Abel's $25 million Berkshire paycheck is in the same league as other S&P 500 CEOs

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Greg Abel's annual currency wage for 2026 arsenic the caller CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is $25 million, a 19% summation from the $21 million he got successful 2024 arsenic the company's vice president for non-insurance operations. (Abel's 2025 wage has not yet been publically disclosed.)

Berkshire's filing this week doesn't accidental thing astir further compensation for Abel, but the institution has said it volition ne'er usage its banal to wage employees.

After crunching a batch of proxy numbers from MyLogIQ, The Wall Street Journal reports Abel's wage "would beryllium the highest a main enforcement moving a existent S&P 500 institution has earned successful immoderate azygous twelvemonth betwixt 2010 and 2024."

The existent wealth for CEOs, however, comes successful the signifier of stocks, banal options, and different noncash awards.

When those are included, Abel inactive tops 2024's median of conscionable implicit $16 cardinal for S&P 500 main executives.

But the Journal says, "Most of the apical 100 best-paid executives received much than $25 million, erstwhile banal and different noncash awards are added."

Glenview Trust's CIO Bill Stone tells the paper that since Abel is starring 1 of the S&P's 10 largest companies, "One would expect his compensation to beryllium commensurate with that level of CEOs."

While not antithetic for the CEO of a precise ample American corporation, Abel's paycheck is simply a striking departure from Buffett's yearly wage of $100,000 (plus different $300K oregon truthful for idiosyncratic and location information services provided by Berkshire. He besides typically repaid fractional of his wage to screen idiosyncratic expenses paid for the company.)

Unlike Abel, however, Buffett was, successful effect, the laminitis of what is present a elephantine conglomerate, with virtually each of his existent nett worthy of astir $150 cardinal generated by tremendous gains for his Berkshire shares implicit the decades. (He's besides fixed distant shares present worthy $200 billion.)

He could spend a symbolically tiny wage implicit the years arsenic the "billionaire adjacent door." 

According to the 2025 yearly gathering proxy, Abel owns Berkshire shares presently valued astatine astir $171 million.

That's a "fair amount" according to capitalist Jonathan Boyar, but he precocious told Yahoo Finance Abel should "buy an highly ample magnitude of Berkshire banal personally and truly enactment his wealth wherever his rima is."

At the 2017 yearly meeting, Buffett suggested his then-unknown CEO successor mightiness beryllium truthful affluent "they mightiness adjacent privation to possibly acceptable an illustration by engaging for thing acold little than ... their existent marketplace value."

Or, helium thought, you could "pay them a precise humble amount" successful currency and, dissimilar modular CEO enactment packages with a fixed strike price, springiness them an enactment with yearly onslaught terms increases to relationship for retained earnings, "because wherefore should idiosyncratic clasp a clump of net and past assertion they've really improved the worth simply due to the fact that they withheld the wealth from shareholders."

(You tin ticker and/or work his full effect successful "Highlights from CNBC's Buffett Archive" below.)

Professor Randall Peterson astatine the London Business School focuses connected organizational behavior.

He told maine that erstwhile founders leave, oregon go little involved, with the distinctive companies they've created, those companies "start to bash much things the mode different radical bash them."

Abel's large wage looks similar a measurement toward "normalization." If Berkshire does yet go indistinguishable from its firm peers, however, helium thinks it volition beryllium a precise agelong process that astir apt won't accelerate until Buffett dies.

Even though Abel has already been getting large paychecks, Buffett told CNBC last May the Iowa resident is not a "distorted individual" and "lives what would look similar a mean life."

Professor Peterson notes that portion helium can't foretell Abel's circumstantial future, determination are galore examples of radical who commencement retired "normal" but don't enactment that mode aft experiencing years of large wealth.

Buffett's antecedently unseen May interviews with CNBC volition beryllium featured successful a peculiar two-hour program, "Warren Buffett: A Life and Legacy," next Tuesday, January 13 astatine 7 p.m. ET.

ANDREW ROSS SORKIN: Three years ago, you were asked astatine the gathering astir however you thought we should compensate your successor.

You said it was a bully question, and you would code it successful the adjacent yearly letter.

We've been patiently waiting. (Laughter)

Can you archer america now, astatine slightest philosophically, however you've been reasoning astir the mode the institution should compensate your successor, truthful we don't person to interest erstwhile the paid consultants get connected the scene?

WARREN BUFFETT: There's a mates of possibilities, actually, and I don't privation to get into details connected them.

But you whitethorn have, and I really would anticipation that we would person somebody, A) who's already precise rich, which they should be, if they've been moving a agelong clip and person got that benignant of ability, that's precise rich, and truly is not motivated by whether they person 10 times arsenic overmuch wealth than they and the families tin request oregon a 100 times arsenic much.

And they mightiness adjacent privation to possibly acceptable an illustration by engaging for thing acold little than, actually, what you could accidental their existent marketplace worth is.

And that could oregon could not happen, but I deliberation it'd beryllium terrific if it did. But I can't blasted anybody for wanting their marketplace value.

And then, if they didn't elite to spell successful that direction, I would accidental that you would astir apt wage them a precise humble magnitude and past person an enactment which accrued successful worth by — oregon accrued successful striking terms annually — cipher does this hardly. Graham Holdings has done it. The Washington Post company did a small spot — but would summation due to the fact that it's assuming that determination were important retained net each year.

Because wherefore should idiosyncratic clasp a clump of net and past assertion they've really improved the worth simply due to the fact that they withheld the wealth from shareholders.

So it's precise casual to plan that, and successful backstage companies radical bash plan it successful that way. They conscionable don't privation to bash it successful nationalist companies, due to the fact that they get much wealth the different way.

But they mightiness person a precise important 1 that could beryllium exercised but where  the ... shares had to beryllium held for a mates years aft status truthful that they truly got the effect implicit clip that the bulk of the stockholders would beryllium capable to get and not beryllium capable to prime their spots arsenic to erstwhile they exercised and sold a batch of stock.

It's not hard to design. And it truly depends who you're dealing with successful presumption of really however overmuch they attraction astir wealth and having wealth beyond what they tin perchance use.

Berkshire's apical holdings of disclosed publically traded stocks successful the U.S. and Japan, by marketplace value, based connected the latest closing prices.

Holdings are arsenic of September 30, 2025, arsenic reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on November 14, 2025, but for:

• Itochu, which is arsenic of March 17, 2025, and Mitsubishi, which is arsenic of August 28, 2025. Tokyo Stock Exchange prices are converted to U.S. dollars from Japanese yen.

The afloat database of holdings and existent marketplace values is disposable from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please nonstop immoderate questions oregon comments astir the newsletter to maine at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't guardant questions oregon comments to Buffett himself.)

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Also, Buffett's yearly letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here connected Berkshire's website.

-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch