Did Warren Buffett's Successor Just Dump $15 Billion of Berkshire's Portfolio? Here's 1 Big Reason to Explain Such a Huge Move.

Key Points

One of Berkshire's top investment managers, Todd Combs, recently left the company for JPMorgan Chase.

New CEO Greg Abel now controls of most of Berkshire's portfolio.

If Abel sold all of Combs' positions, that could amount to roughly $15 billion of the portfolio, or more.

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If Warren Buffett's departure as chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) and the large conglomerate's first new CEO in six decades wasn't enough, there could be more change coming to the company, particularly surrounding its closely watched stock portfolio worth roughly $322 billion.

A report from The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said that new CEO Greg Abel has dumped all the stocks managed by one of Buffett's investing lieutenants, Todd Combs, who recently left Berkshire for a role at JPMorgan Chase.

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If true, the sold stocks could amount to a position of around $15 billion or more.

Combs likely managed about 5% of the portfolio

While Buffett managed the bulk of the equities portfolio until he stepped down as CEO, reports over the years indicated that Combs and Ted Weschler, who is still at Berkshire, oversaw about 10% of it at their own discretion.

Assuming they split it evenly means Combs had control of more than 5% of the portfolio, which today would amount to at least $16 billion. However, Berkshire's portfolio has hovered around $300 billion in recent years, so $15 billion is a fair assumption.

Although Abel has said he plans to leave many things at the company unchanged, the Berkshire veteran has also begun to make his mark. In his first annual letter to shareholders, he listed nine holdings in Berkshire's portfolio that he implied were "core holdings" and would see "limited activity" unless there are "fundamental changes in its long-term economic prospects."

Comments like these have led some to wonder whether Berkshire will be as active an investor. Abel does not have a background in portfolio management.

Abel also said in the letter that the responsibility of the equities portfolio ultimately resides with him, although Weschler would continue to manage 6% of it, including some of it previously managed by Combs.

While it's hard to know exactly which stocks Combs purchased and managed, many market watchers and analysts viewed him as the tech guru at the company and believe he was responsible for buying Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, Verisign, and Snowflake, which Berkshire sold in 2024.

It's also possible that Combs was responsible for some of Berkshire's smaller, more tech-focused financials companies, like Capital One and Ally Financial.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Berkshire lowered its stake in nine of its holdings, including Atlanta Braves Holdings, Aon, Pool Corp., Liberty Latin America, Constellation Brands, and DaVita, although there's been speculation that DaVita is a Weschler position.

The market will get clues soon

The good news is that investors will only have to guess for a few more weeks. Berkshire must file its first-quarter 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by May 2, which would reveal how much in stocks it bought and sold in the first quarter, and provide insight into which sectors. The actual positions that Berkshire changed in the first quarter will be made public in an SEC 13F filing, which must be released by May 15.

Even if Abel intends to sell all of the roughly $15 billion in equities that Combs managed, it may not all happen at once. Berkshire's size and equity positions have grown so large that it's not always easy to unload all at once. It may take several quarters.

Investors should not only look for potential changes to the portfolio, but also consider what it says about Abel's plans for the company and its portfolio. Based on his comments in the shareholder letter, he seems to be moving toward a more passive portfolio that would see fewer quarterly changes. But it's still early on in his tenure, so only time will tell.

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Ally is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Atlanta Braves Holdings, Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Chase, Mastercard, Snowflake, VeriSign, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends Capital One Financial, Constellation Brands, and Pool. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.