March 5 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway said on Thursday it has begun repurchasing its own shares after a nearly two-year hiatus, as Greg Abel begins putting his stamp on the conglomerate after succeeding Warren Buffett as chief executive in January.
The repurchases began on Wednesday and are Berkshire’s first since May 2024. They may also help Berkshire reduce its $373.3 billion year-end cash stake, which has grown because Berkshire has struggled to find companies and stocks to buy.
Abel also disclosed he bought 21 Class A shares of Berkshire on Wednesday for about $15 million, representing the after-tax value of his salary, and planned similar purchases in the future. He now owns 249 Class A shares, worth about $182 million as of Wednesday.
Speaking on CNBC, Abel said the stock repurchases help Berkshire create value for shareholders over the long term.
Berkshire normally discloses repurchases on a quarterly basis, and Abel said the disclosure that they had resumed is a one-time event.
Abel also said the goal of his own stock purchases was to demonstrate alignment with shareholders over the long term.
Berkshire’s Class B shares, which trade at about 1/1500th of Class A shares, were up 1.2% in premarket trading.
Through Wednesday, Berkshire shares had lagged the Standard & Poor’s 500 by more than 30 percentage points in the 10 months since Buffett unexpectedly announced he was stepping down as chief executive. He remains Berkshire’s chairman.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, Additional reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in BengaluruEditing by Arun Koyyur and Tomasz Janowski)
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