$742,300.
Take a second and let that number sink in. It isn't the price of a luxury condo in the Midwest or a rare Italian supercar. It's the price for a single, solitary piece of paper—or a digital entry, more likely—representing one share of stock. Specifically, we are talking about berkshire hathaway class a shares.
Most people look at that price tag and assume it’s a typo. It isn't. While the rest of the corporate world treats stock splits like a rite of passage to keep shares "affordable" for the masses, Warren Buffett spent sixty years refusing to budge. He wanted investors, not gamblers. He wanted people who would marry the stock, not just go on a blind date with it.
Now, as we hit the start of 2026, the landscape has shifted. The "Oracle of Omaha" has officially retired as CEO, handing the keys to Greg Abel. But if you think the sky-high price of the A shares is going to change just because there’s a new name on the door, you're probably mistaken.
Why Berkshire Hathaway Class A Shares Never Split
Buffett’s logic was always pretty blunt. He believed that if you split a stock to make it cost $50 instead of $700,000, you attract people who care more about the zig-zags on a chart than the actual businesses under the hood. High-priced shares act as a sort of "quality filter."
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It’s about intentionality.
When you buy a share of BRK.A, you aren't just clicking a button on a whim. You’re making a massive capital allocation decision. This philosophy has created one of the most stable shareholder bases in history. These folks don't panic-sell when the Fed sneezes. They don't dump their holdings because a TikTok influencer said the market is crashing.
Honestly, it’s a psychological moat.
By keeping the price astronomical, Berkshire ensures its owners are mostly institutional giants or incredibly wealthy individuals who share Buffett’s "buy and hold forever" DNA. If you want the "cheap" version, there’s always the Class B shares (BRK.B), which trade at a tiny fraction of the price—roughly $495 lately—but they come with significantly less voting power.
The Math of the "A" vs the "B"
You might wonder if the price difference is just about prestige. It's not. It's about math and control. One share of berkshire hathaway class a shares can be converted into 1,500 Class B shares at any time. But here’s the kicker: it doesn’t work the other way around. You can’t turn your "B" shares back into an "A."
- Voting Power: A single A share gives you one full vote.
- The B Difference: A Class B share only gives you 1/10,000th of a vote.
- Flexibility: If you own one A share and need $50,000 for a kitchen remodel, you have to sell the whole thing. If you own the equivalent in B shares, you can just trim a little off the top.
The Greg Abel Era: What Happens Now?
On January 1, 2026, the era of Warren Buffett as CEO officially ended. Greg Abel, who has been running the non-insurance side of the house for years, is now the guy.
There's been a lot of chatter about whether Abel will finally cave and split the A shares to "unlock value." Don't bet on it. Buffett is staying on as Chairman, and his family is expected to hold onto his massive stake for at least a decade after he’s gone. The "no-split" rule is part of the company's religion.
Actually, the bigger story isn't the share price; it's the cash. As of late 2025, Berkshire was sitting on a record $382 billion in cash and Treasurys. That is an absurd amount of "dry powder." While the market was chasing AI hype, Berkshire was quietly selling off chunks of Apple and Bank of America, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The Portfolio Pivot
We’ve seen some surprising moves recently. For a long time, Berkshire was all about "old economy" stuff—railroads, insurance, and soda. But the recent 13F filings show a subtle shift.
- Tech Giants: They’ve initiated a significant stake in Alphabet (GOOGL), which is now a top-10 holding.
- Healthcare: A new $1.6 billion position in UnitedHealth (UNH) suggests they see value in the messy healthcare sector.
- Industrial Stalwarts: They’ve added to Nucor and various housing stocks like Lennar.
It’s still a "Buffett portfolio" in spirit, but you can see the fingerprints of Ted Weschler and Todd Combs—and now Greg Abel—all over it. They are looking for "quality at a reasonable price," even if that means buying a "Magnificent Seven" stock like Google when it looks beaten down.
Is It Still a Good Buy at $740,000?
Critics love to say that Berkshire has become "too big to succeed." When you have a trillion-dollar market cap, you can't just buy a small company and move the needle. You have to buy massive businesses, and those don't come cheap.
But here is what people miss: Berkshire is essentially a fortress.
The insurance float—the money they hold between receiving premiums and paying claims—hit $176 billion recently. That’s basically interest-free money they can use to invest. It’s a legal "cheat code" that almost no other company in the world possesses at this scale.
If the economy hits a rough patch in 2026, berkshire hathaway class a shares usually act as a "safe haven." When everyone else is bleeding, Berkshire is the one with the cash to buy up the wreckage. That’s how they got the railroad BNSF. That’s how they got Geico.
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What You Should Actually Do
If you’re looking at your brokerage account and realizing you don't have three-quarters of a million dollars lying around, you aren't alone. Most retail investors buy the B shares.
But if you are one of the few considering the A shares, or if you're an institutional player, the strategy hasn't changed just because the CEO did. You are buying a collection of nearly 200 businesses and a massive stock portfolio, all managed with extreme discipline.
Actionable Insights for 2026:
- Don't wait for a split: It’s probably never happening. If you want in, use the B shares or look for a broker that allows "fractional" shares of the A class (though many won't).
- Watch the cash pile: If Abel starts spending that $382 billion, it’s a signal that he sees real value in the market. If he keeps sitting on it, take that as a warning that the market might be overpriced.
- Tax Efficiency: Remember that A shares can be converted to B shares for gifting or estate planning. This is a huge advantage for high-net-worth families looking to stay under gift tax thresholds.
The transition to the post-Buffett era is the biggest test in the company's history. So far, the market seems to trust that the culture is stronger than any one individual. Greg Abel isn't trying to be the next Warren Buffett; he's trying to be the best steward of the Berkshire machine. And as long as that machine keeps pumping out billions in operating earnings, those A shares are going to remain the most expensive—and perhaps most respected—ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.