Greg Abel channels Buffett's deal-making style in nearly $17 billion spree, expanding into tech

A few months after taking over from Warren Buffett , Greg Abel is making it clear he intends to put Berkshire Hathaway 's cash hoard to work. In the span of just a few days, Berkshire committed nearly $17 billion across two major transactions, agreeing to acquire homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home for $6.8 billion, excluding debt, and investing $10 billion in Alphabet through a discounted private placement tied to the Google parent's massive artificial intelligence fundraising effort. "On an absolute basis the figures are paltry compared to Berkshire's massive cash hoard, but it does seem Abel is working more aggressively than his predecessor to deploy the firm's balance sheet, which has been one of the main knocks against the stock," said Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge. The back-to-back deals offer one of the clearest signals yet that Abel is prepared to put Berkshire's enormous balance sheet to work after years of criticism that the company had become too cautious and was struggling to find opportunities large enough to move the needle. The conglomerate held a record cash pile of nearly $400 billion at the end of March. "Greg is demonstrating his willingness to move quickly in both transactions and is comfortable with investing in technology," said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland and Berkshire shareholder. …