For many years, Berkshire Hathaway's ** problem has been one of the oldest mysteries in the American business world, and the death of Charlie Munger, the "stock god" Buffett's ** partner, last month, has once again focused people's attention on Berkshire. In fact, the 93-year-old Buffett confirmed it as early as the 2021 Berkshire Annual General Meeting of ShareholdersGreg Abel will succeed him as Berkshire CEO.
At this year's annual shareholders' meeting, Buffett said again:
Abel will definitely inherit some of the work I do now.Warren Buffett recently said again:
Abel will be more successful than I am, and if it doesn't match what I said, my nose will get longer.Abel, 61, is currently vice chairman of Berkshire's non-insurance business, where he oversees all of the non-insurance business of the eighth-largest U.S. most valuable company, including nearly 100 companies in the railroad, automotive, utilities, manufacturing and retail sectors.
Warren Buffett has also revealed that there is no competition for the position of head between Abel and Ajit Jain, vice chairman of Berkshire's insurance business. Since 2018, Abel and Jain have been regarded as the hottest candidates to take charge.
Born in Alberta, Canada in 1962, Abel began his career as a Chartered Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers after graduating with a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Alberta.
In 1992, at the age of 30, Abel left PwC's San Francisco office to join a small electric company called Calenergy, where he rose to the position of president in 1998.
Calenergy was later known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
After several rounds of expansion, in 1999, Calenergy acquired Midamerican Energy and adopted the latter's name, and in the same year, Berkshire acquired a controlling stake in the company.
Abel became CEO of Midamerican Energy in 2008, and in 2014, the company changed its name to Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE).
In 2018, Abel stepped down as BHE's CEO to assume the role of BHE's chairman, while gaining a seat on Berkshire's board of directors and was appointed vice chairman of the group's non-insurance business.
Under Abel's leadership, BHE has grown into an integrated energy company focused on coal, natural gas, hydropower, wind, solar, geothermal, and nuclear in just ten years, with approximately 240,000 employees with revenues of more than $25 billion in 2022.
Since joining Berkshire, Abel has been involved in a number of major acquisitions of the company, including Pacific Power in 2005 and Nevada utility NV Energy in 2005 and Dominion Energy's pipeline business in 2020.
Abel also started Home Services, a small real estate brokerage companyIt is now one of Berkshire's most successful holdings.
In addition, with his business insight and interpersonal skills, Abel has earned him wide acclaim from his colleagues at Berkshire.
He's a digital expert and knows the language of business better than anyone else," said Ron Olson, a longtime Berkshire director, "and he also loves to learn." ”
The late Munger said of Abel at this year's shareholder meeting:
Greg is brilliant at being a business leader, both as a thinker and as a doer.Warren Buffett himself also has a very high opinion of Abel:He's also a massive learning machine, so to speak, and he's just as good at learning all sorts of things as Warren.
There were some things he was better at than Warren, Warren knew that, and he just kept telling Greg that sometimes Greg could do better, and that was a lot.
Greg understands capital allocation as much as I do, and we're lucky for that.Here's a hiccup where Abel was quickly appreciated by Warren Buffett thanks in part to D**id Sokol, the former CEO of Calenergy. As early as 2007, Sokol recommended Abel to Warren Buffett.
Sokol was once seen as Buffett's successor, but abruptly resigned from Berkshire in 2011. Whether at CalEnergy or Berkshire, Abel has been mentored by Sokol.
In 2018, Buffett created two new seats on the Berkshire Hathaway board of directors for Abel and Jain and appointed vice chairman of Abel's non-insurance business.
Since then, the two have been seen as the hottest candidates to take over.
It wasn't until 2021 that Munger unexpectedly revealed at a shareholder meeting that Abel would succeed him as Berkshire's CEO, assuring shareholders that Abel would retain the company's unique culture.
abel in, jain out.
Warren Buffett said at the 2023 shareholder meeting:
I think he's going to make these decisions within the same framework that I have, and we've been working on that framework for 30 years.There is also speculation from the outside worldAbel is more than ten years younger than Jain (72 years old).This may be the final deciding factor in his selection as the ** person. Warren Buffett is now Berkshire's CEO, chairman and head of investments, and after he steps down, these positions will be filled by several people, including Abel.
Warren Buffett's investment deputies, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, are expected to be in charge of Berkshire's large portfolio, while Buffett's eldest son, Howard, could become non-executive chairman.
At that time, Berkshire will have a very different management style.
Warren Buffett is an investor who likes to be in the spotlight, having participated in many TV shows such as "All My Children" and "The Office", while Abel is more low-key.
And it's certain that he won't be as hardly involved in the company's operations as Buffett did, but will be more of a hands-on manager.
On April 12, Warren Buffett said in an interview with **
He does all the work and I do it, and that's exactly what I want.It's unclear whether corporate executives will be as eager to deal with Abel as they are with Warren Buffett.He knows more about individuals, businesses, and has seen them all. They haven't seen me at BNSF Railroad for 10, 12 years or something.
Another analysis believes that when Warren Buffett is no longer leading the company, Berkshire shareholders may push for certain changes, such as paying dividends or **certain businesses.
Berkshire is changing," said James Shanahan, an analyst at Edward JonesOver the past 50 years, Berkshire has been known for its unique investment philosophy and investment company positioning, and over the next 50 years, it will focus more on its own growth as an operating company that improves operational efficiency and profitability.
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