Warren Buffett turns 96 today and still comes to the office every day. That’s how he pulls the strings

Although he is no longer Berkshire’s CEO, Buffett remains the company’s chairman, is very involved in its operations, and apparently continues to make the big decisions regarding stocks. In an interview with CNBC earlier this year, he said that he continues to come to the office five times a week.

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According to various publications, Buffett also continues to be involved in key investment decisions such as increasing the bet on Alphabet stock, Google’s parent company. The value of the holding recently reached $36.6 billion, making it Berkshire’s third largest investment in stocks.

Despite Buffett’s presence, investors don’t see much gain from stocks this year. Since the beginning of the year, the company’s stock (Class B) has increased by only 1.6%. This despite an increase on August 10 to an intraday record of $537.74, following the earnings report for the second quarter – its best level since the record set shortly before Buffett’s announcement in May 2025 that he would step down as CEO.

Although they emphasized that it is “difficult to say” why Berkshire’s stock is underperforming, Barron’s listed several possible explanations, including uncertainties surrounding Greg Abel as CEO, disappointment that he did not act more aggressively to reduce the company’s still large cash balance, Berkshire’s continued refusal to pay a dividend, and the fact that it did not make a huge acquisition of $100 billion or more.

Believe in Abel

For years, Berkshire’s shareholders and analysts have wondered how to replace Buffett – a huge figure in the world of American business and finance. But after celebrating his 90th birthday, Buffett began to experience something that most people experience much earlier: his age.

“Oddly enough, I didn’t really start getting old until I was 90,” he said in a retirement interview with the Wall Street Journal, “but when you start getting old, it becomes irreversible.”

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Buffett expressed great confidence in his successor’s tenure. Trust that the market does not share. “It was unfair, really, not to put Greg in the position,” Buffett said. “The more years Berkshire gets with Greg, the better.”

Buffett’s fortune is estimated at about 144 billion dollars, and he is in 11th place on the list of the richest people in the world according to Bloomberg, and he served for 56 years as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

The purchases and sales

Since Abel took office, three holdings have been added to Berkshire Hathaway’s stock portfolio: DR Horton, Macy’s and Delta Airlines.

The purchase of Macy’s shares strengthened the buzz of rumors regarding his involvement in investments even after retirement.

The position in Macy’s is considered relatively small, and a purchase of this magnitude would normally be seen as the handiwork of a portfolio manager.

But in an interview Buffett had in March with CNBC, he was asked if he was still making new purchases, and replied that he had made one small purchase.

CNBC estimates that he may have referred to the holding in Macy’s, but he could just as well have been talking about an international purchase or another investment that was not subject to a reporting obligation in the 13F form.

Barron’s said at the time that “it would be noteworthy if the Macy’s purchase was made by Buffett. It would show that at the age of 95, he still loves the investment game and cannot resist a stock at a bargain price, even if the size of the holding is too small to affect Berkshire.”

The financial holding company was also active on the sales side. In his first two quarters as CEO of Berkshire, Abel exited a number of stocks that did not fit his preferences. Among the stocks that Berkshire completely removed from its portfolio in the first two quarters of 2026 are Visa, MasterCard, the health insurance company United Health, Domino’s Pizza, Amazon, and more.

Despite the changes in the company’s portfolio over the past year, Berkshire remained with five large holdings, which make up about 60% of the stock portfolio. Its largest holding, Apple, makes up nearly 20% of the portfolio.

Particularly large holdings in American Express and Bank of America make the financial sector the largest in Berkshire’s portfolio, with about 35% of the portfolio. Information technology companies make up about 23%, of which 10% belong to Alphabet, basic consumer products make up about 14%, and communication services represent about 13%, according to the company’s report for the second quarter.