- Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett stunned attendees at the conglomerate’s annual shareholder meeting Saturday, when he said his anointed successor Greg Abel should take over the top spot by the end of the year.
Warren Buffett said Saturday that his anointed successor, Greg Abel, should take over as Berkshire Hathaway CEO by the of the year.
During the end of the a question-and-answer session at the conglomerate’s annual meeting, he stunned the audience of shareholders when he said he would make the recommendation to the board of directors at the meeting on Sunday.
“The time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year-end, and I want to spring that on the directors, effectively, and give that as my recommendation,” Buffett, 94, said.
“I think they’ll be unanimously in favor of it, and that would mean that at year-end Greg would be the chief executive officer of Berkshire and I would still hang around.”
He added that Abel, 62, didn’t know he would make the bombshell announcement, and that the board didn’t either, except for his children who are directors.
While Buffett said he plans to be on hand to be helpful, he stressed that Abel will be the chief executive and have the final word, including on operations and capital deployment.
“I will play with a ouija board or whatever in terms of doing things,” Buffett quipped, adding that he will not sell any Berkshire Hathaway shares and reaffirmed his plan to give them away gradually.
After the announcement, he said, “That’s the news hook for the day, thanks for coming,” and received an extended standing ovation from the audience.
Buffett became CEO in 1970 after his investment partnership acquired Berkshire, then a textile business, in 1965. During that time, he has become an iconic investor, with legions of followers who track his stock moves and investing advice.
His decision to step down comes after the death of his right-hand man and long-time business partner, Charlie Munger, in November 2023.
Abel grew up in Edmonton, Canada, where his mother was a homemaker who doubled at times as a legal assistant and his father sold fire extinguishers.
“Sometimes people had jobs, and sometimes they didn’t,” Abel recalled in an interview for the Horatio Alger Association. “But with your family and good friends you had the opportunity to dream.”
Abel became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2008, then was put in charge of the overall conglomerate’s non-insurance businesses. He was confirmed as Buffett’s eventual successor in 2021.
In an email to Fortune’s Shawn Tully earlier this year, Buffett said, “I couldn’t feel better about Greg. But I’m just not doing interviews anymore. At 94, bridge isn’t the only activity that’s slowed down for me. I’m still having a lot of fun and am able to do a few things reasonably well. But other activities have been eliminated or greatly minimized.”
On Friday, Berkshire lead director Sue Decker told CNBC that Abel has been embraced by the board and has already been taking on a bigger leadership role.
“In the last year, the board, really Greg and Warren, have moved from sort of preparing for success to actually practicing it,” she said. “Greg has gotten much more involved in capital allocation decisions, and I know he’s earned the trust of the board and Warren in that.”
She added, “We don’t even really see him as a CEO in waiting, he’s taking on the leadership capacity right now.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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