Greg Abel has put his stamp on Berkshire Hathaway's $358 billion equity portfolio with unusual speed. Since taking the reins on Jan. 1, the new chief executive has steered roughly 30% of invested assets into just two artificial intelligence holdings, Apple and Alphabet, according to a filing snapshot dated Aug. 20.
The Apple anchor remains
Apple still dominates at $71 billion, or 19.8% of the book, a position Buffett began building in early 2016 on the strength of consumer loyalty and ecosystem lock-in rather than technology bets. The thesis has shifted: Apple Intelligence, the generative-AI suite rolled out less than two years ago, is now expected to drive upgrade cycles for iPhone, iPad and Mac. That narrative carries a price, the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 33, a level that leaves little margin for execution slips.
Alphabet becomes the new conviction bet
The more striking move has been the $17 billion deployed into Alphabet during the June quarter, lifting the combined GOOGL and GOOG stake to $36 billion and making it the portfolio's fourth-largest holding. Abel appears to have found in Google's parent the same durable moat he inherited in Apple: search commanded 91% of global traffic in July per GlobalStats, and YouTube ranks as the planet's second-most-visited social platform. Those franchises funnel advertising dollars with unmatched efficiency.
Cloud growth signals AI payoff
The financial engine, however, is shifting toward infrastructure. Google Cloud revenue surged 82% year-over-year in the second quarter, pushing annualized run-rate sales above $99 billion, while committed backlog swelled to $514 billion. Token throughput for first-party model APIs jumped to roughly 22 billion per minute from 16 billion-plus in the prior quarter, and the Gemini app claimed 950 million monthly active users. Those metrics suggest the AI investment cycle is already converting into recurring, high-margin revenue, precisely the compounding dynamic Berkshire has historically favored.
What to watch
The portfolio's concentration now mirrors the market's own: two mega-cap AI narratives account for nearly a third of Berkshire's equity risk. If the earnings catch-up fails to justify current multiples, the downside is magnified. Conversely, if Cloud and Apple Intelligence deliver the sustained growth Abel is betting on, the portfolio will have front-run the next leg of the AI trade with characteristic patience. The next 13F will reveal whether the buying pace persists or whether the new chief decides the easy money has been made.