At the 2026 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Warren Buffett highlighted the company's major Apple investment and praised CEO Tim Cook for driving significant value for shareholders, even inviting him to take a bow. “Tim Cook has made Berkshire a lot more than I have made Berkshire,” Buffett said.
The legendary investor was introduced by Greg Abel, who officially took the reins as CEO at the start of the year. The atmosphere shifted instantly as Buffett appeared in relaxed attire rather than the usual formal suit; his message, however, was focused entirely on the future of the firm.
ALSO READ: Berkshire Hathaway's Cash Pile Jumps To Record $397B In Greg Abel's First Quarter as CEO
Buffett strongly praised the new leadership and said the changeover had gone “100% successful.”
Addressing the crowd, Buffett signaled total confidence in Abel's performance during his first months at the helm. “Greg is doing everything I did and then some,” Buffett told the audience. “And he's doing it better than I did.”
Warren Buffett Praises Tim Cook
Apple Inc. announced a seismic shift in its corporate leadership today as Tim Cook prepares to relinquish his post as Chief Executive Officer this coming September. The company confirmed that John Ternus, Apple's current Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, will take over the reins of the tech giant.
Buffett pointed out how successful Berkshire's investment in Apple has been and praised executive Tim Cook, who helped drive Apple's growth over the past decade.
Cook's departure marks the end of a nearly 15-year tenure defined by unprecedented financial growth. Under his watch, Apple's market valuation skyrocketed from approximately $350 billion to a staggering $4.1 trillion as of Friday's closing bell.
The 95-year-old business icon recalled the key moment about a decade ago when he chose to invest about 10% of Berkshire Hathaway's money in a leader who was still not widely known at the time.
“He was not that well known at the time,” Buffett said, referring to Tim Cook.mThat decision led Berkshire Hathaway to invest around $35 billion in Apple between 2016 and 2018.
The Berkshire Hathaway chairman revealed that the company's initial $35 billion investment has grown into a staggering $185 billion on a pre-tax basis.
“Everybody said who's going to manage Apple when Steve Jobs isn't around,” Buffett told the crowd. “In effect, Tim took over about 14 years ago when Steve died. Probably just a very few percentage points of American investors had even heard of Tim Cook.”
As Buffett called for the executive to take a bow, Cook, seated just a few rows away from him near the stage, stood up to meet a wave of cheers and applause. In a display of mutual respect, the Apple CEO waved to the shareholders and clasped his hands together in a gesture of thanks before the crowd.
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