Why Did Berkshire Hathaway Buy Alphabet?

The short answer. Berkshire raised its Alphabet stake sharply in the second quarter of 2026, disclosed in the 13F filed by 14 August. Its Class A holding went from 54.25 million shares to 78.79 million, a 45% increase, and the combined addition was worth roughly $17 billion. Berkshire has never explained the purchase; the filing is the whole of the public record.

Checked 1 October 2026. Last change to the facts below: the Q2 2026 13F filings of 14 August 2026. If those dates are far apart, the legislative position may have moved since this was last edited.

What exactly did Berkshire buy?

In the quarter ended 30 June 2026, Berkshire increased Alphabet across both share classes. The Class A position (GOOGL) rose from 54.25 million shares to 78.79 million. Reporting on the filing put the added value at about $17 billion, which made it comfortably Berkshire's largest single move of the quarter.

_Berkshire's current disclosed Alphabet position could not be read from the database just now. This page builds its figures live rather than storing them, so it will fill back in on its own once the query answers._

What else moved in the same filing?

Figures as reported from the Q2 2026 13F filed by 14 August 2026.

Why did they buy it?

Nobody outside Berkshire knows, and any article telling you otherwise is reasoning backwards from the price chart.

What can be said honestly is what the filing constrains. A 13F names the buyer but not the decision-maker: Berkshire's equity book is run by Todd Combs and Ted Weschler alongside the chief executive, and the form does not say which of them acted. A position of this size is more likely than a small one to have been a company-level decision, but "more likely" is as far as the document goes.

Was Warren Buffett still in charge when it happened?

He was chairman, not chief executive. Greg Abel became chief executive in January 2026, so the Alphabet purchase was made under Abel's tenure — one reason it drew the attention it did. Buffett then stepped down as chairman on 18 September 2026.

How unusual is it for Berkshire to own a big technology position?

Less unusual than it was. Apple has been the largest position in the book for years. The more interesting framing is not "Berkshire bought tech" but that Alphabet had been a conspicuous, repeatedly discussed absence from the portfolio for a decade before this.

How many other funds own it?

75 of the institutional managers we track disclose an Alphabet position in their most recent 13F. Read live, so it moves each filing season.

Everything else Berkshire bought and sold last quarter is in what Berkshire Hathaway is buying now, and the full filed portfolio is on its fund page.

What this page cannot tell you

Whether Berkshire still holds it, or at what price it bought. A 13F gives a quarter-end share count and market value, no transaction dates and no cost basis. It also arrives up to 45 days late, so a position could have been sold before you read about it.

Educational information, not financial advice. Figures on this page are read from the source filings when the page loads rather than written into the article. Dated events — votes, appointments, filings — are written down with their date and source, because those do not change.