances we ever got to hear from them all together. Consider it a fascinating time capsule. Enjoy!

Becky Quick: We have a rare interview with Berkshire Hathaway investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler — plus Tracy Britt Cool, who is Warren Buffett’s financial assistant. All three of them are here. This is a rare treat because I don’t think you three have ever sat down together for an interview, have you?

All: No. This is the first one. (Laughs)

Quick: I’d love to hear why you chose Berkshire Hathaway — and how you found your way to Berkshire because each of you had a very different path. Todd, let’s talk a little bit about when you first talked to Buffett. When did that happen?

Todd Combs: Well, I reached out to Charlie and we had a series of conversations over the course of several months before, one day, I was out visiting in L.A. and he said — out of the blue after a three- or four-hour breakfast — in classic Charlie style, that Warren would really like to meet me. Not that I’d really like to meet Warren. (Laughs)

He went on for about five or ten minutes about how much Warren would like to meet me and so forth. So I came out to Omaha and Warren and I spent the day together talking about everything from baseball to business and insurance.

It was just very interesting.

Quick: You’ve moved your whole family to Omaha. When did you move?

Combs: That’s right. After I joined, the kids finished out the year in school back in Connecticut and we moved the entire family out right after I joined. So we’ve been out here, I guess, coming up on about three years now. It’s been wonderful.

Quick: And you guys love Omaha.

Combs: Absolutely. My wife and the kids all love it. It’s been an absolutely wonderful experience. Omaha is a great town — and the people really make it [that way]. It’s just been an excellent experience.

Quick: Ted, I love your story, too, for how you came here. Over the course of two years, you paid $5.3 million for two lunches with Warren. How did that happen?

Ted Weschler: Donated $5.3 million. (Laughs)

Warren Buffett: I like your rendition. (Laughs)

Weschler: I had been reading Warren’s letters probably since 1979 when I started college. It was kind of a bucket list thing for me, that I always wanted to meet the guy. And, as you know, the GLIDE Foundation, a terrific charity in San Francisco, does an annual auction [for a lunch with Buffett].1

I wanted to know more about GLIDE, so I actually spent half a day out at GLIDE, understanding the charity. I thought, “Hey, this is a terrific charity. They really help the otherwise helpless.” And I bid on the auction and ended up winning.

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Abel also spent much of the past year immersed in Berkshire’s insurance operations, logging significant time with vice chairman Ajit Jain. Who, I was happy to read, will be sticking around through this leadership transition — and beyond. Buffett put it simply: “[Jain] is probably going to be at the company for as long as he can.”

But perhaps the sharpest break from the Buffett era will be one of temperament. Whereas Buffett famously tolerated occasional underperformance — reluctant to confront managers he liked and admired — Abel shows much less sentimentality.

According to WSJ sources, that harder edge may even include selling struggling subsidiaries outright. Abel himself acknowledged that while some things will change, the bedrock of Berkshire is here to stay. “Warren, Charlie, and I — we have some differences, just in style and obviously in how we approach things,” he said, “[but] our foundational values continue to be what we build our company through.”

(2) In light of the shocking Combs news, Barron’s tried to piece together which stocks from the Berkshire portfolio might have ended up on the chopping block. We’ll get the official answer next month when Berkshire files its 13-F for Q1 2026, but some of the suspected names include Amazon, VeriSign, Capital One Financial, Visa, and Mastercard. Notably, Berkshire already sold close to 80% of its Amazon position late last year — which, in hindsight, may have been the opening act of a broader cull.

For fifteen years, guessing which manager was responsible for which investment has been something of a parlor game among Berkshire shareholders. Now, if this report is true, we might finally get some much-appreciated clarity.

Whatever remains in the portfolio becomes something of a Rosetta Stone. The holdings that survive are, by process of elimination, either Weschler buys or Buffett buys — and, based on size, we should have a pretty good idea which are which.

(3) Tim Cook will step down as Apple CEO on September 1 — handing the reins over to John Ternus, the company’s head of hardware engineering. Cook praised his successor as having “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor”.

Ternus heralds a new direction for Apple after Cook’s operations-focused tenure. “Cook has never been a product person,” wrote John Gruber at Daring Fireball, “and to his credit, he never once pretended to be.” Cook understood exactly who he was, played ruthlessly to those strengths, and never wasted an ounce of energy pretending to be something he was not. In an era of CEOs cosplaying as visionary geniuses, that kind of honesty and humility is rarer than it looks.

Cook’s strengths served Apple extraordinarily well. The 2010s didn’t call for another Steve Jobs, but rather someone who could transform the iPhone from a breakthrough piece of technology into a global industrial phenomenon. Someone who could build supply chains of staggering complexity, manage a sprawling international operation, and guide Apple to become (on multiple occasions) the world’s most valuable company.

That was all Tim Cook.

But every era ends — and the demands on Apple have likewise shifted over time. “Today,” continued Gruber, “it feels like Apple needs a product guy at the helm again. John Ternus, more than anyone else at the company, seems like that person.”

(4) Warren Buffett, as expected, heaped praise on Cook after the announcement. “Apple would not be the Apple of today without Tim Cook,” he told Becky Quick. “What he has done with Apple could not be done by anybody I’ve known. Covering the world and getting along with countries with all kinds of histories and doing right by the customer, people who worked for him, certainly the shareholders — which we were lucky enough to be one of — he’s one of a kind.”

Cook, much like Buffett, will now become executive chairman of the company he long led. Both men, having built something extraordinary, are betting that the right successor — given the right support — can carry it forward. Cook, for his part, sounds excited about this next chapter. “My energy is high,” he told Apple employees earlier this week, “and I plan to be in this new role for a long time.”

(5) Ternus inherits a company in fine fettle. Let’s start with the number that matters most for any consumer franchise — customer loyalty. A new smartphone survey from SellCell found that 96.4% of iPhone users say their next phone will be another iPhone. That’s the highest figure ever recorded, up from 91.9% just five years ago. Android users, meanwhile, are nearly four times more likely to jump ship to another brand.

The stickiness runs deeper still. More than 83% of iPhone users have lived inside the Apple ecosystem for over five years, compared to just 34% of Android users who have stuck with the same brand that long. (That comparison comes with an asterisk, though, as Android spans many manufacturers while Apple stands alone as a single, unified choice.) Still, the directional story is hard to argue with. Once Apple has you as a customer, it tends to keep you as a customer.

iPhone shipments surged 20% in China during the first quarter, even as the broader smartphone market contracted 4%. That’s not only the fastest growth rate among any of the top six brands, but was also enough to push Apple’s market share up to 19% — just a single point behind hometown hero Huawei. The iPhone 17 lineup continues to punch well above expectations in a market that some had written off as structurally hostile to California-based Apple.

(6) AM Best reaffirmed GEICO’s superior financial strength and exceptional long-term issuer credit ratings. The Berkshire-owned auto insurer posted a combined ratio of 85.5% last year, which translated into nearly $4.2 billion in underwriting gains. Policyholders’ surplus has grown at double-digit rates in each of the past three years. And on both five- and ten-year averages, GEICO continues to outpace the private passenger auto insurance industry composite on operating profitability.

The engine powering this performance is GEICO’s direct business model, which confers “a considerable underwriting expense advantage” over competitors. Fewer intermediaries, lower costs, better economics — it’s a structural edge that will not erode in one bad quarter or industry cycle.

AM Best also extended the same top-tier ratings to National Indemnity. The insurer that started it all now serves as Berkshire’s internal financial backbone — providing capital relief to subsidiaries through quota shares and loss portfolio transfers, quietly absorbing any pressure so that other parts of the conglomerate can breathe. In effect, NICO makes the whole system more resilient than the sum of its parts.

The balance sheet that enables this role is, by any measure, extraordinary. AM Best notes that National Indemnity carries the largest balance sheet in the insurance market, paired with relatively low underwriting leverage. That combination — vast capacity and conservative positioning — allows NICO to weather shocks that would cripple competitors and deploy capital at moments when others must retreat.

(7) A second Berkshire subsidiary is now in the Lionel Messi business ahead of this summer’s World Cup. A few weeks after NetJets revealed its own partnership with the soccer icon, Duracell followed suit and debuted a new ad campaign in the same vein as its viral Super Bowl commercial with Tom Brady. The Messi spot — in which generic batteries fail him at the worst moment and only Duracell can save the day — will run throughout the heavily-watched tournament.

“When we first did Brady,” said Duracell vice president Todd Midura, “we didn’t have visions necessarily of making this a long-standing campaign or something we would do more than once. But it got a great reception. People got the message of the ad and we thought about what could we do [for] the next step? We looked at what was going to be big in culture next.” The answer: Messi and the World Cup.

(8) Dairy Queen will soon roll out an AI-powered chatbot to take drive-thru orders. The technology comes from Presto — which has already deployed similar systems at Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, and other quick-service chains — and sports a 90% accuracy rate. To field-test the new system, Dairy Queen handed it the most demanding trial imaginable: the chaos of Free Cone Day. “The bots responded to lines of cars,” said DQ executive vice president Kevin Baartman, “and never got crabby.”

Score one for the machines, I guess.

(9) The Financial Times shared a few additional details about Berkshire’s strategic partnership with Tokio Marine. After Berkshire made the initial approach last summer, the two sides spent months working through the structural mechanics of how any joint acquisitions would actually work. Ajit Jain led negotiations directly with Tokio Marine CEO Masahiro Koike. They expect to focus on “a small number of large deals in areas that make sense for both”. Quality over quantity.

The FT’s reporting also served as a timely reminder of just how elegant the original Japanese trading house investments turned out to be. Last year, Berkshire received an estimated $862 million in dividends from these five holdings — against just $135 million in yen-denominated interest costs used to finance the positions.

Basically, Berkshire borrowed cheaply in yen, bought world-class businesses at reasonable prices, and now collects dividends at a ratio of more than six-to-one over its financing costs. No wonder Charlie Munger once likened these investments to “God opening a chest and just pouring [in] money”.

Greg Abel’s framing, though, was a bit more understated. “We treasure our original five Japanese equity investments,” he told the FT, “and together we continue to look for opportunities of mutual benefit.”

(10) Back when Vicki Hollub took the helm of Occidental Petroleum more than a decade ago, half of the company’s production came from the Middle East and other international operations. But, today, 83% of production occurs right here in the United States. “We made the decision that, geopolitically, we needed to be more of a U.S. company,” she told Fox Business Network last week, and spent much of her time atop the O&G giant repositioning its portfolio in a more domestic direction.

“We [also] more than doubled our resource potential from 2015 to now,” continued Hollub. “We were 668,000 BOE per day of production then [and] we’re 1.4 million now.”

I am currently down in sunny Florida — battling the heat, humidity, and a little Achilles tendinitis — as I get ready to run (well, more like power-walk) in a few races. I don’t feel terribly optimistic that said Achilles will hold up the entire time, but any and all happy thoughts would be much appreciated!

(1) There is a big difference between admiring Berkshire Hathaway from the outside and absorbing its teachings from within. Here are a few more lessons learned by Jim Weber at Brooks that didn’t quite fit into Tuesday’s article — and how what he found inside Berkshire was unlike any other corporate culture he had ever encountered.

• Charlie Munger had a name for the invisible rot that quietly hollows out great companies. He called it the ABCs of business decay: arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency. “Others with capital and brains will always be competing to breach your moat and take your customers away,” wrote Weber. “Staying humble, remaining curious, and avoiding complacency are essential — especially following great success.” Success, in other words, is not permission to relax — but rather the time to be more vigilant than ever.

• Then there is the big man himself. Weber described what it’s like to meet with Warren Buffett one-on-one. “The door [to his office] closes and you have Warren’s undivided attention,” he said. “It’s like he has all the time in the world for you.”

• At one point, Weber asked Buffett and vice chairman Greg Abel what information they wanted sent over to track Brooks’s performance. The answer was characteristically minimal. Just the front page of the summary income statement — and whatever else Weber felt worth sharing. No expense reports. No budgets. No other busywork dressed up as accountability.

• That same operating philosophy extended to meetings. Berkshire holds exactly one conglomerate-wide gathering each year for all of its business managers. And Buffett typically raced through it as fast as humanly possible. “The only business meeting of the year for one of the most significant companies in America lasted about ten minutes,” marveled Weber.

• At one annual meeting, the CEOs of three Berkshire furniture subsidiaries were talking amongst themselves — and Buffett made a beeline over to them. “I hope you aren’t talking about synergies,” he said, “because I bought three great companies [and] I don’t want them to become one.”

• And, finally, trust. Which, at Berkshire, is not a feel-good value on a poster — but the entire operating system. “Charlie Munger has often spoken about a ‘seamless web of deserved trust’ as a life pursuit,” wrote Weber, “and Berkshire’s culture reflects that philosophy. As a manager within the company, I can confirm that having [their] trust weighs heavy. Having been given complete trust, I am highly focused on delivering on every level as I alone own all the outcomes.”

(2) April 28 is shaping up to be a big day for Berkshire book fans — with two classic titles getting new editions. First up, Adam Mead fully updated and revised his brilliant Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway with analysis of all the conglomerate’s moves through 2024. The Warren Buffett CEO by Robert Miles will also celebrate its 25th anniversary with a new edition (and plenty of new material). Miles brings the Berkshire story current with profiles of “newer” names like Ted Weschler, Todd Combs, Katie Farmer, and Greg Abel. Can’t wait to read both!

(3) of the All-In Podcast mentioned Buffett over on X in a post about how success often leads to a more complex life. And he was smart to do so — because this is something Buffett figured out long ago. He still lives in the same Omaha house he bought in 1958. Same hobbies. Same diet. Same routines. Buffett simply refused to accept the burdens that come with complexity.

