Investors had speculated in the last years that Warren E. Buffett could withdraw. But the 94 -year -old billionaire still surprised many on Saturday, when he announced that he planned to resign as executive director of Berkshire Hathaway after almost six decades.
Less surprising is who said he intended to success him as the leader of the conglomerate of $ 1.1 billion he built: Gregory E. Abel, his heir of apparent years.
Who is Greg Abel?
Since 2018, Mr. Abel, 62, has been vice president or companies of Nonurantio de Berkshire, the 189 operational companies that include the BNSF railway, one of the largest in the country; Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a giant energy utility; Restaurant and retail chains such as Dairy Queen and Borsheims’s jewelry chain; Consumer brands such as Loom Fruit underwear, Brooks and Justin Boot race shoes; Netjets, the private Jet service; And more.
Mr. Abel’s fixed responsibilities occurred after a constant increase through Berkshire’s ranks. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, and a training accountant, he joined the conglomerate in 2000 when Mr. Buffet bought a controlling participation in what was mid -American energy, where he was president.
Mr. Abel was appointed Vice President of Berkshire in 2018, anoking as a possible successor of Mr. Buffet, a status that Mr. Buffett confirmed in 2021. Buffett told CNBC at that time.
In addition to his work experience, Mr. Abel is known for his love for hockey, who played when he was a child: he is a voluntary coach for his son in Des Moines, where he lives and where Berkshire Hathaway Energy is based.
Why did you receive the assent?
Mr. Abel of a relatively low profile has received praise from Mr. Buffett and others in Berkshire’s orbit over the years for two key qualities.
The first is your operational experience. He helped direct a series of acquisitions that became Midamerican, renowned Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2014, an important energy producer. Since its elevation in 2018, it has a much broader collection of companies that together reported more than $ 5 billion in operational profits in the first three months of this year.
Mr. Buffett praised his heir team as an effective executive in which he trusted to make great decisions. By 2023, Mr. Buffett told CNBC, Mr. Abel “does all the job and I take all the arches.” The billionaire added: “It’s a great improvement for me, but don’t tell anyone.”
Mr. Abel’s other quality is that he is considered to conform to Berkshire’s mold. He became a more serious contender to take care of the conglomerate in 2011, when David Sokol, his former head of Midamerican, who had been known as Mr. Buffet’s main corridor, he resigned. Berkshire concluded that Mr. Sokol violated the company’s policies by buying around $ 10 million in lubrizol shares, a specialized chemical manufacturer, while orchestrated an acquisition of the company.
Mr. Abel, however, has been seen as cloth cut similar to Mr. Buffett. “Greg will keep the culture,” Charles T. Muger, then Vice President of Berkshire and commercial partner of Mr. Buffett, told shareholders at the annual meeting of the company’s 2021. The comment immediately began the speculation of succession, which Mr. Buffett confirmed days later.
Mr. Abel has assumed more public tasks in recent years, including the stage on stage for hours with Mr. Buffet at Berkshire annual meetings to answer investors’ questions.
How is Mr. Abel expected to direct Berkshire?
He thought Mr. Buffet won renown as one of the most successful shares of actions of all time, the strengths of his successor are more in the companies in execution. That is part of a reflection of what Berkshire is today: an empire of companies or discons that together use more than 392,000 workers.
Mr. Abel is not expected to choose the companions entering the Berkshire investment portfolio: the company already has two executives, Todd combs and Ted Weschler, who were hired by Mr. Buffett to help with that. But it will supervise the child of the big businesses that the conglomerate may be exclusively capable of attacking, given the $ 347.7 billion in cash in which it is sitting. (Mr. Buffett has called that his “elephant gun”).
However, that will present a great challenge. For years, Mr. Buffet has not hit those acquisition children. And he has recognized that Berkshire is so great that it is difficult to find an acquisition goal large enough to increase his profits.
