In fact, as early as 2021, Buffett revealed in an interview with CNBC that Abel was his chosen successor for Berkshire Hathaway. What is his background?
(Background: Goodbye to the Oracle of Omaha! Buffett announces he will step down as CEO of Berkshire by the end of 2025, with Greg Abel taking over)
(Additional background: Legendary review of Charlie Munger and his partnership with Buffett, a lifetime of market dominance)
The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, has long been synonymous with Berkshire Hathaway. However, with the recent passing of his close ally, Berkshire’s Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, and Buffett’s own twilight years, investors are now focusing on who will succeed Buffett at Berkshire.
During today’s (April 4) shareholder meeting, the 94-year-old Buffett officially announced that he will step down as CEO by the end of 2025, with current Vice Chairman Greg Abel taking over.
“Tomorrow we will hold a Berkshire board meeting, and we have 11 directors. Two of those directors are my children, and they know what I will discuss tomorrow. For the other directors, this will be new information, but I believe the time has come for Abel to become the CEO by the end of this year,” Buffett stated.
Who is Greg Abel?
According to a report compiled by Business Insider, Abel was born on June 1, 1962, graduated from the University of Alberta in Canada in 1984 with a degree in commerce, and has since demonstrated expertise in accounting.
In 2013, in his alma mater’s alumni magazine, Abel spoke about his passion for accounting:
“Initially, I had a strong interest in finance, but when I realized the importance of understanding income statements and cash flow statements, my study of accounting began.”
Taking over MidAmerican Energy
In 1992, Abel joined the geothermal power producer CalEnergy as a certified public accountant. However, after CalEnergy acquired MidAmerican Energy in 1999, the latter’s name was retained.
That same year, Berkshire acquired MidAmerican Energy, bringing Abel into Buffett’s view. He officially took over as CEO of MidAmerican Energy in 2008 and rebranded it as Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2014.
Currently, Abel serves as Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Energy and also gained a board seat from Berkshire Hathaway in 2018, being appointed as Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway’s non-insurance businesses.
Munger’s assessment of Abel: The evolved version of Buffett
Abel is widely praised among his colleagues at Berkshire Hathaway, including Buffett’s late partner, Munger. At this year’s Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Munger stated:
“Abel is excellent at being a business leader, both as a thinker and a doer. He is also a huge learning machine; you could say that he is just as capable as Warren when it comes to learning various things. In fact, there are some areas where he outperforms Warren, and Warren knows this.”
At the same time, Buffett also mentioned in a press release on the 21st of this month regarding the company’s future:
“Berkshire, one of the largest and most diversified companies in the world, will inevitably encounter judgment and behavioral errors, but these errors will not be too serious at Berkshire; they will be acknowledged and corrected because we have the right successor and a good board.”
What does Abel think about cryptocurrencies?
It is worth noting that Buffett and Munger have long maintained a skeptical attitude toward cryptocurrencies, repeatedly stating that investing in Bitcoin is foolish and predicting that the value of most cryptocurrencies will ultimately go to zero:
“Don’t let me invest in Bitcoin; it’s the craziest investment I’ve ever seen, and most of them (cryptocurrencies) will go to zero.”
However, as Buffett’s chosen successor, Abel has yet to make clear comments on cryptocurrencies. Whether he will share Buffett’s and Munger’s skepticism or adopt a “different” perspective remains to be seen.
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