As Warren Buffett approaches his planned step down as CEO at the end of next month, he told shareholders that he will be “going quiet,” but only “sort of.” Below, we take a closer look at his Thanksgiving letter—a message that looks set to become a substantial annual tradition—and the latest developments in Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio.

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### A Surprising Stake: Alphabet Shows Up in Berkshire’s Portfolio

A notable surprise emerged in Berkshire Hathaway’s end-of-Q3 equity portfolio snapshot, released after Friday’s closing bell. Someone in Omaha purchased more than 17.8 million Class A shares of Alphabet, Google’s parent company. These shares are currently valued at $4.9 billion, making them the largest Q3 addition by dollar amount.

The news sent Alphabet’s stock 3.5% higher in after-hours trading.

At this point, it’s unclear who made the call. While Buffett has typically overseen purchases of this size, Alphabet doesn’t quite fit his usual style. The stock is already up 51.3% year-to-date, including a 37% climb in the third quarter. Traditionally, Buffett has shied away from tech stocks—he considers Apple more of a consumer products company than a tech giant.

Back in 2019 at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Buffett and Charlie Munger admitted they had “screwed up” by not buying Alphabet earlier. They acknowledged how effective Google advertising was in their own operations but had “just sat there sucking our thumbs.” At that time, shares traded around $59, and they gave no indication they intended to correct that oversight.

However, incoming CEO Greg Abel is not burdened by that history. Buffett has already been delegating many of his duties to Abel, so the investment might reflect Abel’s influence—or possibly that of Berkshire’s portfolio managers, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. Stay tuned for more updates.

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### Not So Surprising Selling: Apple and Bank of America Reductions

In contrast to the surprise purchase of Alphabet shares, some of Berkshire’s biggest reductions were more expected.

Alphabet’s Q3 addition of $4.3 billion, based on the September 30 price, dwarfs other changes, with Chubb’s $1.2 billion increase coming in second.

Apple and Bank of America—two of Berkshire’s largest equity holdings—saw the biggest decreases, which had been foreshadowed in Berkshire’s 10-Q filing nearly two weeks ago. (A reduction in Verisign shares was disclosed earlier in August.)

– **Apple**: Berkshire trimmed its Apple position by almost 15%, roughly $10.6 billion, to around 238 million shares. This represents a 74% reduction since Berkshire began selling two years ago. Despite the cuts, Apple remains Berkshire’s largest equity holding at $64.9 billion, accounting for 21% of the portfolio’s current value.

– **Bank of America**: The trimming here was smaller, just 6.1% or approximately $1.9 billion. The remaining 238 million shares are now valued at $29.9 billion, making it Berkshire’s third-largest position and nearly 10% of the portfolio’s value. The Bank of America stake has been reduced by 43% since early last year.

A complete listing of Berkshire Hathaway’s Q3 13F holdings appears later in this article.

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### Buffett’s Thanksgiving Letter: “Sort of” Going Quiet

Many headlines covering Warren Buffett’s Thanksgiving letter highlighted his statement: “I’m ‘going quiet.'”

However, just after that line, Buffett added a clarifying phrase in its own paragraph: “Sort of.”

Starting next year, Greg Abel—whom Buffett described as “a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator”—will take over writing the annual letter to shareholders and will answer questions at the annual meetings. Buffett plans to remain present, sitting on the arena floor alongside other directors.

This year’s letter was a bit more than seven pages—more than double last year’s length—and retained the familiar tone of Buffett’s decades-long tradition. Highlights included:

– Reflections on the importance of luck and aging
– Admiration for Berkshire shareholders
– Gratitude for the many lifelong friends made in Omaha
– Strong confidence in Greg Abel’s ability to lead Berkshire Hathaway successfully

Buffett also shared a charming anecdote from his childhood, revealing that while hospitalized, he took fingerprints from the nuns caring for him because “someday a nun would go bad, and the FBI would find that they had neglected to fingerprint nuns.”

CNBC noted a particularly “Buffett-esque” element in his plans to “step up the pace of lifetime gifts” to the three foundations run by his children—who, like Buffett, are now aged 72, 70, and 67. He wants to “improve the probability that they will dispose of what will essentially be my entire estate before alternate trustees replace them.”

Despite increasing these gifts, Buffett also emphasized his desire to keep a significant number of Class A shares until shareholders grow comfortable with Greg Abel, much like he and Charlie Munger long have.

As a result, the Class B shares (converted from Class A shares) given to each foundation increased to 400,000 shares—up from 300,000 shares last year. Including an unchanged fourth donation to a foundation named after his late wife, the total value of the gifts increased 17% to $1.3 billion as of the gift date.

Class B shares have increased by 4% since last year’s gifts.

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### Berkshire Hathaway’s U.S. Portfolio as of September 30, 2025

Here is an overview of Berkshire’s top U.S. stock holdings, as reported in its Q3 13F filing released on November 14, 2025. Note that some international holdings are based on the latest available dates and currency conversions:

– **Alphabet (Google)** – Largest Q3 addition at $4.9 billion (New Position)
– **Apple** – Largest overall holding at $64.9 billion, despite recent trimming
– **Bank of America** – Third largest holding at $29.9 billion, reduced by 6.1%
– **Chubb** – Increased by $1.2 billion in Q3

(Note: Holdings such as Itochu and Mitsubishi are included at their latest reporting dates, with Tokyo Stock Exchange prices converted from Japanese yen to U.S. dollars.)

For a full list of holdings and market values, visit CNBC.com’s [Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker](https://www.cnbc.com/berkshire-hathaway-portfolio-tracker/).

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### In Other Berkshire News

– **Japan Times:** Berkshire Hathaway recently raised more than ¥210 billion (approximately $1.4 billion USD) from a bond sale.

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### Questions or Comments?

If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter, please send them to [email protected]. (Please note, questions and comments are not forwarded to Warren Buffett.)

If you aren’t already subscribed to this newsletter, you can [sign up here](#).

Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading and are collected on [Berkshire Hathaway’s official website](https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html).

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*Alex Crippen*
Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/15/berkshire-hathaways-surprising-new-tech-stake.html