He put it plainly in a 2008 interview with Der Spiegel: “I don’t need 15 houses. Owning real estate doesn’t mean much to me. I don’t like to think about things like that. I don’t need 12 boats — or even the world’s largest boat with a crew of 80. I’d have to take care of them [and] worry about them. I get a lot more fun out of life without all the bells and whistles.”

Most people assume wealth buys freedom. Buffett understands that unchecked accumulation does the opposite — trading your time and mental energy for things you never really needed in the first place.

(4) BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer is not backing down. This week, she took her fight against the proposed Union Pacific x Norfolk Southern merger to the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association’s annual conference — and delivered a pointed message to anyone who thinks consolidation is good for the industry.

“[The combined railroad] would be looking to optimize their network,” warned Farmer, “and that’s not always good for customers and it’s not always good for the short line community.” If the deal clears regulatory hurdles and one railroad controls close to 50% of the nation’s rail volume, shippers may find themselves with fewer alternatives, diminished leverage, and ultimately higher rates.

Farmer also addressed the broader fog of geopolitical uncertainty rattling supply chains, which makes long-range planning feel more like guesswork. “We are living in a time where we have got to be flexible and nimble and agile for our customers,” she said, “because to give our customers the perfect forecast of what’s going to happen [would be impossible].”

(5) A federal judge ruled that Berkshire Hathaway Energy must face a proposed antitrust class action alleging it conspired to inflate real estate commissions paid by home sellers — even though its subsidiary, HomeServices of America, already settled the very same claims for $250 million. BHE had argued that the two entities function as a “single enterprise” when it comes to antitrust liability — meaning that the HomeServices settlement should cover the parent, too. Unfortunately, the judge disagreed and BHE remains in the legal crosshairs.

(6) Occidental Petroleum and Chevron announced an oil discovery at the Bandit prospect about 125 miles off the Louisiana coast. Occidental serves as operator of the joint venture with a 45.375% working interest, while Chevron holds 37.125% and Australian energy company Woodside Energy rounds out the group at 17.5%.

The co-owners are evaluating the results before deciding on the next steps, but the logistical path to production looks promising. It has the potential for subsea tie-backs to an adjacent Occidental-operated facility, which could meaningfully accelerate the timeline (and reduce the cost) of bringing these barrels to market.

“We believe this discovery demonstrates the continued importance of the Gulf of America as a strategic source of reliable domestic oil supply that supports long-term energy security,” said Occidental senior vice president Jeff Simmons.

(7) In other energy news, Chevron also struck a landmark asset swap in Venezuela with state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. that expands its footprint in one of the world’s most resource-rich oil regions. At the center of the deal, Chevron will raise its interest in the Petroindependencia joint venture to 49%, alongside additional rights in the Orinoco Oil Belt. In exchange, it will scale back its stakes in other areas.

This agreement comes hot on the heels of a sweeping reform of the country’s main oil law and the U.S. launch of a $100 billion reconstruction plan for its energy sector.

(8) Coca-Cola will soon become exclusive drink supplier for Marriott International and its nearly 10,000 hotel properties around the world. (Pepsi had held this contract since 1992.) “Marriott’s decision reflects the strength of our brands,” the soft drink giant said in a statement, “and the preference their guests have for our total beverage portfolio.” In an internal communication about the switch, Marriott reportedly noted that Coca-Cola is preferred by more than 70% of the company’s guests.

(9) Exxon Mobil veteran Jeremy Osterstock has replaced Joe Lillo as Pilot CFO. Lillo joined the travel center network alongside CEO Adam Wright in 2023 shortly after Berkshire acquired a controlling interest — and, before that, he worked for Berkshire Hathaway Energy for 25 years. He will stay on as interim controller for the time being, but only until Osterstock — who most recently served as CFO of Exxon Mobil’s Upstream division — settles into his new role.

“Jeremy is known for his focus on developing people, building strong teams, and creating long-term value,” Pilot posted on LinkedIn. “His leadership and passion for working collaboratively and supporting organizations through growth and change will continue to help strengthen Pilot for the future.”

(10) And, finally, additional details on Berkshire’s latest yen-denominated debt sale.

A rare few, though, reimagine things entirely.

They strip the business back to its bones, bet everything on a single conviction, and march off in a direction no one else saw coming. History remembers these figures less as managers — and more as re-founders.

Consider Warren Buffett, who transformed a dying New England textile operation into the greatest capital allocation vehicle of the twentieth century.

The pattern is often the same: a re-founder arrives at a moment of crisis, sees something others have missed, and does what might look foolish from the outside — but proves, in time, to have been the only decision that ever truly made sense.

Jim Weber did just this at Brooks Sports.

And, conveniently, laid out the whole playbook in his memoir, Running with Purpose.

When Weber took over in 2001, Brooks was a brand in name only. It was hemorrhaging cash, buried in debt, and an afterthought to serious runners — outclassed by competitors in every category that mattered. The banks wanted out. Employees were quietly placing bets on how long the new guy would last.

The company had spent years trying to be everything to everyone — and ended up standing for nothing at all.

What followed is one of the great turnaround stories in American business.

Weber didn’t save Brooks by chasing the market. He saved it by abandoning most of it — making a focused, almost radical bet on a narrow lane that Nike, Adidas, and New Balance left wide open.

The results were astounding. A struggling also-ran became a billion-dollar brand — not by doing more, but dramatically less. By saying no to nearly everything, so that each yes actually meant something.

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(1) With global energy markets on edge, the United States has enlisted some of the most powerful names in insurance — Berkshire Hathaway among them — to keep oil flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation doubled its maritime reinsurance commitment to $40 billion thanks to the new additions. Chubb, a Berkshire investee, serves as lead underwriter: setting pricing and terms, issuing policies, and managing claims.

Berkshire’s involvement, though, carries particular symbolic weight. As the U.S. works to restore confidence in one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, having the most celebrated insurance operation on the planet in your corner sends a message.

“We are very pleased to support Chubb and DFC on this initiative,” said Berkshire vice chairman Ajit Jain, “and we commend all the reinsurers for stepping up to demonstrate how our industry can help to meet important needs as they arise.”

(2) The Artemis II lunar fly-by is fast becoming the greatest Shot on iPhone ad that Apple never made. NASA cleared the crew to bring iPhone 17s on board — leading to some of the most breathtaking and unexpectedly intimate photographs ever taken in deep space. The images captivated the internet: silhouetted selfies of the astronauts, Earth hanging in the darkness behind them, framed perfectly in Orion’s cabin window.

Mission commander Reid Wiseman pushed things even further, using the 8x telephoto zoom on his iPhone 17 Pro Max to photograph the far side of the moon — and the seldom-seen Chebyshev crater. Apple’s marketing team could not have written a better script. The universe, apparently, did it for them.

(3) Hold on to your hats, but PacifiCorp received a bit of good news this week. The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that had allowed wildfire litigation to proceed as a sweeping class action against the Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary. The wildfires were separated by distances of more than 100 miles and the trial judge erred by instructing jurors to “assume that the evidence at trial applies to all class members” when a lot of said evidence applied only to particular fires — and not all of them as a group.

The case now returns to the lower court, which must decide whether a unified class action can still be justified or whether the litigation should now be broken into separate proceedings. That distinction matters enormously: class actions typically lower the cost and complexity for plaintiffs and, without that structure, PacifiCorp would likely face less total liability.

PacifiCorp welcomed the ruling. “PacifiCorp is sensitive to the profound losses experienced by members of our communities,” the utility said in a statement. “There are no winners in wildfire; however, the Court’s decision supports PacifiCorp’s longstanding belief that this process was prejudicial and not appropriate for managing wildfire litigation. The company remains open to resolving reasonable claims and will continue to defend against unsupported claims.”

(4) The U.S. freight rail industry just put up one of its best performances in recent memory. According to the Association of American Railroads, total domestic carloads rose 1.7% to an average of 230,401 in March — the strongest result for that month since 2019. Strip out coal, a commodity in structural decline, and this was actually the busiest March for core freight in nearly two decades.

Let’s hope BNSF Railway was right in the thick of that.

“U.S. freight rail traffic posted some of its strongest readings in years,” the AAR reported, “offering one of the clearest signals yet that the goods economy is regaining its footing. Volumes are not simply rising in one corner of the network; they are firming across agriculture, industrial inputs, chemicals, and intermodal corridors that link U.S. consumers to global supply chains.”

(5) Jordan’s Furniture had a lot riding on Connecticut basketball last weekend. The New England-based member of Berkshire’s furniture quartet had boldly promised 20,000 customers full refunds — estimated at roughly $50 million — if both the UConn men’s and women’s teams advanced to their respective NCAA championship games. (The Lady Huskies lost in the Final Four, ending the high-stakes contest.)

Not that Jordan’s was ever fully exposed. The company purchased an insurance policy — presumably from a Berkshire affiliate — to cover the potential payout. “We want this to happen,” retired president Eliot Tatelman said ahead of the Final Four. “Whether [the UConn teams] win or lose, I’ve got to pay for the insurance.”

Win or lose, though, the promotion did exactly what it was designed to do. In one of Jordan’s newer markets, the stunt generated the kind of publicity that no conventional ad campaign could ever buy. “[The response] was terrific,” Tatelman told The Athletic. “Everybody couldn’t believe what they were hearing. It brought in a lot of people. It’s causing a lot of excitement. Every radio, TV station is calling me. I mean, ESPN wants me to be on one of their shows. This is crazy.”

(6) JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s latest shareholder letter contains a couple of passages that might interest this crowd.

• “Remember the poem ‘If—’ by Rudyard Kipling that begins ‘If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs’? We will stay true to this.” This just so happens to be one of Charlie Munger’s favorite poems — one he often reached for when urging investors to stay rational amid market chaos.

• Dimon also mentioned a certain Omaha-based friend while paying tribute to The American Tailwind. “We operate with a very important silent partner — the U.S. government — noting, as my friend Warren Buffett points out, that his company’s success is predicated upon the extraordinary conditions our country creates. He is right to have said to his shareholders that when they see the American flag, they all should say thank you. We should, too.” 🇺🇸

(7) NetJets members flying into Augusta, Georgia, for this weekend’s Masters Tournament may notice something new taking shape at Augusta Regional Airport. The private aviation leader has broken ground on an exclusive-use terminal — with a private ramp already in place to ensure the kind of efficient, discreet arrivals that its high-powered clientele expects.

“Augusta is a key destination for NetJets owners,” said president Patrick Gallagher. “This new facility reflects our commitment to providing elevated, seamless service for owners, and our investment in making their overall experience memorable.”

Last year, NetJets operated nearly 580 flights in and out of Augusta during Masters week — a 34% jump over 2024. And, this year, it expects that number to climb to around 775. When the terminal is complete, that growing crowd will be greeted by a luxurious lounge, private meeting spaces, and premium amenities.

(8) Tokio Marine leadership feels pretty bullish about its new strategic partnership with Berkshire Hathaway. “To some extent,” said head of corporate planning Kenichi Sakakibara, “we’ve built up our company by studying what Berkshire does.” Vice president Kenji Okada expects the relationship to act as a magnet for like-minded investors. “The addition of the long-term investor Berkshire as a shareholder,” he said, “will attract the interest of investors who want to hold for the long term.”

One unnamed executive offered an even more tantalizing take: “The upper limit on acquisition price [for future M&A activity] has, in effect, vanished.”

And, late last night, Bloomberg broke the news that Berkshire raised ¥272.3 billion ($1.7 billion) through a yen-denominated bond offering — in six tranches with maturities ranging from three to thirty years. The timing is interesting. That figure sits very close to the $1.8 billion Berkshire will pay for its stake in Tokio Marine.

(9) The timeline for Apple’s much-anticipated foldable iPhone got a little murkier this week — with conflicting reports from trustworthy sources about its rumored fall release. Nikkei Asia first claimed that engineering setbacks could delay mass production by a few months, potentially pushing initial shipments into early 2027. But Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman pushed back on that, maintaining that the foldable device will land around the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro as originally planned.

Whatever the timeline, Apple engineers reportedly believe they have cracked some of the foldable format’s most stubborn problems — screen quality, durability, and the dreaded crease that mars rival displays when unfolded. It wouldn’t be the first time Apple arrived fashionably late to a category, only to redefine it.

(10) Elsewhere in the Apple universe, sales of its affordable MacBook Neo have so thoroughly exceeded expectations that Apple may prematurely run out of chips. The Neo was built around a clever bit of supply-chain judo: rather than discarding A18 Pro chips with a single faulty GPU core — which cannot be used in the iPhone 16 Pro — it repurposed them for the Neo instead of throwing them away.

“With MacBook Neo being insanely popular,” wrote in his Culpium newsletter, “the stock of those binned chips will run out before demand gets satisfied.”

“Leaving all that demand on the table is a painful prospect for Apple executives,” he continued, “but going back for another round [of production] would risk killing the sweet profit margins it enjoyed on making a device with ‘effectively free’ chips.”

And one more thing: Ohio Capital Ideas posted an incredible thread over on X about Berkshire’s acquisition record. I thoroughly enjoyed the deep dive into some subs that don’t usually get their moment in the sun. A definite must-read.

The company is of perpetual interest to me — not only for the remarkable loyalty its products command among customers (and the ensuing halo effect that lifts the rest of its catalog), but also because it remains Berkshire Hathaway’s largest stock holding and arguably Warren Buffett’s greatest investment ever.

There is one other reason, too.

