Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Berkshire Hathaway is a big company. Greg Abel is now its leader.
Abel became the boss of Berkshire Hathaway at the start of 2026. Before him, Warren Buffett was the boss for almost sixty years.
This report is Abel's first full quarter as the top leader. The company's operating profit went up.
Abel already bought a homebuilding company called Taylor Morrison. He is making his own big decisions now.
- company
- a business that makes or sells goods or services
- leader
- a person who is in charge of a group or organization
- boss
- a person who is in charge of workers
- quarter
- a three month period of the year
- profit
- the money a business earns after paying its costs
- operate
- to run or manage a business
- purchase
- the act of buying something
- decision
- a choice made after thinking about something
Level 2 — Elementary
Berkshire Hathaway, the large investment company built by Warren Buffett, reported its second quarter 2026 results, the first full quarter under new chief executive Greg Abel.
Operating earnings, which measure profit from the company's actual businesses, rose about 15 percent to $11.6 billion compared with the same period last year.
Net earnings, which include investment gains and losses, fell to $30.35 billion from $35.91 billion a year earlier, mainly because investment gains were smaller this time, not because the businesses themselves did worse.
Abel took over as CEO at the start of 2026 after Buffett stepped down, and has already completed his first big deal, an $8.5 billion purchase of homebuilder Taylor Morrison, plus an $18.5 billion investment in Alphabet.
- investment
- money put into something with the hope of making more money
- chief executive
- the top manager who leads a company
- operating earnings
- profit made from a company's core business activities
- compared with
- when looking at how one thing relates to another
- net earnings
- total profit after all gains, losses, and costs are counted
- gain
- an increase in the value of something
- step down
- to leave a position of leadership or power
- stake
- a share or investment in a company
Level 3 — Intermediate
Berkshire Hathaway's second quarter 2026 results marked the first full quarterly report filed since Greg Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as chief executive at the start of the year, closing out Buffett's nearly six decade run at the helm.
Operating earnings, the measure most closely tied to the performance of Berkshire's underlying businesses such as insurance, railroads, and utilities, climbed roughly 15 percent year over year to $11.6 billion.
Net earnings, by contrast, declined to $30.35 billion from $35.91 billion in the prior year period, a drop attributable to smaller investment gains rather than any deterioration in operating performance, since Berkshire's accounting rules require unrealized stock gains and losses to flow through net income.
Abel has moved decisively since taking the helm, completing an $8.5 billion cash acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison and steadily building an $18.5 billion stake in Alphabet over nine months, signaling a willingness to deploy capital differently than his predecessor.
- succeed
- to take over a position or role from someone else
- at the helm
- in a position of leadership or control
- underlying
- forming the basis or foundation of something
- year over year
- comparing a figure to the same period one year earlier
- attributable
- able to be explained as caused by something
- deterioration
- the process of becoming worse
- unrealized
- existing on paper but not yet converted into actual cash
- deploy capital
- to put money to use, such as through investments or purchases
Level 4 — Advanced
Berkshire Hathaway's second quarter 2026 disclosures constituted the first full quarterly report filed since Greg Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as chief executive at the outset of the year, formally drawing to a close Buffett's nearly six decade tenure at the helm.
Operating earnings, the metric most tightly correlated with the performance of Berkshire's underlying operating subsidiaries spanning insurance, railroads, and regulated utilities, climbed roughly 15 percent year over year to $11.6 billion.
Net earnings, conversely, contracted to $30.35 billion from $35.91 billion in the prior year period, a decline attributable not to any deterioration in operating performance but to comparatively modest investment gains, since prevailing accounting conventions mandate that unrealized fluctuations in Berkshire's equity holdings flow directly through reported net income.
Abel has moved with evident decisiveness since assuming the helm, consummating an $8.5 billion all cash acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison while methodically accumulating an $18.5 billion stake in Alphabet over nine months, a pattern of capital deployment that diverges markedly from his predecessor's historically more circumspect approach.
- disclosure
- the act of making information publicly known, especially financial information
- tenure
- the period of time a person holds a position or office
- subsidiary
- a company controlled by a larger parent company
- contract
- to become smaller in size or amount
- convention
- an established rule or standard practice
- consummate
- to complete or finalize an agreement or transaction
- accumulate
- to gradually gather or build up over time
- circumspect
- cautious and careful about possible risks or consequences
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