Warren Buffett's successor just spent his entire $15 million salary on Berkshire stock — and plans to do that every year

• Greg Abel has pledged to spend his entire salary each year on Berkshire Hathaway shares.
• Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as Berkshire's CEO at the start of January.
• He spent around $15 million buying Berkshire Class A shares on Wednesday, a filing showed.

Greg Abel, who succeeded Warren Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO in January, has pledged to use his entire paycheck each year to purchase Berkshire shares.

Abel, whose annual salary for 2026 is $25 million, said during a CNBC interview on Thursday that he had just spent all of his after-tax pay of around $15 million on Berkshire's Class A shares.

A regulatory filing confirmed that on Wednesday, Abel purchased 21 shares for around $730,000 each, for a total outlay of $15.3 million.

Berkshire's new boss said he wanted to "demonstrate alignment" with his shareholders by putting more of his own money on the line. He also said he was "excited" to own more of the company as he believes it has a bright future, and would continue plowing his whole salary into Berkshire stock each year "as long as I'm the CEO."

Abel said the commitment was his idea and would amount to "hundreds of millions of my after-tax dollars" over time. He added that when he spoke to Buffett about it, the legendary investor approved because it was unique in corporate America and felt "so Berkshire."

Buffett earned a $100,000 salary for more than 40 years as Berkshire CEO, and in recent years returned half that sum to cover the cost of his personal expenses.

The "Oracle of Omaha,'" who has more than 99% of his net worth in Berkshire stock, has long expressed hope that his successor would also put a significant chunk of his personal wealth into the company to align their interests with Berkshire shareholders.

Abel sold his stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy to Berkshire for $870 million before taxes in 2022.

The transaction sparked calls for him to invest some of the proceeds in Berkshire and get some more "skin in the game," as he only owned around $3 million of the company's stock at the time.

He obliged by spending $68 million on 168 Class A shares in September 2022, then $25 million for another 55 shares in March 2023. The purchases left him with 228 of the Class A shares and around 2,400 of the much cheaper Class B shares.

Abel's purchases on Wednesday increased his number of A shares to 249, worth $182 million as of Thursday morning.

In another Wednesday filing, Berkshire disclosed that it has resumed buying back shares for the first time in over 18 months, signaling that Abel and Buffett view Berkshire stock as good value.

The company ended 2025 with a record $373 billion cash pile, largely a product of Buffett's years-long battle to find bargains in a frothy market.

Berkshire's new boss published his first letter to shareholders on Saturday. He paid tribute to his predecessor and vowed to continue running the company in line with Buffett's core principles, which include capital discipline and integrity.

Abel told CNBC that writing the letter was the "toughest" of all the responsibilities he's taken over from Buffett, whom he described as an "exceptional communicator."

"The shoes to fill are tough on all fronts," Abel added.