Few people can appreciate what Greg Abel is going through right now better than Tim Cook. Both men were handed the daunting task of succeeding a legend — stepping into the enormous shadow of a larger-than-life predecessor whose genius and personality seem impossible to match.

Cook has called Steve Jobs, who co-founded Apple and later returned to rescue it from near-collapse, as “a once-in-a-thousand-years type of person”. That same description could certainly be applied, without exaggeration, to Warren Buffett. Each built a business empire so intertwined with his own personal brilliance that the company felt utterly inseparable from the individual himself.

The number of people who successfully filled such enormous shoes is vanishingly small. Cook managed to do so — growing Apple’s market cap from $350 billion to $3.8 trillion in just fourteen years — and now Abel will walk that same tightrope.

With that in mind, I enjoyed Cook’s recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning to commemorate the milestone anniversary. Particularly when he shared the circumstances and challenges of replacing Jobs — and how he followed in the late founder’s footsteps while also charting his own course as CEO.

(1) Honor the legend without getting paralyzed by the past

Tim Cook’s situation before becoming CEO was fairly similar to Greg Abel’s over the past few years. Cook had already run Apple’s day-to-day operations while Steve Jobs battled cancer and was widely seen as the presumptive heir to the throne.

Still, no one knew exactly when the inevitable transition would occur because Jobs (like Buffett) would decide for himself when to retire.

When that day finally arrived — in 2011 — Jobs offered his hand-picked successor a single bit of wisdom. “His advice to me,” said Cook, “was ‘Never ask what I would do. Just do the right thing.’”

“He told me the story behind this [advice]. He was very close to Disney [and] he had watched Disney go through this paralysis of sitting around and talking about what Walt would do. He did not want that for Apple. He wanted a professional transition at CEO — because Apple had never had one before.”

After Walt Disney passed away in 1966 — and following his brother Roy’s death in 1971 (shortly after opening Walt Disney World) — the company stumbled through more than a decade of self-doubt and creative stagnation. Box office receipts suffered and critics panned the studio’s efforts. It took a few close calls with hostile takeovers to shake Disney from its malaise and force it to find its footing.

Jobs understood that, in the fast-moving technology industry, Apple could ill afford a similar detour. And, by freeing Cook in this manner, he set the stage for the iPhone maker’s incredible run to the top of American industry.

“It was such a gift for me,” said Cook, “because it took off of my shoulders this question of ‘What Would Steve Do?’ A lot of other people [still] ask that — although not so much in the company — but I never did. I just put my head down and thought, ‘I’m going to be the best version of myself.’”

Cook also drew a vital distinction between cowering in the shadow of a giant and honoring the enduring principles left behind. “[Steve’s] DNA is deep in this company,” said Cook. “We revere him. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him. Not about what he would be doing and second-guessing things, but just the fact that he had such great vision and such great principles that all of this time later it still serves as the guide rails for a company like Apple.”

The principles remain sacrosanct, but their execution belongs to the living.

(2) Different skills for different seasons

It’s probably safe to say that Warren Buffett agrees with Tim Cook being “the best version of [himself]” rather than a pale imitation of Steve Jobs.

In last week’s CNBC interview, Buffett lavished praise on Cook — and how he has played the hand he was dealt better than anyone could have ever imagined.

“He couldn’t have done what Steve Jobs did,” said Buffett, “but Steve Jobs handed him a hand that Steve would not have done as well [with]. Steve picked him, when you get right down to it. Tim is a fantastic manager — and he’s a good guy.”

Jobs was the visionary genius who conjured revolutionary products that redefined entire industries. Cook, by contrast, made his mark as a master operator who tamed global supply chains and scaled manufacturing/distribution resources to turn Apple into the behemoth it is today.

Basically, Steve came up with the killer ideas — and then Cook ensured that they could be produced at the volume and quality needed to realize their full potential. Different strengths for different stages of the company’s evolution.

I suspect Buffett views Berkshire Hathaway in much the same light today. He has handed Greg Abel a company that evolved from (mostly) an investment vehicle into a vast collection of operating businesses — and Abel may be better suited to optimizing those subsidiaries in ways that even Buffett, for all his brilliance in capital allocation, could not.

Time will tell whether that turns out to be true or not.

(3) FOCUS

Apple and Berkshire Hathaway could hardly be more different on the surface. One is sleek, innovative, and often on the cutting edge of technology and consumer desire. The other, a diversified collection of stable, “boring” businesses that prioritize steady progress and certainty over excitement and risk. I mean, while all of us love Berkshire and what it stands for, I don’t think there’s much question that a new iPhone sets people’s hearts racing more than reinsurance policies and BNSF locomotives.

Yet the two companies share one powerful trait.

An intense, almost ruthless focus on the business at hand.

“[Steve Jobs] had an idea of focus that you say no to a thousand things to say yes to the one that’s truly important,” Cook told CBS. “Good isn’t good enough. It has to be insanely great.”

That same discipline defined Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s approach. Buffett is famous for rejecting potential investments within seconds of hearing about them. And Charlie’s own penchant for brusque refusal earned him the affectionate moniker “The Abominable No-Man”.

When biographer Alice Schroeder asked Buffett the secret to his success, his simple answer was “Focus”. He concentrated exclusively on businesses he could understand and, once an idea passed his strict filters, he immersed himself in every last detail.

Berkshire was built — brick by brick — through the power of selective rejection. Saying no to nearly everything so that the rare ideas worthy of a yes could receive the full weight of its attention and capital.

The Oracle looked suitably relaxed in a white turtleneck and V-neck sweater, though he still logs regular hours at Berkshire Hathaway HQ. “Well,” he said, “[my life] is not that much different. I go in every day to the office — [though] I don’t accomplish hardly anything. Greg is so good. It’s kind of embarrassing how good he is.”

“Greg covers more ground in a day than I would in a week,” laughed Buffett, “even when I was at my peak.”

Buffett remains heavily involved in Berkshire’s investment decisions, but with one clear caveat. “I won’t make any [moves] that Greg thinks are wrong,” he said. “If Greg differed with me on anything, we wouldn’t be doing it.”

Just like always, Buffett still calls Mark Millard each morning before the bell to adjust limit prices on Berkshire’s target list. And, in one of the newsier moments of the chat, revealed that he recently made “one tiny purchase” for the conglomerate’s portfolio.

✨ Overall, though, Buffett does not see a whole lot of value in today’s market. When Quick noted that stock prices had dropped substantially, he gently disagreed. “Three times since I’ve taken over Berkshire, it has gone down more than 50%,” he said. “This is nothing. If [stocks] are five or six percent cheaper, that doesn’t [appeal to me]. We aren’t in it to make five or six percent. But we’re not a big seller [right now], either.”

✨ “I sold [Apple] too soon,” admitted Buffett, “but I bought it even sooner — so it worked out.” Even after the sales, Apple remains Berkshire’s #1 stock position. A fact which suits Buffett just fine. “It’s better than any business we own outright.”

“I’m very happy to have it as our largest holding,” he said, “[but] I was not happy to have it be as large as almost everything else combined.” Buffett even added that “it’s not impossible” that Apple could fall to a price where “we would buy a lot [more] of it.”

✨ On the subject of tech regulation, Buffett does not expect any potential action to harm Apple. “I think the consumer is in love with [Apple devices] too much,” he said. “I don’t think Washington will do anything that destroys something that every one of their voters likes.”

✨ Buffett also weighed in on a few current events of interest:

• Iran: “It will be more difficult [to avoid nuclear disaster] if Iran has the bomb than [if] they don’t.”

• Inflation: “I wish [the Federal Reserve] had a zero inflation target. Once you start saying you’re going to tolerate 2%, that compounds pretty dramatically over time. You’re saying to people, ‘If you’re getting less than 2% on your money, you’re going backwards.’ I don’t like that particular goal.”

• Politics: “Now, I’m an independent.”

✨ And, finally, a note for any deep-pocketed readers: Buffett also announced that his famous charity lunch auction will return this year for the first time since 2022. But, this time, co-hosted by NBA star Steph Curry and wife Ayesha Curry. Online bidding begins on May 7 and will run for one week.

More news and notes from the Berkshire Hathaway orbit…

Berkshire Hathaway released its Shareholders Guide for next month’s annual meeting. It includes a short message from new CEO Greg Abel outlining the schedule for the weekend and the format for this year’s Q&A sessions. If you cannot make it out to Omaha for the main event, shareholders can submit their question(s) to moderator Becky Quick at berkshirequestions@cnbc.com. Note: Berkshire will, for the first time, enforce a Clear Bag Policy for all AGM attendees.

Barron’s spoke to Todd Combs about his new role at JPMorgan Chase, where he will lead the bank’s $10 billion Strategic Investment Group. “[We will invest in] everything our country has outsourced and abdicated over recent decades,” he told Andy Serwer. “We want to invest in places where the puck is going so that America can control its own future.” Like defense, re-industrialization, and semiconductors.

When asked why he chose to join Chase, he cited his deep familiarity with the organization — where he has been a director since 2016 — and a desire to make an impact on our nation’s future. “You want to find things in life that are big and important,” said Combs, “that are worth doing and doable.”

Interestingly, he had little to say about his time at Berkshire — other than sounding worn out by the grind of serving as both investment manager and GEICO CEO. “I was back and forth from Omaha to D.C. for six years running GEICO,” said Combs. “That was a long time. I’m very proud — not to go down that rabbit hole — of what we accomplished at GEICO. Berkshire is an animal unto itself that’s completely unique.”

Kraft Heinz CEO Steve Cahillane made the media rounds over the past week — speaking with both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal about his decision to pause the company’s planned separation. “The business [simply] wasn’t as strong as it needed to be to have a successful separation,” he told the Times. “It was clearly a better decision to keep it together and fix it, and to start to look for those areas where the scale of what we have is an advantage.”

Cahillane changed his mind on the separation after meeting with employees and hearing horror stories about how 3G Capital cut costs to the bone. “The number of times I heard, ‘I’ve only got one junior person working on this brand. I can’t make a difference that way.’ It was really a cry for resources.” As a result, Kraft Heinz will now invest $600 million to build its brands back up in the consumer’s eye.

“There was a lot of focus on financial engineering and profits and not enough focus on the consumer and reinvesting,” he said. “There’s no such thing as a ‘forever brand’.”

Henrique Braun officially replaced James Quincey as Coca-Cola CEO this week. Quincey, who will remain as chairman, told CNBC that he feels the dawn of artificial intelligence necessitates fresh leadership at the top. “My job is to think who’s the best team to put on the field to get the next wave [of organizational momentum] done,” he said. “I concluded that, actually, it was time for someone else on the field for the next wave of growth.”

“In a pre-gen-AI mode, we made a lot of progress,” continued Quincey, “but now there’s a huge new shift coming along. [Coke needs] someone with the energy to pursue a completely new transformation of the enterprise.”

There’s a lot going on at NetJets these days. The Berkshire-owned private jet company took delivery of its first Bombardier Global 8000 — the world’s fastest civilian jet since the Concorde — which opens up new routes for customers with its ultra-long range. NetJets also signed soccer superstar Lionel Messi as a brand ambassador ahead of this summer’s World Cup. The partnership will include exclusive, invitation-only events for clients and youth soccer clinics.

NetJets president Patrick Gallagher also shared two other pieces of good news. He said that retention rates of current customers are as “high as we’ve ever seen them” and that the company looks to be on pace for another 50,000+ increase in flight hours.

AM Best affirmed superior financial strength and credit ratings for Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies — and shared a few interesting details about the insurance subsidiary. (1) BHHC’s key operating metrics consistently outperform peer benchmarks; (2) it has earned underwriting profits every year for more than a decade; (3) nearly half of BHHC’s direct writings are derived from California — in particular, workers compensation — but that concentration has declined over time; (4) commercial auto and property lines now account for about half of total premiums; and (5) favorable reserve development — a strong indicator of conservative underwriting and disciplined risk management — has consistently boosted earnings for 10+ years.

And, finally, a couple of odds and ends to finish off the week…

• Another yen bond sale could be in the offing.

• This week, Berkshire collected $212 million in quarterly dividends from Coca-Cola, $1.9 million from Lamar Advertising, and $429,000 from Allegion.

Over the course of an hour, Marks walked the crowd through what he considers the foundational elements of intelligent investment. All in all, he discussed the Efficient Market Hypothesis, investor psychology, market cycles, risk vs. reward, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and even his favorite Munger-ism.

As you can see in the photo above, Marks used a whiteboard at various points to illustrate his lessons. But, unfortunately, these notes are not visible in the video — and, anyway, would not translate well to a written transcript. As such, I’ve tried to add context and descriptions where needed.

Howard Marks: I’m going to talk about three aspects of investment theory which I think are absolutely foundational, which most laypeople have never heard about, but which I think are essential to be an intelligent investor.

Three foundational elements [of intelligent investment].

The first is something called the Efficient Market Hypothesis. Basically, what it says is that there are millions of investors and they are — most of them or some of them — intelligent, literate, numerate, objective, rational, computerized, and highly motivated to make money. And their joint efforts cause stocks to be fairly valued.

If there is a stock out there that is undervalued and people read about it, they figure out [it is undervalued], they bid for it in the market, they go out to buy it because it’s a bargain — and their buying causes the price to go up.

If there’s a stock out there and it’s too high, they study it, they realize that it’s too high, and they sell it or sell it short — and their action causes the price to go down.

So the bargains get raised in price, the overpriced securities get underpriced, and eventually the prices converge with something called fair value.

There’s this thing called fair value. [Marks draws graph on whiteboard.] This is dollars [on the y-axis]. I’m not going to tell you what this [on the x-axis] is right now. But securities are priced like this. [Marks points at scattered spots all over the graph.] Some are below fair value and some are above fair value.

