- Warren Buffett, CEO Berkshire Hathaway Attendees at the conglomerate’s annual shareholders meeting on Saturday were surprised when his anointed successor, Greg Abel, said he should take over as the top spot by the end of the year.
Warren Buffett said Saturday that his anointed successor, Greg Abel, should take over as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway by this year.
At the end of the A QUACTS-AND-ANSWER session at the conglomerate’s annual meeting, he surprised the shareholders’ audience when he said he would make recommendations to the board at a meeting on Sunday.
“When it’s time for Greg to become the company’s chief executive at the end of the year, I want it to spring up effectively to the supervisor and give it as my recommendation,” Buffett, 94 said.
He explained that after he proposed to the board on Sunday, the director will meet again in a few months and take action.
“I think they’re unanimously supporting it. That means that at the end of the year Greg is Berkshire’s CEO and I’m still hanging out and maybe in some cases it could be useful.”
He added that Abel, 62, didn’t know he would announce the bomb, and that the board was not the same except for his children, directors Susie and Howard.
Buffett said he plans to be on hand to help, but he emphasized that Abel is the CEO and has the last words that include operations and capital deployment.
“I play around with things like doing at the OUIJA board of directors,” Buffett said.
Berkshire Hathaway under Buffett
Not selling his shares also represents his vote of trust in Abel, according to Buffett.
After the announcement, he received an expanded standing ovation from the audience, saying, “It’s the news hook of the day, thank you for coming.”
Buffett became CEO in 1970 after the investment partnership acquired Berkshire (the textile business at the time) in 1965. Meanwhile, he became an iconic investor, tracking inventory movements and investment advice, and a large follower of employees to win the nickname “Omaha Orac.”
He is also the fifth wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $169 billion. Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Berkshire’s market capitalization also has a $1 trillion cap due to stocks rising, but its vast companies include insurance company GEICO, railway giant BNSF, and fast food chain Dairy Queen.
Berkshire Hathaway stocks combined an annual growth rate of 20% between 1965 and 2024, far surpassing the 10% pace of the S&P 500 during that period.
Buffett’s decision to resign comes after the death of his right-hand man and long-time business partner Charlie Munger in November 2023.
Buffett will continue to serve as Berkshire chair until his death. He then said his son Howard would take over the role.
Who is Greg Abel?
Abel grew up in Edmonton, Canada. There, his mother was a housewife and sometimes doubled as a legal assistant, and his father sold fire extinguishers.
“Sometimes people were working, but sometimes they didn’t,” he recalled in an interview with the Horatio Alger Association. “But I had the opportunity to dream with your family and good friends.”
Abel graduated from the University of Alberta in 1984 and worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and the energy company Karenergy. In 1992 he joined Mid-American Energy, which Berkshire took over in 1999 and eventually renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and became Chief in 2008.
He later worked for the conglomerate’s uninsured business. He was confirmed as Buffett’s ultimate successor in 2021.
Email to Fortune This year, Sean Tully said, “I never felt good about Greg, but I’m not interviewing anymore. At 94, Bridge is not the only activity I’ve been slowing down. I still have a lot of fun.
On Friday, Berkshire’s lead director Sudecker said. CNBC Abel is accepted by the board and is already in a greater leadership role.
“Last year, the board, really, Greg and Warren moved from preparing for success to actually put it into practice,” she said. “Greg has been involved in capital allocation decisions that much longer and I know he has won the trust of the board and Warren.”
She said, “We don’t see him at all as a CEO waiting for him. He’s now taking on leadership capabilities.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com.
