After taking over from Warren Buffett at the beginning of this year, the new CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel, carried out some serious spending on stocks, share repurchases, and acquisitions. For the three months ended 30th June, Berkshire Hathaway's cash reserves fell 8% to $365.4 billion from $397.4 billion a quarter earlier.
Part of that spending was for $4.5 billion of Berkshire share buybacks, which is much higher than the $235 million of buybacks in Q1. CFRA Research's Cathy Seifert told a media outlet that while the buybacks are likely to encourage investors and boost their confidence, it is also a way for Greg to take the helm and assert himself.