When all of these people that I mentioned study the market, they buy the cheap ones and they cause the prices to converge with fair value — and they sell the expensive ones and cause their prices to converge with fair value. So, by the end of this process, it just looks like that [with everything at fair value]. All of the prices, all of the stocks are on this line, the so-called “efficient frontier”.

Now, what’s on this x-axis here is risk.

There’s an assumption, which I’ll talk [about] in the second chapter, that people are risk-averse and because they are risk-averse, if they’re going to make risky investments they have to be tempted with incremental return.

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As such, I’ve been on the lookout for anything that fit the bill — and finally found it in a Howard Marks speech from last year in which he walks a not-exactly-market-savvy audience through topics like the efficient market hypothesis, investor psychology, and market cycles. And does so in a way that resonates with novices and diehards alike.

Over the past few weeks, I have transcribed this speech for all paid supporters.

One of my favorite parts comes when Marks laments the rampant short-termism that infects so many investors today.

I started in Citibank in the investment research department and we used to think about investments as lasting six years. Now, very few last six months. Everybody is trading and everybody cares about what was your return last quarter [and] what are you going to make next quarter. And these things really don’t matter.

An excessive concern with the short term is really a way to go wrong — and ignoring the short term, in my opinion, is really a way to get an advantage over other investors. Everybody is looking at short-term performance.

By the way, if you go back fifty years, before computers were widespread, you would run a portfolio and the year would end and three, four, five days later you would find out what [your] rate of return was that year. They had to do a bunch of calculations by hand. Today, you can look at your Bloomberg machine on your desk in your office and you know your rate of return to this minute, in real time.

Given human nature, this encourages short-termism. If you know you are up 4.6% this month and everybody else is up 4.8%, you freak out and you engage in all this trading to try to get better [results].

There is a lot more where that came from — and it should land in your inbox early next week. So, if you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, now is the perfect time.

More news and notes from the Berkshire Hathaway orbit…

Berkshire Hathaway deepened its presence in Japan through a new strategic partnership with Tokio Marine Holdings. As part of the deal, Berkshire subsidiary National Indemnity Company will purchase an initial 2.49% stake in the Japanese insurance giant for approximately $1.8 billion (¥ 287.4 billion). These shares will come from Tokio Marine’s treasury stock “as it would be difficult for NICO to acquire TMHD shares in the open market”. But, to offset any dilution for existing Tokio Marine shareholders, the insurer plans to simultaneously repurchase an equivalent amount of its own shares using the proceeds from this sale.

Berkshire (via National Indemnity) will also assume a portion of Tokio Marine’s global portfolio through “whole account quota share” reinsurance. The two companies may explore potential M&A opportunities, as well, as part of this collaboration.

“This is not merely a business alliance,” Tokio Marine stated in a press release. “We believe that it establishes a long-term strategic relationship anchored by an equity stake that will serve as a powerful catalyst for the medium- to long-term growth of both companies.”

Ajit Jain echoed the sentiment: “We are pleased to build a long-term collaborative relationship with TMHD, which has a strong underwriting franchise and an exceptional management team. We expect this strategic partnership to create compelling long-term opportunities for both organizations.”

Berkshire may buy additional shares on the open market in the future, but pledged not to exceed 9.9% ownership without approval from Tokio Marine’s board. And, under a related agreement, for a period of time, it agreed not to sell any shares without written consent and will vote its shares in line with the recommendations of TMHD’s board.

On the same day as the Tokio Marine announcement, Berkshire director Chris Davis appeared at a Barron’s Live event and shared a few thoughts on the company. As a board member, he could not comment directly on Berkshire’s decision to invest in Tokio Marine, but described the insurer as a “dominant blue-chip organization”. Davis’s grandfather, the legendary Shelby Cullom Davis, built much of his fortune by identifying exceptional insurance outfits — and considered TMHD “the absolute crown jewel” of the Japanese insurance industry. “It is a wonderful company.”

Apple is off to a strong start in China this year. According to Counterpoint Research, iPhone sales surged 23% in the first nine weeks of 2026 — even as the overall Chinese smartphone market slumped 4% during the same period. The report also notes that Apple’s tight control over its supply chain gives it a clear advantage amid the current global memory chip shortage. While many Android OEMs have had to raise prices to offset higher component costs, Apple can absorb a little margin pressure to hopefully further gain market share in China and around the world.

Back home, the news is similarly positive. The affordable MacBook Neo — priced at just $599 (and $499 for students and educators) — appears to be a hit right out of the gate. Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote on X: “Mac just had its best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers.” The strong demand is already showing in shipping delays for the new laptop. It’s still early days, but the Neo seems to be doing exactly what it’s supposed to — bringing new customers into the Mac ecosystem who might have been priced out of other models like the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.

In other Apple news, Bloomberg recently profiled senior vice president John Ternus, who is widely viewed as Cook’s likely successor. The piece includes candid comments from current and former Apple employees — both on and off the record — painting a picture of a capable, low-key leader who would deliver continuity rather than dramatic change. Former procurement chief Tony Blevins described Ternus as an “outstanding and obvious choice” as the next Apple CEO.

Yet anyone expecting a sharp break from the Cook era might be disappointed. One person close to Ternus told Bloomberg: “If you think Tim Cook is doing a good job, then you’ll think John Ternus is going to do a good job.” Speaking of Cook, the article notes that he “seems content to leave everyone guessing” about his future — but also adds that many insiders do not think any big changes are imminent.

BNSF Railway CEO Katie Farmer took aim at the Union Pacific x Norfolk Southern merger during a National Grain & Feed Association fireside chat. She challenged the official expectation that the combined railroad would actually deliver its projected 12% volume growth over the next three years — especially since UP’s volume dropped after its last merger. If that happens again, the resulting cost pressures would likely be passed on to customers.

Farmer acknowledged that mergers are a fact of life on the rails, but questioned whether this is really the right time for such a big one. “Our railroad is a compilation of a bunch of different railroads,” she said. “But in the past, there were driving reasons for railroad mergers. Either they were financially challenged railroads that needed to have a merger or we had customers that could see the benefit of the merger. We were in an industry where we had hundreds of railroads. That’s not where we are today. We have six Class I railroads … The times [just] aren’t the same.”

Reuters reports that Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub is expected to retire later this year. And, according to three people familiar with the matter, COO Richard Jackson will likely succeed her. The report notes, though, that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East might yet alter her plans. “We have a strong board with strong governance,” replied an Oxy spokesperson, “and we do not comment on speculation.”

Brooks Running will open its first true standalone retail store in Seattle’s University Village later this summer. “[Seattle] is the place that gave birth to the modern version of Brooks,” senior vice president Mike Billish told the Seattle Times. “In the same way that Starbucks and Microsoft and Amazon are known around the world as Seattle brands, there isn’t a single reason why we don’t want the same thing.” Located near the popular Burke-Gilman Trail, “the demographic [at University Village] perfectly overlaps with the core of our customer base.”

And, in closing, Berkshire collected a couple of big dividends this week: $144.8 million from Bank of America and $130.3 million from Kraft Heinz.

“I didn’t set out to have an audience of people coming in and asking me questions about every damn subject in the world,” he said. “It just kind of happened by accident and I went along with it because I think it did more good than harm.”

In much the same spirit, Warren Buffett spent decades quietly accumulating wisdom (and wealth) without ever chasing the spotlight — yet the spotlight found him anyway. He has come to accept the role of sage, even if he modestly downplays the originality of his insights. “I have the ability, because of where I am in life, that people will listen to me,” he told Becky Quick last year. “They’ll hear the same damn thing they would hear from somebody else, but they will pay more attention to it [from me].”

In his final interview as Berkshire Hathaway CEO — which aired on CNBC a couple of months ago — he rattled off a list of life lessons that reach far beyond stock picks and balance sheets. They span the personal and the profound. From the value of deep friendship to the freedom that comes from living well within your means.

If there is one unifying theme connecting them all, it’s that everything compounds. Not just money, but habits, relationships, character, and choices. The small, seemingly ordinary decisions made day after day quietly accumulate — for better or worse.

The very principle that can turn modest capital into life-changing wealth applies equally well to how we think, act, and treat others.

Buffett’s advice in this interview feels like a parting gift from one of the sharpest minds of our era. A distillation of how to live not just richly — but meaningfully.

“You should be selective about your friends — and hope they aren’t too selective about theirs.”

Warren Buffett not only built a business empire, but also cultivated an extraordinary circle of friends — people whose character, intellect, and integrity shaped his own way of thinking. Charlie Munger, of course, was the intellectual partner of a lifetime. But the list goes on and on: Tom Murphy of Capital Cities/ABC, Katharine Graham of The Washington Post, Bill Ruane of the Sequoia Fund, and the many exceptional men and women who run Berkshire Hathaway’s operating companies with aplomb.

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This week alone, the 95-year-old investing legend spoke with reporters from two major newspapers for stories related to his life’s work.

✨ In a Wall Street Journal article exploring how Buffett’s famous shareholder letters inspired other CEOs (like Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase and Tom Gayner of Markel) to write in a more engaging style, he looked back on his long collaboration with Carol Loomis. Buffett recalled sending her his initial drafts to edit — and then bracing for a battle over added commas and other small changes. “My first reaction would be to get irritated,” he said, “which is totally inappropriate.”

But, he laughed, “that’s the way you get when you’re writing.”

Buffett and Loomis now play bridge online together on Monday evenings — which leads to much less arguing. “I finally matured a little bit,” he said, “at 95.”

The article also noted that Greg Abel told friends that drafting his first letter to shareholders was the toughest part about his first two months as CEO. “That was an enormous task,” he said. Buffett’s response: “Well, it doesn’t get any easier. The second letter will be [just] as difficult and challenging.”

✨ Meanwhile, the New York Times examined the waning enthusiasm for the Giving Pledge initiative that Buffett started alongside Bill and Melinda Gates. Amid growing skepticism about the efficiency and direction of large charitable foundations, the pledge has faced criticism and a noticeable slowdown in new signatories.

Buffett, though, defended it in an email. “I firmly believe in the Giving Pledge and consider it quite a success,” he wrote, “though my physical limitations have eliminated my participation in the annual get-together. I have continued to contact possible members but only on a minor scale in recent years. Bill Gates has continued major efforts.”

More news and notes from the Berkshire Hathaway orbit…

S&P Global removed PacifiCorp from CreditWatch — and an imminent ratings downgrade — after wildfire-related verdicts snapped back to “normal” over the past two weeks. Last month, an Oregon jury awarded $19 million per plaintiff in one trial, well above the $5.5 million per plaintiff historical average. But that now looks more like an anomaly after recent verdicts averaged around $4.6 million per plaintiff. As such, S&P now expects future awards to settle around the average rather than spiking upward as previously feared. The move eases near-term ratings concerns, but the beleaguered BHE utility still receives a negative outlook from S&P.

Last month, PacifiCorp agreed to sell its Washington state service area to PGE — and, now, continues to rebalance with the sale of its transmission and distribution assets in rural Oregon. As a result, nearly 9,000 current PacifiCorp customers will transfer over to local electric co-ops. “These agreements represent the company’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its financial position and simplify operations to ensure the continued delivery of safe, reliable electricity to our customers,” said president Ryan Flynn.

Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared on Good Morning America this week as the company gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary. During the wide-ranging interview, anchor Michael Strahan asked Cook about the persistent rumors that he will retire this year. “Here’s the way I look at it,” said Cook. “I love what I do — deeply. 28 years ago, I walked into Apple and I’ve loved every day of it since. We’ve had ups and downs, but the people I work with are so amazing. They bring out the best in me and hopefully I can bring out the best in them. Michael, I can’t imagine life without Apple.”

BNSF Railway broke ground last week on its new $500 million logistics center in Gunter, Texas. Strategically located near State Highway 289 — about an hour north of Dallas — the 944-acre multi-customer, multi-commodity industrial park should be complete in about nineteen months. “Gunter is well-placed in one of the fastest-growing corridors in the country,” said BNSF assistant vice president Scot Bates, “and this new logistics center positions our customers to take full advantage of that momentum. By offering direct rail service and a ready-to-build site, we’re helping customers expand their supply-chain reach faster and more efficiently.”

In other railroad news, Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena and Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George sat down with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to defend their proposed merger. And, while making the case for a transcontinental railroad, Vena pushed back on claims that the merger would harm competition. “We’re actually competing against a huge company,” he said. “It’s not Burlington Northern Santa Fe we’re competing against — it’s [Berkshire Hathaway]. Little Union Pacific, worth $145 billion in the stock market today, running against a trillion-dollar behemoth called Berkshire. If anybody thinks that that’s not competition, you’re missing the point.”

Kraft Heinz CEO Steve Cahillane drew back the curtains on his plans to pull the food giant out of a prolonged sales slump. In an interview with Bloomberg News, he revealed that Kraft Heinz will soon roll out a range of healthier products across some of its most popular brand names — like high-protein Mac & Cheese, snack-sized Lunchables, and low-sugar Capri Sun with added electrolytes. The new PowerMac, in particular, will be priced quite a bit lower than rival Goodles.

In the same interview, Cahillane did not rule out revisiting the subject of separation — but admitted, “I don’t see it [happening] anytime soon.” (The Financial Times also reported this week that Kraft Heinz previously discussed merging its condiment biz with Unilever’s food division, though nothing came of those talks.)

