Greg Abel has put his stamp on Berkshire Hathaway’s $358 billion portfolio with a concentration that reads like a study in toll-booth economics. As of the September 25 close, more than $42 billion of deployed capital sat in three companies that function as either virtual or legal monopolies: Alphabet, Sirius XM, and VeriSign. The trio represents roughly 12% of the portfolio, and two of the three positions were built or dramatically expanded on Abel’s watch since he took the CEO role on January 1.
The Alphabet bet is a scale play
Abel more than tripled the Alphabet stake in the first quarter and added another $17 billion in the second, bringing the combined Class A and Class C position to $36.37 billion. It is now Berkshire’s third-largest holding. The rationale is straightforward: Google handled more than 91% of global search queries in August, per GlobalStats, and YouTube ranks as the planet’s second-most-visited social platform. That dominance translates into ad-pricing power that is effectively unregulated. The source does not disclose whether the purchases were executed in cash or via derivative structures, nor does it provide an average entry price relative to the undisturbed market.
Sirius XM is a legal monopoly with a subscription floor
The $3.23 billion Sirius XM position gives Berkshire 37% of the satellite-radio operator’s outstanding shares. Because the FCC has licensed only one domestic satellite-radio provider, Sirius XM operates as a legal monopoly rather than a virtual one. Its revenue mix is the structural attraction: 76.5% of net sales in the first half of 2026 came from subscriptions, not advertising. Transmission costs are largely fixed regardless of subscriber count, creating operating leverage that is predictable in a downturn. The source does not mention any standstill agreement or board representation tied to the 37% stake.
VeriSign remains a Buffett-era holdover
VeriSign, the exclusive registry for .com and .net domains, accounts for $2.58 billion. The position predates Abel’s tenure and carries the hallmarks of a classic Buffett moat: a contractually protected revenue stream with near-zero marginal cost. The source offers no indication that Abel has added to or trimmed the holding since assuming control.
What the concentration reveals about leverage
Three positions, two built from scratch in six months, suggest Abel is comfortable deploying large blocks of capital into businesses where the competitive advantage is structural rather than managerial. The portfolio’s overall turnover, 16 holdings jettisoned and six reduced in Q1, shows a willingness to clear space for conviction bets. Whether the Alphabet addition reflects a view on search durability, cloud margin expansion, or simply a lack of alternatives at Berkshire’s scale is not addressed in the filing data. The absence of disclosed entry prices, financing terms, or exit triggers leaves the risk-reward calculus opaque. For now, the ledger shows a portfolio increasingly anchored to toll collectors.