Greg Abel delivered his first shareholder message as Berkshire Hathaway CEO, promising decisive investments while urging patience. The 63-year-old successor to Warren Buffett emphasized the company's $380bn cash and Treasury portfolio means they're not "beholden to anyone" and won't rush into subpar opportunities. Abel signaled he'll wait for market dislocations before deploying capital.

The annual meeting marked a clear shift from Buffett's era. Abel kept answers focused on business rather than offering broad world views, and the event ran shorter with fewer shareholder questions. Attendance was notably smaller as shareholders gathered without the urgency of potentially seeing Buffett for the last time.

Abel defended Berkshire's conglomerate structure, saying "absolutely not" to breaking up the business. He emphasized patience in both investing and insurance underwriting, acknowledging the challenge of competing with private equity capital. Abel positioned himself as Berkshire's next steward, promising to uphold Buffett's values of avoiding arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency.