Berkshire Hathaway’s Payments Exit Under Greg Abel Draws Scrutiny as Visa and Mastercard Shares Slip

Less than a year into his tenure as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway-linked conglomerate coverage, the portfolio moves made by new CEO Greg Abel — who took over from Warren Buffett on Jan. 1 — are coming under renewed examination, particularly the decision to sell Berkshire’s stakes in the two largest payments networks.

Under Abel, Berkshire exited its positions in Visa and Mastercard, part of a broader pruning of smaller holdings. At the same time, the company elevated Alphabet to a core position, a move made on Buffett’s recommendation, and left long-standing positions such as American Express and Coca-Cola untouched — an action widely read as a signal of continued confidence in those businesses.

The payments shakeout has drawn attention because American Express, the holding Berkshire chose to keep, has lagged Visa and Mastercard in the market so far this year. Current share prices underline the recent softness across the group: Visa trades at $375.07, down 0.88% from its previous close of $378.39, while Mastercard sits at $579.21, down 1.09% from $585.59. Alphabet is at $338.46, off 1.3% from its prior close of $342.93.

Scale remains firmly in Visa’s favor among the two divested names. Visa carries a market capitalization of roughly $688.1 billion, while Mastercard’s stands near $498.3 billion. Both companies operate global transaction-processing networks — Visa through its VisaNet platform for authorization, clearing, and settlement — and remain pillars of the Financial Services sector’s Credit Services industry.

Alphabet, by contrast, sits in Communication Services and is organized around Google Services, Google Cloud, and its Other Bets segment, with a market capitalization of approximately $4.14 trillion. Its promotion to a core Berkshire holding represents one of the most consequential portfolio shifts of Abel’s early tenure.

Commentators have questioned whether retaining American Express while selling Visa and Mastercard was the right call, given the year-to-date performance gap. But the full picture is more nuanced: Abel’s reshuffling also involved trimming numerous smaller positions across the portfolio, and the decision to hold American Express and Coca-Cola steady suggests a deliberate strategy rather than an oversight.

Whether the reshaped portfolio outperforms its previous composition will only become clear over time, and observers caution that single-quarter or year-to-date comparisons offer limited insight into long-term capital allocation decisions.

What to watch

• Berkshire Hathaway’s next quarterly filings, which will show whether Abel continues adjusting the remaining stakes in American Express, Coca-Cola, and Alphabet.
• Upcoming earnings reports from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, which will update the year-to-date performance gap among the payments names.
• Any further commentary from Abel or Buffett on the rationale behind the Alphabet position and the payments exits.

Source: original release