With traditional subscription growth slowing, Sirius XM hopes to deepen engagement (and monetization) among its existing customer base. CEO Jennifer Witz thinks the new Companion plan — which allows full-price subscribers to share access with a member of their household — will effectively extend a subscription’s value beyond a single vehicle or device. “Companion has been a big success for us,” she told a Morgan Stanley investor conference earlier this month. “We continue to see solid momentum there.” Witz noted that this might also be aiding retention. Self-pay churn fell to 1.5% last year — one of the lowest levels on record — despite a price hike.

AM Best upgraded Berkshire-owned CapSpecialty Insurance Group to “superior” financial strength and credit ratings. This change reflects the insurer’s balance sheet strength and adequate operating performance — with improved underwriting results and reduced volatility that should be sustainable over time. The report also noted that while almost all of CapSpecialty’s portfolio is currently invested in U.S. Treasury bills, Berkshire will probably tilt that more towards common stocks in the future.

And, finally, a few odds and ends to finish the week…

• Happy trails to Judd and Laura Zebersky, who leave Jazwares this week after building the company into a toy powerhouse. Buffett once called them “ideal Berkshire managers”.

• HomeServices of America announced a new partnership with Zillow to bring “coming soon” property listings to the real estate app’s 235 million monthly users. “The ability to provide exponential exposure at the beginning of the sales cycle is an extremely compelling value proposition,” said CEO Chris Kelly.

• This week, Berkshire collected $11.1 million in quarterly dividends from UnitedHealth Group and $3.7 million from Alphabet.

• Pilot will modernize its point-of-sale technology with the NCR Voyix platform — providing greater visibility into store performance. “For a network of our size,” said CTO Andy Lupo, “the job is to keep stores running smoothly while making meaningful improvements fast.”

• This month’s Uncommon Sense article — a collection and reflection on Buffett’s favorite life lessons from his final interview as Berkshire CEO — will go out to paid subscribers early next week. Upgrade here if interested.

I think about that line every year around this time when Berkshire Hathaway releases its proxy statement. And how that filing makes clear, in just a few short pages, that Berkshire is run — and will be run — for the principal benefit of its shareholders.

Really capturing how Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger assiduously built the conglomerate in their own image. It both celebrates Berkshire’s unique culture and lays out the roadmap for preserving it long into the future.

The most newsworthy detail in Berkshire Hathaway’s proxy statement is the outstanding share count as of March 4, 2026. That just so happens to be the same day that Greg Abel and co. started buying back stock again after a nearly two year hiatus. By my back-of-the-napkin calculation, Berkshire repurchased 309 Class A shares for ~$225 million on day one of the recommenced operation.

Warren Buffett might be retired, but he will surely remain Berkshire’s largest shareholder for the rest of his life. His stake represents 30.0% of the company’s voting power and 13.7% of its economic interest. (A year ago, his voting power stood at 30.4% and has barely budged despite ongoing charitable donations.) Whenever that sad day comes and Buffett shuffles off this mortal coil, he hopes that a family member will be named non-executive chairman. By all indications, that mantle will fall onto son Howard Buffett, who has served as a director since 1993. The proxy, however, makes clear that the ultimate decision on this rests with the board.

Understatement alert: “Berkshire’s program regarding compensation of its executive officers is different from most public company programs.” And that always started right at the top — with Buffett holding his salary steady at $100,000 for more than forty years despite leading one of the world’s most valuable companies. Greg Abel will draw a more conventional CEO salary of $25 million, but he has already publicly committed to spending every after-tax dollar of it on Berkshire stock for the remainder of his career. Skin in the game doesn’t get more serious than that.

Berkshire “never intends to use stock to compensate employees” — but loves writing big checks to top performers. As such, vice chairmen Greg Abel and Ajit Jain each earned $22 million salaries last year. The managers of Berkshire’s many subsidiaries also operate under incentive-laden compensation plans “dependent on such elements as the economic potential or capital intensity of the business”. These incentives can get quite large, but will always be tied to operating results within that person’s direct control. Buffett (and now Abel) alone was responsible for Berkshire as a whole, so tying anyone else’s compensation to its overall profitability or stock price would not be a fair reflection of their actual performance.

Berkshire does not, though, write big checks to its directors. The fee structure for the board is kept deliberately modest in order to attract only like-minded industrial exemplars who care deeply about the company’s future — and scare off those looking for a cushy sinecure to line their pockets. Berkshire employees who double as directors receive no extra pay, while the rest earn only $900 per in-person meeting and $300 per phone meeting. Members of the Audit Committee are the real high-rollers with an additional $1,000 each quarter. That means, for the full year, the highest-paid director made just $7,000 in total fees — with non-Audit members down at $3,000. It’s safe to say that Berkshire’s directors are not in it for the money.

Buffett has long warned about how lofty fees and perks can erode a director’s sense of independence and willingness to challenge the CEO when needed. No system is perfect, but Berkshire’s approach ensures that no one makes so much — or benefits to such a degree — from board membership that they lose sight of their role as stewards.

Perks are kept to a bare minimum. No company cars, no comped country club memberships, and no private jet trips for personal use. The proxy makes special note that “Mr. Buffett is personally a fractional NetJets owner, paying standard rates, and he used Berkshire-owned aircraft for business purposes only”. Berkshire’s model grants a fair level of cash compensation to proven performers, while insisting they act — and invest — like true owners. Circling back to the Texaco example that opened today’s newsletter, the oiler ended up overhauling its entire compensation plan in a very Berkshire direction with difficult-but-achievable incentives instead of perks. “If you want those things,” said Texaco vice president Carl Davidson, “we’re giving you an opportunity to make the money and buy them on your own.” I think Warren and Charlie would approve of that sentiment.

Berkshire seeks only exceptional candidates who align closely with its rigorous standards for board service. The Governance Committee evaluates potential directors against a clear set of attributes that Buffett considers essential “if one is to be an effective member of the board of directors”. Those being (1) very high integrity, (2) business savvy, (3) an owner-oriented attitude, (4) a deep genuine interest in Berkshire, and (5) a significant investment in Berkshire shares — relative to their personal resources — for at least three years. The committee noted that, in its judgment, all current directors fully embody these qualities.

A meritocracy above all else. Berkshire explicitly states in the proxy that it has no policy regarding consideration of diversity when identifying director nominees. “The Governance Committee does not seek diversity,” it reads, “however defined.” Instead, director selection will be guided solely by the consistent, timeless criteria set out above. Berkshire wants a board composed of exactly that sort of people — no matter what they look like or which boxes get checked. This has been the conglomerate’s stance for years, whether in or out of fashion, reflecting its principles-based culture that prioritizes competence and character over any demographic factors.

Berkshire will not bend on decentralization. There is only one shareholder proposal this year, which takes aim at the inconsistent approaches to “human capital management” across Berkshire’s many subsidiaries. In particular, it mentions labor trouble at NetJets and safety problems at Lubrizol. The board, unsurprisingly, urges shareholders to vote against the proposal — arguing that an overarching framework across all subsidiaries would defeat the purpose of decentralization. Decisions of this kind are best made by the people closest to the business, not a suit sitting in Omaha. Decentralization is a feature, not a bug, at Berkshire Hathaway.

✨ He still talks to Warren Buffett almost every day. “[Warren] is still in the office every day,” said Abel. “If I’m in Omaha, we’re always connecting. If I’m traveling like I was yesterday, I often check in just to catch up on what he’s seeing, what he’s hearing, [or] what am I feeling. So if it’s not every day, it’s every couple of days.”

✨ When Abel told Buffett about his plan to use his entire after-tax salary to purchase Berkshire stock each year, Buffett replied, “This is so Berkshire.” Abel hopes this will align his own situation with that of shareholders. “The whole idea is our shareholders, our owners, use their after-tax dollars to buy Berkshire. I will do the same.”

✨ Some have wondered how an operations-focused executive like Abel will handle Berkshire’s massive stock portfolio. But, said Abel, he loves tearing through stacks of filings and reports every bit as much as his predecessor. “I’m an operator, but I love businesses and I love reading. I’m going through K’s and Q’s. I’m looking at what are they saying about their businesses. I’m looking at the industries that we traditionally look at and, incrementally, to make sure [I] have a thorough understanding of the industries and what businesses stand out there.” And even if this research does not produce instant investment ideas, it does build out his mental filing cabinet that little bit more. “I view it [as] a lot of preparation,” said Abel, “waiting for when we see that value exists within a specific opportunity.”

✨ Crypto? Still a no. “I don’t think you’ll see crypto [at Berkshire],” said Abel. “I just don’t see it.”

✨ That said, tech stocks and/or acquisitions remain very much in play. “When it comes to technology,” said Abel, “from an operational perspective where we’re seeing how we use it, the impact it’s having, it does allow us to develop strong views and a better knowledge base around certain companies that are technology companies. Technology will always be on the table.”

✨ I loved this line from the interview. “There’s nothing better than Berkshire,” said Abel. “It’s what I do every day. I wake up thinking about Berkshire [and] I go to sleep thinking about Berkshire.”

Other news and notes from the Berkshire Hathaway orbit…

Morningstar senior analyst Greggory Warren, who has covered Berkshire Hathaway for fifteen years and served on the analyst panel at past annual meetings, discussed the conglomerate’s future on The Morning Filter podcast. And, in particular, how it will fare in this transitional period as Greg Abel takes over from Warren Buffett. “[Abel] is different than Buffett,” he said. “He’s an operations guy. And, at this point in Berkshire’s life cycle, they need an operations guy.”

“There are definitely places within the organization where I think they would benefit from having somebody who is more operations-focused helping to improve things. Greg has always been, in our view, a little bit more of an alpha personality, a little bit more driven. Buffett is less confrontational [with the subsidiaries].”

Warren also offered an interesting explanation for some of Berkshire’s recent stock sales. “Berkshire is subject to the 15% Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax,” he said, “and if they don’t pay an effective tax rate more than 15% in cash taxes over a three-year running period, they will be taxed on their unrealized gains. And, basically, what they’re doing is realizing gains to ensure that they get over that hump. That, in my opinion, is the main reason why we see them selling off Apple and Bank of America.”

And, finally, he paid homage to Todd Combs, who hopped over to JPMorgan Chase at year-end. “I thought he did a fantastic job at GEICO,” said Warren. “I don’t think he got enough credit from investors for what a monumental task he had to deal with.” Combs not only righted the good ship GEICO after years of poor underwriting decisions, but also ably steered it through the pandemic and its attendant chaos.

Whitney Tilson updated his estimates of Berkshire’s current intrinsic value: $801,000 for Class A shares and $534 for the Class B variety. “At this level,” he wrote, “I expect that Berkshire’s stock will slightly beat the S&P 500 over the next five years. So if the S&P 500 compounds at 5%, I would expect Berkshire to do roughly 6% — with a bias toward the upside due to new leadership under Abel.”

Based on Berkshire’s resumption of share repurchases, I would guess that Abel and co. see intrinsic value as quite a bit higher than Tilson’s estimates. Perhaps up around Christopher Bloomstran’s $855,396 (A) and $570 (B) numbers.

(That said, I commend anyone who puts their personal value estimates out for public consumption and criticism. It’s very “Man in the Arena” and all that.)

Apple made a splash last week by unveiling several new products — headlined by the $599 MacBook Neo. In an exclusive interview with Good Morning America, senior vice president John Ternus gushed about the laptop’s affordability. “We saw an opportunity here to really just reach a lot more people than we ever have before,” he said. “It’s solid. It’s reliable. It’s durable. It’s all the things you want a Mac to be.”

Ternus also leapt to the defense of Apple’s much-maligned AI efforts. “If we’re doing [AI] right,” he said, “people won’t even necessarily notice or think about it. They will just have a new feature that they start using more and more because they really like it.”

Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser shared two memorable pieces of advice that she learned from Buffett with students at Stanford Graduate School of Business. The first — which actually comes from Tom Murphy by way of Buffett — is a simple reminder to keep your cool in heated moments: “You can always call them an ***-hole tomorrow.” That means, she said, never responding to an email (or any message) in anger. The second is Buffett’s famous maxim to praise by name and criticize by category. “You’re always going to regret it if you criticize someone by name,” she warned. “It’s going to come back and bite you.”

Barron’s estimates that new acquisition OxyChem has already gained 30% since the deal closed at the start of the year. In dollars and cents, that comes out to more than $3 billion to the good. The surge stems from favorable industry conditions: “U.S.-oriented chemicals companies are benefiting from advantaged pricing on feedstocks like natural gas amid international energy dislocations caused by the Mideast conflict.”

The deal had already won praise in some quarters for coming at a valuation tied to what’s thought to be trough earnings — with Berkshire essentially buying OxyChem at a depressed multiple during a cyclical low in the petrochemical sector.

HomeServices of America CEO Chris Kelly told Real Estate News about his vision to mold the Berkshire-owned brokerage into a more unified whole. “Ideally,” he said, “what we want HomeServices to be is the professional adults in the room. It’s really important that HomeServices steps up and fulfills its obligation as one of the top three brokerages in the country.” To achieve this, Kelly is shifting the organization from a holding company mindset — where oversight was minimal — to more of a true (and involved) parent company. Previously, the hands-off approach to acquisitions and integration led to fragmentation and confusion. “Unfortunately,” said Kelly, “what happens is you end up having 40 different ways of doing everything.”

Berkshire also collected a few quarterly dividends this week: $231.7 million from Chevron, $25.4 million from Moody’s, and $1.7 million from Louisiana-Pacific.

In his first letter to shareholders, Abel wrote that “our cash and U.S. Treasury holdings now exceed $370 billion” — signaling perhaps that he prefers the more expansive view of Berkshire’s cash total.

Any way you slice it, this is a lot of money — representing roughly 30.5% of the conglomerate’s total assets. And while such a massive cash hoard is not necessarily ideal — Berkshire would, of course, rather own productive businesses instead of gobs and gobs of T-Bills — it does provide unmatched optionality and dry powder.

I know not everyone will agree, but I see Berkshire’s cash as much more of an opportunity than a cause for concern or handwringing. Especially with Abel pledging to remain disciplined and not allow it to burn a hole in his pocket.

“Obviously,” he told CNBC last week, “we want to deploy the capital into areas that we see long-term value creation for our shareholders. But the goal is not to just take down the amount [no matter what].”

(2) A not-so-insignificant part of Berkshire’s recent cash accumulation has been the total lack of share repurchases. For several years there, Buffett was able to redirect a lot of excess capital towards buying in Berkshire stock at prices he deemed attractive. When that stopped in May 2024, he lost a favored outlet for the cash flowing into Omaha. But, as Abel announced last week, repurchases have officially restarted — and will continue for as long as the price remains right.

One noteworthy wrinkle: The common stock repurchase program was amended last year to state that Berkshire may buy back shares whenever the CEO — after consultation with the chairman of the board — believes the price is below intrinsic value (conservatively determined). And while it’s not at all surprising that Abel would seek Buffett’s counsel before deploying capital in this manner, that requirement has now been explicitly baked into the process going forward.

(3) Operating earnings — the metric long championed by Buffett, Munger, and now Abel as the truest gauge of Berkshire’s underlying business performance — took a big hit in the fourth quarter. After adjusting for currency fluctuations, Q4 operating earnings declined 28.1%. Which pulled the full-year result down 6% to $44.5 billion.

The main culprit was an increasingly tough environment for insurance underwriters. Basically, big insurance profits in recent years attracted more competition into the markets, which in turn drove premium pricing lower and lower. As a result, Ajit Jain and co. wisely refused to chase volume at inadequate rates for the risks involved.

This happens from time to time in this industry — and, when it does, Berkshire simply scales back and waits for the cycle to turn back in its favor. As it inevitably does. It’s not a sign of structural weakness in Berkshire’s insurance operations, but rather the discipline to walk away instead of writing business at foolish prices.

Abel also highlighted another drag on operating earnings during his CNBC interview. “We did, across our non-insurance businesses, take a $1.55 billion impairment,” he said. “That was across four of our smaller businesses in challenged industries. If it had been any of our major businesses, I would have touched on it [in my letter].”

(4) Although each of Berkshire’s three underwriting groups finished the year with lower earnings, they recorded an impressive overall combined ratio of 87.1%. Abel called this “an exceptional result for an insurer of our scale”. After-tax underwriting earnings clocked in at $7.3 billion; a pretty nice number, albeit one with a very tough year-over-year comparator ($9.0 billion).

The issue, of course, is that earnings may continue to drop for the foreseeable future until the aforementioned industry conditions improve. Underwriting earnings sunk 54% to $1.6 billion in the fourth quarter — with GEICO’s policy acquisition expenses on the rise and BH Primary and BH Reinsurance Groups both writing less premiums.

“In the fourth quarter,” Abel told CNBC, “which then translated for the 12-month results, our insurance results were down. You can see a lot of capital coming into the industry. Ajit and his team will continue to apply the discipline that the price and the risk have to be right for us to write a policy.”

(5) Berkshire was a net seller of stock again in 2025. The conglomerate spent $16.9 billion acquiring equity securities versus $30.7 billion of sales.

Of particular interest, Abel spotlighted four major holdings — Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody’s — as quasi-forever holdings. That begs two big questions: What about unmentioned top-five positions like Bank of America and Chevron? And does this mean Berkshire is done selling its Apple shares?

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Berkshire also recorded a $5.7 billion impairment on its Occidental Petroleum stake. But, the 10-K notes, “we currently have no intention of disposing of any Occidental common stock”. Another troublesome investment — Kraft Heinz — may have earned a reprieve by halting its planned separation. Berkshire had been vocally unhappy about the company’s de-merger of sorts and even laid the groundwork to sell off its shares. But, after Kraft Heinz pressed pause on the breakup, Abel shifted into wait-and-see mode. “We thought [the pause] was absolutely the right approach,” he said. And even though Berkshire registered to sell virtually its entire Kraft Heinz position, “[that’s] not something we’re going to take any immediate action on currently”.

(6) BNSF Railway continues to improve, but “not enough” for Abel’s taste. After-tax earnings rose 8.8% to $5.47 billion, driven by enhanced operating efficiencies and a 3.7% reduction in operating expenses. Cash generation also remained robust with $8.1 billion in net operating cash flows — of which $4.4 billion was sent back to Omaha as a dividend. BNSF’s operating margin improved from 32.0% to 34.5%. And, as Abel noted in his letter, for every 1% that this metric increases, $230 million of incremental cash flow will be generated. A little improvement can lead to a lot of cash.

“These gains matter,” wrote Abel, “but they are not enough; more progress is needed to translate operational improvements into stronger financial results … We will be disappointed if we do not deliver a substantial improvement over the next few years.”

Abel’s discontent likely stems from the fact that BNSF’s operating ratio still trails rival Union Pacific (40.2%) by quite a bit. It also lags Norfolk Southern (35.8%), while narrowly leading CSX’s impairment-adjusted mark of 33.2%.

(7) Berkshire Hathaway Energy must determine whether the “regulatory compact” still exists between states and utilities. BHE’s after-tax earnings increased by $249 million for the full year, though did decline 5.2% ($38 million) in the fourth quarter. In his letter, Abel highlighted that the energy company racked up $8.4 billion in net cash flows from operating activities, consistent with its five-year average.

But the PacifiCorp wildfire situation has BHE “rebalancing” its plans going forward. “When a BHE utility is responsible for a wildfire,” wrote Abel, “it has acknowledged that responsibility, including PacifiCorp’s settlements related primarily to the 2020 Labor Day fires. At the same time, PacifiCorp is not an insurer of last resort and should not be treated as a deep pocket. Where responsibility does not exist, it will continue to seek judicial relief.”

He added that BHE’s on-going willingness to invest capital “depends on the continued functioning of the regulatory compact through which utilities earn a reasonable return on invested capital”. And, at the moment, Abel and co. feel that compact has been broken by states and regulators.

(8) The MSR segment is a bit of a mixed bag. Earnings increased 4.4% to $13.6 billion, powered by its manufacturing and service businesses. Precision Castparts continued its comeback with a 34.2% jump in pre-tax earnings and $2.4 billion of net cash flows from operating activities (a big improvement over its pandemic-era numbers).

Other subsidiary news of note: Brooks Sports remains the current standout of the consumer products group; the high-volume/low-margin McLane grew its profit margin by 1.3% as pre-tax earnings jumped by $42 million; and NFM was the only member of the retail group to boost its earnings.

(9) Abel provided much-appreciated commentary on last year’s acquisitions.

OxyChem is a well-run industrial chemicals business we first encountered through our investment in Occidental. The chlorine and caustic soda it produces serve essential markets, led by construction and core industrial uses. Management prioritizes efficient execution over volume, supported by an integrated asset base and access to low-cost raw materials. For Berkshire, this translates into cash flows from a compelling addition to our operating businesses.

Last year, Warren received a letter from Steve Levy, Bell Laboratories’ CEO, asking that we look at the family-owned business he manages for the daughters of founder Malcolm Stack. Steve’s letter was perfect. Bell Laboratories meets a persistent need: rodent control. In Steve’s words, it possesses “high operating margins, very good historical growth and future growth potential, easy to understand and always needed, and a strong management team.” In our words: a business with durable advantages and long-term economic prospects run by excellent managers. We only wish it had been ten times bigger.

(10) Pilot continues to scuffle, but Abel sounds relatively hopeful that better days are on the way. Earnings at the travel center network plummeted 69.1% to just $190 million, but the Berkshire CEO shared that it nevertheless delivered $1.7 billion of net cash flow from operating activities (which was actually an improvement over 2024).

He also mentioned that Pilot’s Pro Preference score — which measures how often professional drivers choose Pilot over the competition — increased from 27% in 2022 to 35% today. And while that ranks second in the industry, it’s still not good enough. “We should be #1,” wrote Abel, “and we will not be pleased until that is achieved.”

And he took the opportunity to break two notable pieces of news.

(1) Berkshire resumed share repurchases on Wednesday morning — following the 48-hour cooling off period — for the first time since May 2024.

“We’re doing it, obviously, on behalf of our shareholders and owners,” said Abel. “We have to view this as we’re creating value for our shareholders long-term.”

Before firing up the buyback machine, Abel consulted with chairman Warren Buffett. “I absolutely talked to Warren,” he said. And, presumably, the two men agreed that Berkshire’s intrinsic value (conservatively determined) had risen high enough above the current share price to merit repurchase.

Berkshire does not make a habit of announcing exactly when — and at what price — it repurchases shares, but Abel decided to make a one-time exception in this case.

(2) Abel used his entire after-tax salary to buy 21 Class A shares for $15.3 million.

This increases the new CEO’s Berkshire holdings up to 249 vote-rich Class A shares. And, in an even more impressive gesture, Abel pledged to do the same in every year of his tenure as CEO. In essence, every dollar of Abel’s take-home pay will be reinvested in the company for the foreseeable future.

When asked about his reasoning, Abel emphasized two key motivations.

“One, we have always highlighted [that] absolute alignment with our shareholders, our partners, our owners is critical,” he said. “I already have some shares, but the goal was to continue to demonstrate alignment with them.”

“Two, as the CEO, I absolutely obviously believe in Berkshire. With the transition from Warren, I inherited a company that has an incredible foundation. I believe in its future [and] the opportunities that exist there.”

Becky Quick summed up the surprising announcement well: “I can’t imagine any other corporate leader doing this.”

Other news and notes from the Berkshire Hathaway orbit…

Warren Buffett handed off his letter-writing duties to new CEO Greg Abel this year, but he did recently pen a short note to the Omaha World-Herald. In a letter to the paper’s “Public Pulse” section, Buffett paid tribute to the late Mike Yanney, a prominent Omaha businessman and philanthropist, who passed away last month.

“I want to add my voice to the many others who expressed Omaha’s admiration for the work performed by Mike Yanney during his lifetime,” wrote Buffett. “There’s much that is good about Omaha and the Midlands, and Mike had a hand — often a big hand — in their development. He and Walter Scott were particularly effective, throwing their energies and resources into advancing what was good for Omaha. The city will miss him as will his many friends.”

I’m still making my way through Chris Bloomstran’s massive new letter to Semper Augustus clients, but wanted to highlight one interesting Berkshire-related point. Much of the commentary on Berkshire’s stock price over the past year has centered on the “evaporation” of the so-called Buffett premium. Shares hit an all-time high the day before Buffett announced his retirement, but then slumped 6.7% over the rest of the year even as the broader market surged. Many credited this relative underperformance with the Buffett premium finally going away.

Bloomstran pushed back on that narrative, pointing out that any premium actually disappeared more than 25 years ago following the General Re acquisition. Buffett used Berkshire stock — then trading at 3x book value — to pay for the insurance giant. By March 2000, Berkshire shares had fallen to just 105% of book value. “By this point,” as Bloomstran put it, “the Buffett premium was long gone [and] no Buffett premium existed for the next quarter century.”

Greg Abel wrote that “safety remains the top priority” at BNSF Railway — and, on that front, 2025 was a banner year. In fact, 2025 ranked as the best safety year in the railroad’s 177-year history. BNSF’s injury frequency rate dropped by 16%, along with a 13% reduction in rail equipment incidents. To keep safety top of mind, the railroad bestows prestigious Safety Bell Awards on its top-performing teams. These brass bells, preserved from historic steam locomotives, are kept by the safest teams for a year before being passed on to the next winners. BNSF’s Powder River Division claimed the top prize for Best Overall Safety in 2025.

Someday I will have good news about PacifiCorp — but it won’t be today. The beleaguered Berkshire Hathaway Energy subsidiary got socked with another big wildfire-related verdict last week. One notably larger than prior awards to plaintiffs. An Oregon jury ordered PacifiCorp to pay $305 million — $19 million per plaintiff — which far outpaces the historical average of ~$5.5 million from earlier trials.

“Today’s verdict is an irresponsible outcome related to damages caused by a fire that PacifiCorp did not start or contribute to as determined by the Oregon Department of Forestry,” the utility said in a statement. “This is why we have been and will continue to challenge these verdicts.”

This outsized award might also bring with it negative credit implications. S&P Global placed PacifiCorp on CreditWatch for an imminent ratings decrease. If $19 million per plaintiff awards become the norm, S&P says it will likely downgrade PacifiCorp’s long-term issuer credit rating by two or more notches to junk status.

Occidental Petroleum’s STRATOS Direct Air Capture facility is now in the final stage of startup. Oxy subsidiary 1PointFive shared on LinkedIn that Phase 1 should go online sometime in the second quarter, with operational ramp-up of Phase 2 throughout the rest of the year. Once fully up and running, STRATOS (located in the Permian Basin) could capture up to 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

A must-read from The Rational Walk on Berkshire’s future. “Mr. Abel strongly alludes to the hope that he will have a multi-decade run at Berkshire,” he wrote, “and I look forward to observing how his management of the business evolves over time. He passed the first test of his leadership quite well with this letter and watching him as the main figure on stage at the upcoming annual meeting will be interesting. I suspect that in 2040, Berkshire shareholders will likely view Mr. Abel’s tenure with the same admiration that Apple shareholders no doubt view Tim Cook’s record.”

And, in closing, Berkshire collected a couple of smaller dividends this week: $17.5 million from Kroger and $5.6 million from Visa.

