Buffett's Last Bow: Berkshire's Billion-Dollar Drama, Kraft Heinz Split, and the Abel Era Ahead

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Berkshire Hathaway has packed the past several days with headline-grabbing moves and a touch of drama befitting the close of Warren Buffett’s storied run. In trading, Berkshire’s stock surged in volume by over 40 percent on September 5, 2025, hitting 2.11 billion dollars, though it closed the day with a dip of 1.41 percent—jittery markets reacting to the fallout of major internal and portfolio news, as reported by AINVEST. One standout story involves Kraft Heinz. After a decade of underperformance and a stomach-turning 57 billion dollars in market value lost since the 2015 merger, Kraft Heinz announced this week that it will split into two public companies by the end of 2026. This move, meant to spark "global taste innovation" and rejuvenate North American groceries, was not exactly greeted with open arms by Berkshire. In fact, Warren Buffett himself, on multiple calls to CNBC’s Becky Quick, could hardly mask his frustration, labeling the merger as a mistake and lamenting the 300 million dollars in extra costs and the exclusion of shareholders from the vote, according to Substack’s Kingswell and Motley Fool. Berkshire’s incoming CEO Greg Abel apparently voiced his objections to Kraft Heinz management before the official announcement, but the split pressed ahead regardless. Berkshire is the largest shareholder, and Buffett has signaled openness to an exit—but only if remaining shareholders are treated fairly.

On the deal front, Berkshire quietly closed its acquisition of Bell Laboratories—no, not the famous telecom lab, but rather a Wisconsin-based rodent control company—silently inducting it into the Berkshire family according to their own updated roster, as confirmed by Kingswell. Meanwhile in real estate, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices doubled down on digitization, expanding its collaboration with Zillow. The late August 2025 move makes Zillow’s AI-powered Showcase tool broadly available to Berkshire’s network, enhancing digital listings as the housing market continues to slug through affordability headwinds, according to Simply Wall St.

Turning to big-picture capital, Buffett’s last annual meeting as CEO earlier this month drew an extra watchful crowd. After 60 years, he is stepping aside for Greg Abel, taking on the chairman post and distancing himself from day-to-day operations. The meeting was notable for Buffett’s now-viral “desert island” investing question for CEOs, and for making clear his skepticism toward tariffs and market froth, according to Benzinga and AOL. The leadership transition and the company’s fortress-sized cash pile—now near 340 billion dollars—have Wall Street abuzz about Berkshire’s future investing posture and whether a dividend, long absent, may finally make its debut. On social media, speculation about Abel’s leadership style and Berkshire’s next act has heated up, especially with many tracking Buffett’s rare media appearances and market commentary. Amidst rate-cut speculation, portfolio adjustments to the energy and housing sectors, and recent volatility, Berkshire remains in the spotlight, both for its resilience and for what is—perhaps for the first time—a cloud of uncertainty over its next chapter.

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