While money runs toward artificial intelligence, Berkshire piled up record cash and exited the most boring, most predictable businesses it owned. Both things at once say something.
Published on June 3, 2026 · by Alex · Berkshire Hathaway · Consumer · Strategy
Berkshire Hathaway closed the first quarter of 2026 with a record of roughly $380 billion in cash and Treasury bills. And in the same period it exited several positions that looked untouchable.
| Position exited entirely | Size |
|---|---|
| Visa | ~$2.91 billion |
| Mastercard | ~$2.28 billion |
| UnitedHealth | ~$1.66 billion |
| Domino’s Pizza | ~$1.40 billion |
| Aon | ~$1.27 billion |
| Amazon | ~$525 million |
The easy explanation is that Warren Buffett no longer runs the show and Greg Abel is arranging the portfolio his way. That is true and it is part of the story. It does not explain the rest.
Visa and Mastercard are essentially tollbooths on global consumption: every payment anyone makes anywhere leaves them a slice. That is the kind of business Berkshire historically bought in order never to sell.
If you exit both at once, the reasonable doubt is not about the companies. It is about the consumer — about how much spending power is left in the people making those payments. And there is a data point repeating across many countries: households lean on credit more and defer more debt. Spending can look strong right before it decelerates.
Berkshire did not run from technology. In the same period it opened a position in Alphabet, and months later reinforced that bet with an additional $10 billion investment through a private placement. It also closed the purchase of homebuilder Taylor Morrison for around $6.8 billion.
So this is not "sell tech" or "leave the market". It is something more specific: sell excellent but expensive businesses exposed to consumption, and buy businesses with strong balance sheets, solid cash flow and the ability to handle a worse environment.
The strongest signal is not in what they sold. It is in the cash they chose to keep. Berkshire does not look like it is betting on a collapse: it looks like it is saying something more uncomfortable and more useful, which is that risk is no longer being paid for properly.
Holding record cash costs money — it is return left on the table while the market rises. Someone accepting that cost voluntarily is choosing the option to buy cheaply later over the sure gain today. It is not pessimism: it is raising the bar.
Meanwhile the underlying issues remain: high 10- and 30-year yields, pressure on credit, pending commercial real estate refinancing, and energy costs rising with data centre consumption.
Positions cited come from Berkshire Hathaway's quarterly holdings report for the first quarter of 2026.
It closed the first quarter of 2026 with a record of roughly $380 billion in cash and Treasury bills. Holding that much cash costs money while the market rises, so accepting that cost is itself a statement about how well risk is being paid right now.
Visa (about $2.91 billion), Mastercard ($2.28 billion), UnitedHealth ($1.66 billion), Domino’s Pizza ($1.4 billion), Aon ($1.27 billion) and Amazon ($525 million). Visa and Mastercard are effectively tollbooths on global consumption — the kind of business Berkshire bought never to sell.
No. In the same period it opened a position in Alphabet and months later added $10 billion through a private placement, on top of buying homebuilder Taylor Morrison for about $6.8 billion. The pattern is narrower: sell excellent but expensive businesses exposed to the consumer, and buy strong balance sheets.
This article is the written version of the Saturday analysis.
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