Or, in other words, the perfect mix of big picture principles and practicality.

This was Abel’s opportunity to properly introduce himself to Berkshire shareholders — to reassure them that his mission is more of stewardship than seismic change — and he did not disappoint.

Until now, during his few on-stage appearances at annual meetings, Abel mostly limited himself to nuts-and-bolts answers about Berkshire’s operating businesses. Here, for the first time, we get a fuller picture — his perspective on the entire empire, capital allocation, and the nigh-impossible challenge of succeeding Warren Buffett.

There was a lot to like about Greg Abel’s first letter as Berkshire Hathaway CEO.

Such as…

Abel is very aware of the immense responsibility that now rests on his shoulders. “Warren is obviously a very hard act to follow,” he wrote. For many years, everything Berkshire revolved around Warren Buffett. He did not just steer the ship, but was the reason many investors climbed aboard in the first place. They placed their trust (and capital) in Buffett — and were handsomely rewarded. But, now, that trust must rest on Berkshire itself. The conglomerate must shine on its own and not just in the reflected glow of Buffett’s halo. In his letter, Abel repeatedly uses the word “stewardship” — of nurturing and growing what has already been built — to describe his new role.

Abel plans to stick around for a while. He laughed off the possibility of replicating Buffett’s sixty years of service, but included a line that demonstrated he sees the CEO chair as a lifelong calling and not just a pitstop along the road to retirement. “Twenty years from now,” he wrote, “when I will have just a fraction of the tenure that Warren had, my intention is that you — or your descendants — will be proud that your company is stronger than ever.” At Berkshire, endurance has always been the ultimate competitive advantage — and Abel seems to be eyeing at least a twenty-year run.

The words of Charlie Munger ring in Abel’s ears. “Charlie’s comment on May 1, 2021, that ‘Greg will keep the culture’ will forever resonate with me,” admitted Abel. That’s in reference to Charlie inadvertently letting the succession cat out of the bag at the 2021 AGM, when it was still a closely-guarded secret. Abel called the endorsement “a reminder that our culture is our most treasured asset, a call to maintain what defines Berkshire, and a challenge to ensure our culture continues”.

Speaking of culture, Berkshire’s foundational values will never change. Last month, after stepping into the CEO role, Abel sent a letter to Berkshire employees in which he reaffirmed that the conglomerate’s culture and values will “remain unchanged and will continue into perpetuity”. He named the five key pillars as decentralization, integrity, financial strength, risk management, and operational excellence — and argued that these are “not the result of our success, but the reason for it”.

Decentralization is still the name of the game. Abel draws a finer line than simply delegating to the point of abdication; instead, granting autonomy based on deserved trust and paired with real accountability. Managers will continue to run their businesses with wide latitude because they are the ones closest to the customers, the competition, and the realities on the ground. “This will not change,” wrote Abel. Plus, it attracts exactly the kind of exceptional leaders Berkshire needs — those who crave both the authority to steer their own ship and the responsibility that comes with it.

Berkshire will continue to operate with the utmost discipline. Abel spent a lot of time walking readers through the conglomerate’s operations and performance in 2025 — which I will dive into next week with a full review of the annual report — including the big earnings decline in the insurance segment. He did not sound worried, though, and reminded readers that Berkshire only writes policies when it can do so profitably, on terms that make sense for the long haul. Current conditions call for a pullback in business, rather than chasing volume at inadequate rates. Even if that results in some rough-looking numbers from time to time. Ajit Jain and co. will NEVER compromise their standards for the sugar-high of short-term success.

A clearer look at how Abel evaluates business performance. The new Berkshire CEO makes repeated reference to net operating cash flow when discussing various facets of the conglomerate — comparing the current number to its five-year average. Abel also admits a preference for using operating margin to judge BNSF Railway. (A metric in which Berkshire’s railroad still trails its competitors by “too wide” a distance.)

And, in one of the more interesting moments of the letter, he expressed dissatisfaction with the multi-step structure of the Pilot acquisition. “We first invested in Pilot in 2017,” wrote Abel, “however, our ability to manage it was contractually delayed until 2023. That mistake will not happen again.”

The much-missed (at least by me) equity investments section is back — complete with cost basis information for several large holdings. Abel highlighted four key domestic stock holdings — Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody’s — and indicated there would only be “limited activity” in these positions going forward. He didn’t use the phrase permanent holding, but that seemed to be the gist. Notably, there are several big names that did not make the list — like Bank of America, Chevron, and Occidental Petroleum. (All of which are bigger holdings than Moody’s.) Abel did add that he views the five Japanese trading houses as investments “comparable to our major U.S. holdings in importance and long-term value creation opportunity”.

Abel sounds positively Buffett-like in terms of the capital allocation levers. Especially when it comes to share repurchases — of which there were none in the fourth quarter. “We will buy back Berkshire shares when they trade below our estimate of intrinsic value, conservatively determined, ensuring that repurchases enhance per-share value for continuing owners,” he wrote. Dividends, meanwhile, remain off the table for the time being. “Berkshire will not pay dividends,” said Abel, “so long as more than one dollar of market value for shareholders is reasonably likely to be created by each dollar of retained earnings.”

Any other purchases — either of wholly-owned businesses or equity stakes on the open market — will be made with the long run in mind. “We will assess value carefully, act patiently, and hold for the long term — preferably forever.”

No unrealistic expectations here. Abel echoed his predecessor’s frequent warning that Berkshire has simply grown too large to post outsized returns. “At Berkshire’s scale,” he wrote, “the math of compounding works against us — a reality long understood and best acknowledged plainly.” The days of routinely trouncing the market are behind us; not because the principles have failed, but because Berkshire’s capital base is now measured in hundreds of billions rather than millions. As such, “our opportunity is improvement in per-share value over the long term, even when progress comes in smaller increments”. Probably as safe a sign as any that Abel will repurchase shares in a big way when the price is right.

Berkshire’s rather laconic communication strategy is here to stay. “Berkshire will always communicate with all shareholders at the same time and through the same channels to give each of you the necessary information to assess Berkshire’s performance,” wrote Abel. “We concentrate on quality, not frequency. If a significant issue arises, you will hear from me, but it will not be through quarterly commentary, given our long-term horizon.” No selective leaks to favored analysts, no earnings calls with scripted platitudes, no monthly updates to fill uncomfortable silences. The annual letter — and annual meeting — will remain Berkshire’s forum of choice.

Shareholders will hear more from the .400 hitters who keep Berkshire humming. The Q&A session at this year’s annual meeting will look a little different — with a couple of new faces making their debut on stage. The morning session will still open with an update on Berkshire’s performance from the CEO and then Abel and Ajit Jain will field questions until the lunchtime break. Then, in the second session, Abel will be joined by BNSF CEO Katie Farmer and NetJets CEO Adam Johnson. “In that way,” wrote Abel, “we will be able to cover Berkshire’s insurance and non-insurance operations [across the two sessions].” And this might just be the start — with Abel hinting that we could see a rotating cast of characters in future years, as he shines a much-deserved spotlight on Berkshire’s deep bench of managerial talent.

For many years now, on the last Saturday of February, I would pop out of bed bright and early — ready to devour Warren Buffett’s latest letter just as soon as it appeared on Berkshire’s website. And I don’t expect that to change in the Abel era.

In the meantime, if you need something to while away the hours, Christopher Bloomstran released his own annual letter to Semper Augustus clients on Wednesday. This year’s effort clocked in at an astounding 184 pages — with around half of that his admirably extensive analysis of Berkshire’s business empire.

It will take me a while to work through the whole thing, but I did flip ahead to see Bloomstran’s new intrinsic value estimate for the conglomerate.

“Far more important than short-term swings in stock prices is growth in intrinsic value per share and how Berkshire invests its capital,” he wrote. “By Semper’s math, 2025 intrinsic value grew 9.3% from $1.126 trillion to $1.23 trillion, or in per-share terms to $855,396 per A share and $570 per B share.”

Berkshire shares currently trade in the $745,000 (A) and $490 (B) range.

Other news and notes from the Berkshire Hathaway orbit…

Berkshire Hathaway director Chris Davis appeared on Bloomberg ETF IQ this week and, among other things, discussed the conglomerate’s post-Buffett future. And, to illustrate his confidence, he turned to his favorite historical parallel — Standard Oil’s remarkable endurance long after John D. Rockefeller stepped away. “I would challenge you to name the second CEO of Standard Oil,” he said. “And Standard Oil was the most valuable company in the world for something like twelve decades.”

The real key to longevity, Davis argued, is not celebrity leadership — but durable foundations. “With Standard Oil and these other businesses [like Apple and Amazon], you had long-lived assets and you had very strong cultures. You don’t need to be able to name the second CEO to have this operating mindset and the ability to execute and protect that culture. Berkshire has very long-lived assets and a spectacular culture.”

Davis also praised one of Berkshire’s smaller holdings, Capital One Financial, as “the greatest fintech company in the U.S. for the last 25-30 years”. (Berkshire owns 1.1% of Capital One, a position currently valued at $1.5 billion.) “Did you know Capital One is in the top ten of all companies for AI patents?” he asked. “Isn’t that amazing? Here’s a company trading at 12-13x earnings with a 30-year record, run by the founder, [and] the key is the culture, the tech stack, and the scale to make the investments. I put Capital One right at the top of that list [of great fintech stocks].”

A federal appeals court unanimously reversed an $8 million verdict against BNSF Railway for two asbestos-related deaths in Montana. BNSF had transported asbestos-laden vermiculite from a W.R. Grace mine in Libby, Montana, for decades as required under federal “common carrier” laws. These obligations compel railroads to carry goods regardless of content — and provide broad liability protections for doing so. This win should also bolster BNSF’s defense in hundreds of other asbestos-related lawsuits currently pending in Montana courts.

In the continuing saga of PacifiCorp, the beleaguered BHE subsidiary agreed to pay $575 million to settle all known federal government claims related to six wildfires in Oregon and California. This payment will reimburse the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management for firefighting costs and support restoration efforts on nearly 290,000 acres of burned public land. Notably, PacifiCorp did not admit liability for any of the fires as part of this settlement.

“This settlement is another significant milestone demonstrating our ongoing commitment to resolve all reasonable claims related to the devastating fires that affected Oregon and California,” the Berkshire-owned utility said in a statement. “Setting aside claims arising from the Beachie Creek / Santiam Canyon fire, we have now settled nearly 90% of known claims for a total of more than $2.2 billion.”

Kraft Heinz CEO Steve Cahillane discussed his decision to pause the company’s planned separation on CNBC last week. He was initially enthusiastic about the split, but changed his mind after taking a closer look under the hood. “One thing that [worried me] is the exit rate of the business, particularly what we call the North American Grocery Co., was not as strong as we would have liked it to be,” he said. “And to do a successful separation, you really have to have a business in a healthier state.” Cahillane realized that resources would be better spent shoring up the scuffling North American business — and a separation could always be revisited in the future.

“I’m in favor of preserving the optionality [to separate or not] going forward,” he said. “Once we get this business humming and moving in the right direction and growing, we will have all sorts of opportunities. One of which will continue to be separation … but there are other value creation opportunities in front of us as well.”

In Cahillane’s opinion, the 3G Capital cost-cutting campaign did a real number on Kraft Heinz as a whole. “Since the merger ten years ago, we have lost share each and every year. We were very lean — the 3G model of really taking costs out affected the company greatly. We took way too much out of marketing and way too much out of our SG&A. We were operating at levels that were half the overhead of some of our peers and very low marketing levels. We are now, with this $600 million investment, getting closer to our benchmarks for those same things. It won’t happen overnight. It will take some time. But the company, for ten years, has lost share every single year — and the last year was one of the worst. So we have to fix that.”

Dairy Queen announced a new partnership with the wildly-popular Savannah Bananas baseball team for the upcoming season. DQ will launch a new Savannah Bananas Split Shake to commemorate the occasion — and will run the “DQ Shake Snag” promotion at Bananas games this summer, giving any fans who catch a foul ball there the chance to win free shakes.

“Our partnership with the Savannah Bananas is a natural fit for DQ,” said executive vice president Maria Hokanson. “We’re two brands that put the fan experience first, bring people together to create special memories, and of course, love to flip.”

In a recent Risk & Insurance interview, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance head of marine claims Chris Frick offered rare insights into Berkshire’s insurance operations. Contrary to widespread public perception that insurers hunt for excuses to deny claims, he noted that BHSI takes the opposite approach. “My adjusters have always been trained to find coverage first,” said Frick. “Most of the public thinks the big bad claims people are trained to find reasons to deny claims. [But] most of the people in claims roles that I know, their job is to affirmatively find coverage.”

Frick also shared a hiring principle that echoes Charlie Munger’s emphasis on intellectual humility and mental flexibility. “I ask a lot of questions when I interview candidates about what makes them change their mind, how they come to the process of changing their mind, and how difficult that is for them.”

“You don’t want somebody that’s going to cave every time they see something and say, ‘Oh, yeah, I agree with your position.’ You want them to be firm in their position, but [also] open to the idea that they might be wrong.”

And, finally, a few odds and ends to finish the week…

• In the private jet game, there is NetJets — and then there is everyone else. According to the latest ARGUS TRAQPak data, NetJets logged 719,086 flight hours in 2025, an 8.1% increase year over year, which solidified its commanding 13.27% share of the total tracked market. Runner-up Flexjet lags back at 5.25%.

• This week, Berkshire collected $33.7 million in quarterly dividends from Sirius XM and (somewhat less impressively) $173,423 from Jefferies Financial Group.

• I will have more on Berkshire’s recent New York Times investment in the coming weeks. But, in the meantime, check out for a closer look at what might have drawn Berkshire’s eye to the media giant.

• Word out of India is that Berkshire vice chairman Ajit Jain recently purchased a luxury apartment in Gurugram for ~$9 million.

Over the course of this wide-ranging conversation — recorded before a crowd of Fidelity employees and clients — Lynch reflected on timeless lessons from his storied career and shared thoughts on the most pressing issues facing investors today. Enjoy!

Note: I condensed and summarized some of Josh Brown’s questions for space and clarity — but all of Peter Lynch’s comments are presented in full.

Josh Brown: Peter Lynch needs no introduction, of course, but I am going to give him one anyway. Peter is vice chairman of Fidelity Management & Research, the investment advisory firm of Fidelity Investments, where he has worked since 1969.

He is also president and chairman of The Lynch Foundation, which supports programs that focus on education, cultural and historic preservation, health care, and medical research. From 1974 to 1977, Peter was director of research at Fidelity and from 1977 until his retirement in 1990, he was manager of the Magellan Fund at Fidelity. During his tenure at the Magellan Fund, Peter averaged a 29.2% annual return, consistently more than doubling the S&P 500 market index, making it the best performing mutual fund in the world and the best 20-year return of any mutual fund ever. During that time, Magellan’s assets under management increased from $18 million to $14 billion. Ladies and gentlemen, Peter Lynch.

There are a lot of reasons why you are on the Mount Rushmore of the greatest investors of all time. One of them is obviously your track record. Another is how much wisdom you were willing to share with everyone else via books and interviews. But, among your greatest achievements, is the fact that you went out on top — literally at the height of your popularity and your performance — in 1990. That was 35 years ago. You were 46 years old at the time.

I wanted to start by asking you about that decision.

Peter Lynch: I loved the firm. I still love the firm. It’s the best ever put together. My father died at 46 — and I was 46. I remember that number. I was in the office every Saturday at seven o’clock. We said at Fidelity we could get up a basketball game on Saturday and at Wellington they couldn’t play double solitaire on Saturday.

Every day, I enjoyed it. The people were fantastic. We had three daughters and I just wanted to spend more time with my wife and three daughters. And I was lucky enough that Fidelity said, “Just stay on and we’ll give you a role here working with young analysts and fund managers.” So it’s been great. A great company. The best.

Did you ever think about getting back into the game?

I had all of these offers to do a closed-end fund. $1 billion, $2 billion, with 2% fees. The market is up thirty-fold — thirty-fold — since I left. So if I just did average, it would be a $60 billion fund.

The temptation was never great enough, though?

No. I still would be working those same hours. Because one out of every 100 Americans was in Magellan Fund.

Is that right?

One out of every 100 Americans was in Magellan Fund. These are people that $5,000 or $10,000 was very meaningful.

Did the weight of that get to you at all?

Yeah! I had a perfect record. I think the market went down ten times in those thirteen years — and I went down more every time than the market. Every time.

But you somehow managed to get through those moments when you were down. How did you do that?

In ’87, I got letters from people saying, “Hang in there. It will be great. Don’t worry about it.” It was amazing.

Were there ever moments where you looked at something that was happening in the market and said to yourself, “If I were at Magellan, I know exactly what I would be doing right now with this opportunity”? Have you had those moments?

Yeah, I did have that moment when Pets.com came public.1

Pets.com?

I said, “This makes no sense at all.” And then it went up. (Laughs) I can’t short, but there were so many companies of no value and, fortunately, Fidelity didn’t own those damn things. That was a period to say, “Wow! What’s wrong here?!?”

Who are the professional investors or the corporate leaders that you either admire most today or that you learned from during your tenure at Magellan?

Read more

Lynch has kept a relatively low profile since stepping back from Magellan in 1990, so it’s nice to hear what he thinks has — and has not — changed about the money game. Plus, he remains one of the very few investing minds that can rival Warren Buffett for his ability to distill big ideas into snappy one-liners that stick with you for years.

One of my favorite parts from the interview comes when Lynch recounts the time he unintentionally ended up advising singer/actor Barbra Streisand on her stock picks.

I did an ad for Fidelity with Lily Tomlin. She’s very close with Barbra Streisand. So I’m on vacation with my wife and two other couples and my secretary says, “Barbra Streisand has called three times. She really would like to talk to you.”

I said, “Sure, I’ve got some time this afternoon.”

So I call her and she says, “I own all these stocks and I’m getting up at 5 a.m. looking [and worried about] this stuff.” She said, “I never did drugs. I never did marijuana. I just can’t sleep. What do I do?”

I said, “Tell me five things you own.”

She named five companies and I said, “Okay, what do they do?”

She didn’t have any idea. This is an incredibly talented person and she had no idea what those companies did. What are you going to do if they go down 50%? If you don’t understand what you own, you’re toast.

That single exchange captures Lynch’s entire philosophy in a nutshell: Invest in what you understand. Without that foundation, volatility becomes unbearable.

So, if you’ve been on the fence about upgrading, now just might be the perfect time.

Other news and notes from the Berkshire Hathaway orbit…

Berkshire Hathaway released its final 13F of the Warren Buffett era on Tuesday, providing a snapshot of the conglomerate’s stock portfolio as of December 31, 2025. There were no blockbuster buys or sells to mark the end of an epoch. No dramatic “one last swing” from the Oracle himself. Berkshire did open a small-ish position in the New York Times — dipping back into the newspaper/media world after selling its stable of publications in 2020 — but its size means this probably wasn’t Buffett.

Among the top five holdings, Berkshire continued to trim Apple and Bank of America — while adding 8.1 million more shares of Chevron. And, after six straight quarters of purchases, it also now owns 9.9% of Domino’s Pizza.

On the sell side, Berkshire slashed its stake in the Atlanta Braves by nearly half and in Amazon by even more. For everything else, the chart above shows all of the portfolio’s ins and outs during Q4 2025. (Later on Tuesday, we also got another filing that revealed Berkshire sold ~330,000 shares of Liberty Live Series C stock in January.)

PacifiCorp agreed to sell its wind and natural gas generation/distribution assets in Washington state to Portland General Electric for $1.9 billion. “This will improve the company’s financial stability,” said CEO Darin Carroll, “while simplifying our operations to support our long-term commitment to customers in each of our remaining states.” The press release also noted that “diverging policies among the six states PacifiCorp serves have created extraordinary pressure” on the utility.

That’s in reference, of course, to the wildfire litigation that has plagued PacifiCorp over the past few years. The company has even warned about a possible liquidity crisis if its credit ratings slip below investment grade. As such, this asset sale seems a clear step towards shoring up the balance sheet while also streamlining operations.

Both Greg Abel and Warren Buffett made it clear at recent annual meetings that they would not let regulatory, political, or social pressures erode value at BHE indefinitely. And the rubber seems to have finally met the road in that regard.

BNSF Railway had a banner year on the service front — with high marks in the all-important efficiency metrics of dwell and velocity. Dwell tracks the average time a railcar sits idle in a terminal before moving on to its next stop. Basically, lower dwell means less congestion and faster turnarounds. (Like in golf, lower numbers are better.) In 2025, BNSF slashed dwell on its merchandise train network by 13% to historic lows. In fact, every single month set a new record. On average, railcars spent three fewer hours sitting in terminals compared to the previous year.

Velocity measures how many miles a railcar or locomotive travels per day. (So, in this case, higher is better.) Across the BNSF network, velocity jumped ~10% last year and “trains holding” was cut in half. Such efficiency improvements can even unlock more capacity — with BNSF delivering over 60,000 additional days of service in 2025.

RC Willey president Jeffrey Child will retire on April 27, but plans to remain on the furniture retailer’s board of directors. “After almost 50 years with RC Willey,” he said, “I have great gratitude for the opportunities, challenges, and friendships that have shaped my career. It has been a pleasure to work alongside our dedicated and talented associates. The company is in a wonderful position, and by continuing on the board of directors, I hope to play a role in the continuing success of RC Willey.”

Child leaves as a furniture legend — named one of Furniture Today’s Titans of the Industry in 2024 and inducted into the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame last year. Lynn Lloyd, currently vice president of merchandising, will replace Child — with CEO Scott Hymas calling this “a thoughtful and planned leadership transition”.

Jeremy Padawer, soon-to-be president of Jazwares, talked toy biz with Toybook. “We have always been early,” he said. “If the toy industry were a cake, it would be two parts evergreen and one part trend. We specialize in independently-owned IP distributed on new frontiers. You must act quickly — not just to sign, but also to manufacture. That’s the nature of trend. If you aren’t first to the table — and you aren’t fast to tool, manufacture, and distribute — then you’re baking with only one of the two key ingredients for success in the toy industry.”

“The biggest challenge retail faces daily is balancing safe bets with new opportunities,” continued Padawer. “Without a Toys ‘R Us with 1,000 stores singularly focused on toys, we tend to bend toward so much safety at mass. Innovation always drove excitement. We are starved for it.”

Henrique Braun, who will become CEO of Coca-Cola at quarter’s end, laid out a mission statement of sorts on the company’s recent earnings call. “While we are proud of what we have accomplished,” he said, “future success is never guaranteed. We must remain discontented. Every day, our system needs to focus on being a little bit better and sharper everywhere to drive transformational impact.”

“We have enduring strength, which includes an incredible foundation of 32 billion-dollar brands and unmatched system reach. Our mission is both to increase this number of billion-dollar brands and to turn today’s billion-dollar brands into tomorrow’s multi-billion-dollar brands.”

And, in closing, Berkshire collected a couple of smaller dividends this week: $8.7 million from Ally Financial and $3.6 million from Lennar.

But, to me, that misses the point of Graham entirely.

His legacy is less numbers and mathematical calculations and more a rich psychological framework that puts intelligent investors in control of their emotions.

I was reminded of this recently while reading about the late Marshall Weinberg, who learned all about value investing at Graham’s feet in the early 1950s.

In a documentary tribute to his mentor, Weinberg recalled one particular moment from those Columbia days that rocked him to the core.

“One sentence changed my life,” he said. “Ben Graham opened the course by saying, ‘If you want to make money in Wall Street, you must have the proper psychological attitude. And no one expresses it better than [Baruch] Spinoza the philosopher.’”

Weinberg nearly fell out of his chair. A finance professor discussing a 17th-century rationalist philosopher? In a room full of students hungry for stock tips?

“You must look at things in the aspect of eternity,” said Graham, quoting Spinoza.

That Latin phrase of Spinoza’s — sub specie aeternitatis — which literally translates to “from the perspective of eternity” — hit Weinberg like a thunderbolt. It became the intellectual North Star that guided his entire career as an investor and philanthropist.

In a world addicted to instant gratification, trading apps that gamify volatility, and news cycles that thrive on manufactured crises, the very concept of “eternity” feels almost alien. So, by pulling this Spinoza line out of the philosophy books, Graham urged his students to step outside the frantic theater of the personal and immediate — to see reality sub specie aeternitatis — from the perspective of eternity.

Wall Street, he knew, is a daily carnival of emotion: prices lurching up and down on earnings whispers, geopolitical tremors, Federal Reserve tea leaves, and those pesky ol’ animal spirits. Most participants allow themselves to be swept along like leaves in a gale — buying in euphoria, selling in panic, and wondering why their portfolios get smaller and smaller.

Graham offered the “proper psychological attitude” as an antidote. The cultivated ability to remain cool and detached when the crowd succumbs to mania or despair. To view stocks not as flickering ticker symbols, but as fractional ownership shares in living, breathing businesses. Judging value not by today’s auction price, but by what said business is worth over the long sweep of time.

In effect, it’s a new twist on Chapter 8 of The Intelligent Investor, in which we learn that market fluctuations should work for us, not against us. An eagle-eyed view of eternity frees an investor from the sturm und drang of the daily fray, allowing them to remain focused on the long-term upward movement of markets and business fundamentals.

There is practical magic in zooming out and viewing market moves through the aspect of eternity. That gut-wrenching 15% drop on a single day? From eternity’s vantage point, just a microscopic blip in the long history of capital appreciation. The roaring bull market that makes you feel like a genius? A temporary swell that comes and goes like the seasons. Companies rise, empires fall, and technologies disrupt — but the long arc of human progress and economic value creation bends upward.

Intelligent investors train themselves to live in a suitably zoomed-out state:

• Don’t panic-sell during downturns (which do happen from time to time). Instead, take advantage of cheaper prices and buy while others are fearful. Markets tend to recover much faster than the doomsayers believe possible.

• Resist the siren song of FOMO when everything (and everyone) feels euphoric because booms often sow the seeds of their own destruction.

• Ask better questions — like “What will this business be worth in 10-20 years?” instead of obsessing over next quarter’s earnings.

• Losses might hurt in the moment, but from the aspect of eternity are better seen as tuition paid for the privilege of compounding wealth over a lifetime.

The market will always try to drag you into its emotional maelstrom. The intelligent investor’s edge is the ability to rise above it.

Circling back to Marshall Weinberg, he took this philosophical lesson to heart and did his best to share it with whoever had ears to hear.

“When others felt overwhelmed by the present moment, Marshall would say calmly and with conviction, ‘Think long term — this is just a moment in time and this shall pass,’” recalled colleague Alexandra Shklar. “He never minimized suffering, but he never let the present erase the future. That is not just optimism. That is wisdom.”

When you adopt the aspect of eternity, the market loses its power to torment you. And, in its place, you gain something far more valuable: clarity, composure, and the quiet confidence that comes from knowing you are playing an entirely different game.

A game that, in the long run, the disciplined, unemotional mind almost always wins.