Named Warren Buffett 's successor at Berkshire Hathaway , Greg Abel only took over as CEO of the operation in January of this year, after the Oracle of Omaha's retirement. And now, near the end of his first quarter in the role, he is beginning to show his hand at the helm of the investment firm .
On Monday, March 23, Berkshire Hathaway announced the purchase of a 2.5% stake in Tokio Marine, one of Japan 's leading insurance companies , in a transaction valued at US$1.8 billion.
In a statement, the companies announced that the agreement will be finalized with the sale of shares in the insurance company to National Indemnity, the main reinsurance operation of the American asset manager. They added that the deal announced today is part of a broader strategic partnership.
Under these terms, the partnership between the asset manager and the insurer will include, in addition to the billion-dollar investment, collaboration in the reinsurance sector, with National Indemnity reinsuring a portion of all of Tokio Marine's business, and in potential acquisitions.
“This strategic partnership represents a major step forward for our insurance business and for the creation of sustainable value, combining the strengths of both organizations,” said Masahiro Koike, CEO of the Tokio Marine group, in a statement.
The Japanese company also emphasized that the agreement will further enhance its reinsurance base, making it less susceptible to market cycles. This will also mitigate underwriting volatility, especially in relation to the increasingly severe risks of natural disasters.
From Berkshire's perspective, this is the first investment actually closed under Abel's leadership. In February, the firm's purchase of approximately 5.07 million shares in The New York Times Company, owner of The New York Times newspaper , for approximately US$351.7 million came to light.
However, the transaction in question, which marked Berkshire's return to investing in media companies, was completed between October and December 2025, the last quarter in which Buffett was at the helm of the investment firm.
During that same period, the company also reduced its stake in Apple by 4.3%, to US$61.9 billion, and in sectors such as energy and banking. At the same time, the asset manager built a position in Alphabet, the holding company behind Google.
When he passed the baton to Abel on January 1st of this year, Buffett left as a "legacy" the nearly US$400 billion in cash accumulated in recent years - a record volume for the operation - a period in which the asset manager sold more shares than it bought.
Despite this billion-dollar cushion, in May 2025, during the company's annual meeting, Abel had already stated that the cash reserve is a "huge asset" that offers the management company protection in case of a market recession.
“We will continue to be Berkshire,” Abel stated at the time. “The way Warren and the team have allocated capital over the last 60 years will not change.” Judging by this first venture under his leadership, the executive is, in a way, beginning to fulfill that promise, in a “safe harbor.”
Japan and its companies have been consolidating themselves as an important destination for Berkshire's resources outside the United States in recent years, a thesis championed by Buffett himself, who praised Japanese companies for their capital allocation, management, and attitude towards shareholders.
From rhetoric to action, since 2019, the asset manager has accumulated stakes of approximately 10% in five major Japanese companies. The portfolio includes names such as Mitsubishi, Itochu, and Mitsui. These stakes were valued at US$35 billion at the end of 2025.
While pursuing and expanding on this thesis, about two weeks ago, Abel announced Berkshire's return to another front, with the first share buyback program of his tenure, a tactic the firm had not used since 2024.
The company's shares were trading slightly higher, up 0.36% on the New York Stock Exchange around 11:10 AM (local time), valuing the asset manager at US$1.04 trillion. Year-to-date, the shares have depreciated by 3.9%.
