Warren Buffett still searching for big elephant deal in his final time as Berkshire CEO
Warren Buffett and Greg Abel cover the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting on May 3, 2025 in Omaha, Nebraska.
David A. Grogen | CNBC
In the last period of his term of office Berkshire HathawayWarren Buffett was still chasing that elusive elephant.
The legendary 95-year-old investor, who handed over the CEO post to Greg Abel at the beginning of 2026, made it clear that the size of the deal was due to a lack of opportunities, not constraint.
“It’s external circumstances. Believe me, if after we finish the conversation you say, ‘I’ve got a great $100 billion idea,'” Buffett told Becky Quick in an exclusive interview in May, after saying he would step down at the end of the year, “I would say, ‘Let’s talk.’
The never-before-seen interview is part of the “Warren Buffett: A Life and Legacy” special airing Tuesday at 7 p.m. on CNBC.
These words underscore a central paradox in Berkshire today. The company’s cash stockpile rose to $381.6 billion at the end of the third quarter, a record high, but Buffett couldn’t find a big enough opportunity in 2025 to move the needle at prices he considers reasonable.
Buffett, now chairman, told CNBC: “What that means is that when I look at the stock market, when I look at companies of a size that will make any difference to our total, I don’t see anything. We’re buying one or two things, but they’re peanuts. But I’m willing to spend $100 billion this afternoon, you know.”
In October, Berkshire signed a deal to buy Occidental Petroleum’s chemicals business OxyChem for $9.7 billion in cash, its biggest acquisition since 2022 when it paid $11.6 billion for insurer Alleghany.
Berkshire’s cash has increased significantly after Buffett aggressively sold huge chunks of Apple and Bank of America, his two biggest holdings.
Buffett doesn’t want to sit on that much money. He has long warned that cash is a weak long-term asset, although he insists on keeping ample reserves to weather unforeseen shocks.
“I would rather have $100 billion and a really good business at a reasonable price than have $100 billion in cash,” he said. “Certain levels of cash are necessary, but cash is not a good asset.”
He likened liquidity to oxygen, which is cheap to maintain and disastrous if it runs out at the wrong time.
“You always want to have enough,” Buffett said. “You don’t have to pay a lot of money for it. But you need oxygen. Cash is like that. You always have to have it with you because you don’t know what will happen. I don’t know what the stock market will do, I don’t know what the business world will do.”
Abel is a longtime lieutenant who played a central role in many of Berkshire’s acquisitions, especially in the energy space, and helped transform Berkshire Hathaway Energy into a powerhouse.
Even though Abel’s deal-making credentials have been proven, Berkshire shareholders may not have the patience for him that they have long shown for Buffett. In an environment where the conglomerate is sitting on a mountain of cash and its shares are underperforming the market, the pressure to deploy capital can quickly become a defining challenge for the new CEO.
