Updated / Tuesday, 4 May 2021
08:03
Berkshire Hathaway s CEO Warren Buffett is 90 years of age
Warren Buffett ended years of speculation about who would succeed him at Berkshire Hathaway by saying Vice Chairman Greg Abel would take over as chief executive officer if he were to step down. The directors are in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who d take over tomorrow morning, Buffett said, according to a CNBC report.
Buffett, 90, has never provided a timetable for his departure.
Abel, 58, has overseen Berkshire s non-insurance businesses since 2018, after building its Berkshire Hathaway Energy unit into a major US power provider.
Ian Vandaelle, Chase Producer, BNN Berkshire Hathawayâs vice chairman of non-insurance business operations Greg Abel , The Canadian Press
The top-ranking Canadian at Warren Buffettâs conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, is getting a promotion. Greg Abel - the Edmontonian who heads Berkshire Hathaway Energy - has been named the conglomerateâs vice chairman of non-insurance business operations and appointed to the companyâs board, firmly ensconcing him as one of the frontrunners to succeed the Oracle of Omaha as chief executive.
Abel wasnât so much hired by Berkshire, as he was bought by it. After graduating from the University of Alberta in 1984 with a commerce degree, Abel spent a spell at PricewaterhouseCooperâs before eventually landing at Iowaâs CalEnergy Resources in the early 1990s. Buffettâs Berkshire ended up snapping up the company, which had since merged with rival MidAmerican Hol
Warren Buffett names his successor
By
Chris Isidore, CNN Business
Published May 4, 2021 9:47:35 AM
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(CNN) Warren Buffett said Monday that Greg Abel, the head of Berkshire Hathaway s non-insurance business, will be his successor although Buffett gave no indication that he will give up the top job at the conglomerate anytime soon.
Abel has long been considered one of the two men likely to follow Buffett, along with Ajit Jain, who heads Berkshire s insurance business. Both are vice chairmen of the company, along with 97-year old Charlie Munger. Speaking to CNBC Monday morning, the 90-year old Buffett said that Abel is the next in line to follow him, followed by Jain.
Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO-in-waiting has a lot of Warren Buffett in him plus more MarketWatch 5/4/2021
LAWRENCE A. CUNNINGHAM S QUALITY INVESTING
It’s confirmed: Warren Buffett’s eventual successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway will be Gregory Abel, currently the company’s vice-chairman. While no one can match the unparalleled record Buffett set as both an investor and a manager, Abel is the right fit: a player and a coach who has a light-touch and makes a high-impact.
As a manager within Berkshire’s culture famous of autonomy and decentralization, Abel, 59, is aptly low-ego and hands-off. A deep business knowledge and wisdom that he gladly offers when asked, one of the most important roles of the Berkshire CEO when overseeing scores of high performing subsidiaries.
Charlie Munger made a comment that, on the surface at least, wasn t all that surprising. Greg will keep the culture, the 97-year-old Munger said simply, explaining that the company s decentralized nature would outlast him and
Warren Buffett.
But that was enough to clue in some Berkshire watchers, who have been wondering about succession plans at the conglomerate once 90-year-old Chairman and CEO Buffett is no longer in charge. To many, it signaled the top job will go to Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who runs all of the noninsurance operations.
The impression was an accurate one, CNBC can confirm. The directors are in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who d take over tomorrow morning, Buffett said. He praised Abel and Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, who runs all of Berkshire s insurance operations.