Warren Buffett's Berkshire dumps entire stake in iconic fintech giant

Warren Buffett is no longer running Berkshire Hathaway. And the man who replaced him just made that very clear.

Greg Abel took over as chief executive at the start of 2026 after Buffett stepped down following nearly six decades at the helm.

Investors had been watching closely for any signs of a new direction and did not have to wait long.

Berkshire’s (BRK.A)(BRK.B) first-quarter 13F filing showed the conglomerate made some of the most dramatic portfolio moves in years.

Among the biggest: it sold every single share it held in Visa and Mastercard, two of the most dominant companies in global payments.

A $5 billion exit from payments giants

Berkshire ended 2025 with roughy $2.91 billion worth of Visa (V) stock. It also owned $2.28 billion in Mastercard (MA). 

Visa ranked as Berkshire’s 13th-largest position, while Mastercard was not too far behind at 15.

Berkshire first purchased Visa in early 2011. Over the last 15 years, Visa stock has returned more tham 1,750% to shareholders, after adjusting for dividend reinvestments. 

More Warren Buffett:One of Warren Buffett’s dividend stocks is key to reopening Strait of HormuzGreg Abel sends Berkshire investors a powerful new signalWarren Buffett’s Berkshire warns Americans on housing market

So why sell now? The Wall Street Journal reported in April that Abel moved to unload a group of stocks that had been purchased and overseen by Todd Combs, one of Buffett’s most trusted investment managers. Combs recently left Berkshire to join JPMorgan Chase.

Visa and Mastercard are believed to have been part of that group. That makes Abel’s decision less a rejection of the companies themselves and more a clean break from a prior era of portfolio management.

However, few companies have built moats as deep as Visa and Mastercard. Their payment networks span 200-plus countries and process trillions of dollars each year. 

Visa just had its best quarter in years

Here is where it gets interesting. Just as Berkshire was walking away, Visa was putting up some of its best numbers in years.

Visa CFO Christopher Suh described the most recent quarter as the strongest growth the company has seen in over a decade, outside of the pandemic recovery period. 

Revenue from value-added services hit $3.3 billion, representing 30% of total revenue and growing 27% year over year. Commercial and money movement solutions grew 24%.U.S. payment volume accelerated. Cross-border volumes, despite some pressure from the Middle East conflict and the timing of Ramadan, showed resilience and improved through mid-May. Consumer spending on both debit and credit remained healthy across all income levels.

Visa is also pushing hard into artificial intelligence and agentic commerce, areas that some investors worry could eventually threaten the company. 

Ryan McInerney Chief Executive Officer & Director, Visa, stated:

“AI and agentic commerce will expand our addressable market and our efforts will accelerate Visa’s long-term growth.”

The company has rolled out its Visa Intelligent Commerce framework and launched a developer-facing Command Line Interface to help build trust and security into AI-driven transactions.

Visa is expanding its stablecoin moat

JACK GUEZ/Getty Images

Stablecoins and AI are the real worry

Despite the strong results, Visa stock has not been an investor favorite in 2026.

Concerns have mounted that cryptocurrency stablecoins and artificial intelligence could offer cheaper, more direct ways to move money, potentially bypassing traditional card networks and eating into the fees that companies like Visa charge.

Related: Visa CEO sends blunt message on AI and blockchain

Both Visa and Mastercard have been vocal about how they plan to adapt.

Visa has leaned into tokenization, with more than 50% of e-commerce transactions now tokenized, up 30% year over year. Tokenized transactions deliver higher approval rates and lower fraud rates, which is exactly what merchants and issuers want.

Notably, few companies in financial history have proven as durable at fending off competition as Visa and Mastercard. 

Their networks are deeply embedded in the global economy, and replacing them is far easier said than done.

A new era at Berkshire

Abel has been with Berkshire for roughly 25 years. Analysts broadly expect him to follow the course Buffett laid out, though this first batch of portfolio moves signals he is not afraid to make bold calls early.

Whether selling Visa and Mastercard turns out to be brilliant or a missed opportunity will likely only be clear with time. 

For now, the message from Omaha is simple: a new hand is on the wheel.

Related: Berkshire doubles down on Alphabet under Greg Abel

#Warren #Buffett039s #Berkshire #dumps #entire #stake #iconic #fintech #giant