What Berkshire's huge wager on Alphabet says about Warren Buffett's post-CEO role

Warren Buffett is the chairman and former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

Bloomberg/Getty Images Warren Buffett may no longer be Berkshire Hathaway CEO, but its Alphabet wager has all his hallmarks.

Berkshire's third-largest stock bet on June 30 was an almost $38 billion stake in the tech titan.

Berkshire recently reported its biggest quarter for stock purchases and buybacks in years.

Warren Buffett has left the stage at Berkshire Hathaway, but he may still be pulling strings from behind the curtain.

The legendary investor , who ended his six-decade run as Berkshire's CEO at the turn of the year, is likely responsible for building the company a huge Alphabet stake from scratch in under 12 months.

Berkshire owned about 106 million Alphabet shares worth nearly $38 billion at the end of June, its quarterly portfolio update revealed on Friday.

Buffett, who turns 96 later this month, said in a July interview that he initiated the position during the third quarter of 2025.

It was Berkshire's third-largest stock holding on June 30, behind only Apple and American Express.

Buffett may have handed Berkshire's reins to Greg Abel, but given his comments and the sheer scale of the Alphabet stake, it seems likely that he's involved with what could be the final major investment of his career.

David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland who blogs about Berkshire, told Business Insider that he believes Buffett is "still largely managing Berkshire's stock portfolio" along with his investment manager, Ted Weschler.

"He comes into the office every day, and investments are his primary interest," Kass said.

Berkshire Hathaway did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The appeal of Alphabet Alphabet 's $4.2 trillion market capitalization makes it one of the world's most valuable companies.