Shares of UnitedHealth Group are surging before the market open Friday as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it recently purchased shares of the beleaguered insurer.

I told MarketWatch readers on Aug. 14 that Warren Buffett was about to reveal one big mystery elephant for Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio — one $5 billion investment in the shares of an industrial giant.

The biggest immediate changes will be that different people will be in control of the company's stock portfolio, and Abel will have power over Berkshire's $344 billion cash hoard. However, portfolio managers Ted Weschler and Todd Combs have been managing more of Berkshire's investments as the years have progressed.