2 Top Berkshire Executives Buy Stock in the Open Market
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Andrew Bary
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Aug 14, 2026, 9:25 am inside buys,
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Berkshire Hathaway CFO Charles Chang and General Counsel Michael O’Sullivan bought company shares in the open market.

Chang purchased two Class A shares for about $1.5 million, while O’Sullivan bought 488 Class B shares for about $250,000.

Berkshire executives must buy stock in the open market because the company does not provide stock-based compensation to any employee.

Berkshire Hathaway’s
BRK.B

-0.57%

chief financial officer and general counsel have bought the company’s shares in the open market.

On Wednesday, CFO Charles Chang purchased two Class A shares
BRK.A

-0.84%

for about $1.5 million, paying $765,000 each for the shares, a Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows. He now holds eight Class A shares worth $6.1 million.

Michael O’Sullivan, the general counsel, purchased 488 Class B shares at about $512 a share for a total of about $2 50,000, according to another Form 4. He now owns 1,151 Class B shares worth about $600,000. O’Sullivan also made his buy on Wednesday.

Chang began his position on June 1, succeeding longtime CFO Marc Hamburg. Chang had been CFO at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Berkshire’s utility unit.

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O’Sullivan joined the company on Jan. 1, coming from Snap where he had been general counsel.

Before that, O’Sullivan had been a lawyer at Munger, Tolles & Olson, the West Coast law firm co-founded by former Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. That firm did legal work for Berkshire.

The general counsel job is a new position at Berkshire, which previously relied on outside counsel for its legal work.

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Berkshire executives need to buy stock in the open market if they want to hold the stock since the company doesn’t give stock-based compensation to any employee—even top managers. This reflects the philosophy of Chairman Warren Buffett, who views every share of the $1.1 trillion conglomerate as precious.

Buffett likes to see Berkshire’s management team own stock, as do Berkshire investors because it signals commitment and alignment with shareholders.

Chang and O’Sullivan probably think the stock is a bargain. Both the Class A and Class B shares are up just 1% this year, against the S&P 500’s 14% return.

The B shares ended Thursday at $507 and the A ones at $762,000.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com