A few days ago, the biggest investors on the planet were forced to show their cards. They filed their so called 13F Filings with the SEC. In other words, they publicly revealed which stocks they bought and which ones they sold during the first quarter of 2026.
And honestly, this time we had quite a few surprises. Berkshire entered a new era without Warren Buffett. Bill Ackman made a move nobody expected. And Bill Gates sold ALL of his Microsoft shares. Yes, you read that correctly. One hundred percent.
THE FIRST BERKSHIRE ERA WITHOUT BUFFETT
Let’s start with Berkshire Hathaway. This 13F filing is historic. Why? Because it is the first one submitted under the new CEO, Greg Abel. For the first time in decades, we are looking at Berkshire’s portfolio without Warren Buffett leading it.
So what does Abel do? He starts making moves. A lot of moves. Berkshire completely exited 16 different positions in just one quarter. It sold all of its Amazon shares, all of Visa, all of Mastercard, and all of UnitedHealth.
On the other hand, Berkshire opened two new positions. A new $2.65 billion stake in Delta Air Lines, and a smaller position in Macy’s. In other words, Berkshire is returning to airlines, a sector Buffett had largely avoided in recent years.
And then comes the biggest move of all. Berkshire nearly tripled its position in Alphabet Class C. From around 18 million shares at the end of 2025, it increased the position to 58 million shares. It also added more Class A shares, bringing the total Alphabet position to roughly $15.6 billion.
What stayed the same? The top three holdings. Apple, American Express, and Coca-Cola. Exactly as Buffett left them.
ACKMAN BUYS MICROSOFT
Now let’s move to the most interesting part, because this is where things become truly paradoxical.
On the exact same day that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it had sold its final 7.7 million Microsoft shares... Bill Ackman announced that he bought in. In other words, Gates completely exited the company he founded, while Ackman entered.
Let’s look at the numbers. The Gates Foundation sold shares worth around $3.2 billion. It completely eliminated a position it had held for decades.
“So why did Gates do that?” you’re probably wondering.
The answer is simple. Back in May 2025, the Foundation announced that it plans to close in 2045 and spend around $200 billion on philanthropic work. So this is a forced sale intended to fund donations, not a bearish move against Microsoft.
Meanwhile, Ackman’s Pershing Square announced a new position of 5.65 million Microsoft shares worth around $2.09 billion.
“So why is he so excited about it?”
Ackman is looking at Azure, which grew 39% last quarter. He is looking at Microsoft’s AI business, which is now running at an annualized revenue pace of $37 billion, up 123% year over year. And he is looking at the fact that Microsoft’s two core franchises, Microsoft 365 and Azure, generate around 70% of the company’s total profits.
And as if that wasn’t enough, there is also the OpenAI stake. Microsoft owns roughly 27% of OpenAI, which is valued at around $200 billion. That alone represents approximately 7% of Microsoft’s total valuation. Ackman believes the market still has not fully understood that.
But where did Ackman get the money to buy Microsoft?
He sold almost all of his Alphabet position. From 6.1 million Class C shares at the end of 2025, down to just 312 thousand shares, a reduction of roughly 95%.
His average purchase price was around $94 per share, and he sold when the stock was trading near $392. In other words, he roughly quadrupled his money and moved it all into Microsoft.
And here comes the most interesting statistic of all.
When we look at the overall 13F filings this quarter, Microsoft comes out on top. It was the stock purchased by the highest number of superinvestors. Amazon, Meta, and Visa followed closely behind.
And notice something important here. Visa was bought by many superinvestors. Yet Berkshire completely dumped it.
Some investors see opportunity there. Others threw it away entirely.
That is the market.
There is no single “correct” move. There are as many opinions as there are investors.
