Greg Abel Reshapes Berkshire Portfolio With Airline Buy, Bank Trim

Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, made his mark on the conglomerate's massive investment portfolio during the second quarter, trimming the company's Bank of America position by approximately $1.7 billion while simultaneously building a $1.6 billion stake in Delta Air Lines, according to newly disclosed filings.

The Bank of America move continues a divestiture that Buffett himself had been executing for roughly two years before handing the reins to Abel. The decision signals that Berkshire's new leadership is comfortable completing a strategic exit from one of America's largest financial institutions that the previous CEO had already set in motion — suggesting continuity rather than a sharp break from Buffett-era thinking.

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The Delta purchase, however, represents a more striking reversal of legacy. Buffett famously and abruptly dumped Berkshire's entire airline portfolio — including Delta — in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic devastated air travel demand. He later described the decision as a mistake in timing, if not in principle. Abel's decision to re-enter the airline sector through a major Delta position suggests he sees the industry's post-pandemic recovery and consolidation as a fundamentally different investment environment than the one Buffett fled five years ago.

The back-to-back moves, totaling more than $3 billion in combined activity, offer the clearest window yet into Abel's investment instincts as he steps out from Buffett's considerable shadow. Whether his willingness to revisit sectors Buffett abandoned signals a broader shift in Berkshire's philosophy — or simply reflects updated sector fundamentals — will be closely watched by the company's enormous shareholder base and the wider investment community.

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