/introducing-warren-buffetts-successor-ADD-V1-c6a638b558da4418b8a2c306b34be3ad.jpg "Who Is Greg Abel? What Is His Salary? 1")
Buyers all over the world have questioned for years who would take the reins of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) as soon as its present 91-year-old CEO (and the world’s fifth-richest man) Warren Buffett passes away or retires.
On Could 1, 2021, they received their reply. On the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder assembly, govt vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway Charlie Munger made an offhand remark indicating the person succeeding Buffett as CEO can be Berkshire’s 59-year-old vice chair of Non-Insurance coverage Enterprise Operations, Greg Abel. Buffett confirmed the information in a CNBC interview the next Monday.
If the precise comment—”Greg will maintain the tradition,” Munger mentioned, discussing Berkshire’s decentralized working construction—was a shock, the person in query is not. Abel had lengthy been thought of one of many front-running heirs obvious for CEO, alongside together with his fellow board member Ajit Jain, Vice-Chair of Insurance coverage Operations.
Neither Buffett nor Munger gave any indication of precisely when Greg Abel would assume the pinnacle publish. Nonetheless, let’s meet the person who’s poised to preside over one of many largest U.S. firms within the post-Buffett period.
Key Takeaways
- On the Berkshire Hathaway 2021 annual assembly, govt vice chair Charlie Munger made an offhand remarking figuring out Greg Abel because the successor to CEO Warren Buffett.
- Greg Abel is at present Berkshire’s vice chair of Non-Insurance coverage Enterprise Operations and the chair of subsidiary Berkshire Power Holdings.
- Abel has been at Berkshire since 2000, when the conglomerate purchased an power firm he’d been working.
- Referred to as a low-key however hardworking dealmaker, Abel has spearheaded a few of Berkshire’s largest and most profitable acquisitions.
- No date has been set for Buffett’s departure or Abel’s succession.
Investopedia / Alex Dos Diaz
Early Life and Schooling
Born June 1, 1962, and raised in Edmonton, Canada, Gregory Abel graduated from the College of Alberta in 1984 with a commerce diploma. He grew to become an accountant and, after a stint with Massive 4 accounting agency PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), joined a small electrical energy firm, CalEnergy, in 1992. He rose to turn out to be president of the enterprise in 1998, which expanded into a wide range of power operations, altering its identify to MidAmerican Power Holdings (after one of many companies it acquired).
Abel grew to become a part of Berkshire Hathaway when the conglomerate purchased MidAmerican in 2000. The agency finally was re-dubbed Berkshire Hathaway Power (BHE). Abel served as its Chief Government Officer from 2008–2018. He at present serves as its chair. With subsidiaries targeted on coal, pure fuel, hydroelectric, wind, photo voltaic, geothermal, and nuclear power, BHE had about 23,800 staff and reported greater than $20.9 billion in income in 2020.
Notable Accomplishments
That means continued at Berkshire. BHE has accounted for/been concerned in a few of Berkshire’s largest acquisitions, together with PacifiCorp in 2005, Nevada utility NV Power in 2013, and Dominion Power’s pipeline enterprise in 2020.
Abel additionally nurtured House Providers, a small actual property brokerage that got here with the acquisition of one other firm; it is now one among Berkshire’s most profitable holdings.
Each at MidAmerican and at Berkshire, Abel was mentored by David Sokol, who appeared a possible successor to Warren Buffett till his resignation from Berkshire in 2011. Sokol was singing Abel’s praises to Buffett as early as 2007.
$19M
Greg Abel’s compensation in 2020. It consists of $16 million in base wage and a $3 million bonus, in keeping with Berkshire’s SEC filings.
An Inheritor Obvious
Though he tended to keep away from public appearances and shareholder conferences, Abel’s status started to unfold all through the monetary and enterprise world—as did hypothesis about his function at a post-Buffett Berkshire. In September 2017, JP Morgan analyst Sarah DeWitt wrote in a observe, “The most certainly successor in our view, who Warren Buffett commonly praises, is Greg Abel.”
Then, in 2018, got here the transfer that marked Abel as a possible inheritor obvious: Buffett elevated and appointed Abel, together with Ajit Jain, to the Berkshire Hathaway board of administrators, creating two new seats for them. Abel acquired his present title, Vice-Chair of Non-Insurance coverage Enterprise Operations.
As such, Abel oversees all of Berkshire’s railroad, auto utilities, manufacturing, and retail subsidiaries—over 90 firms in all. All informed, the noninsurance operations characterize $150 billion in gross sales and comprise 250,000 staff.
Till Munger’s inadvertent point out on the 2021 shareholder assembly, Jain and Abel had been each seen as doubtless successors to Buffett—the truth is, some gave Jain the sting.
It is potential that Abel’s age—he is over a decade youthful than the 71-year-old Jain—finally was the decisive think about his being tapped over Jain.
Whereas at MidAmerican, Abel acquired a status as an excellent dealmaker, main and rising the corporate in additional diversified instructions by good mergers and purchases—and managing the brand new acquisitions intelligently and effectively. His dealing with of purchases of Enron’s fuel strains and of a British agency, Northern Electrical, stood out specifically.
In his 2014 letter to shareholders, Charlie Munger characterised Greg Abel and Ajit Jain as “confirmed performers who would in all probability be under-described as ‘world-class.’ ‘World-leading’ can be the outline I might select. In some vital methods, every is a greater enterprise govt than Buffett.”
Administration Model
A resident of Des Moines, the place Berkshire Power is predicated, Abel leads a comparatively low-key life, like Buffett. Buddies and acquaintances describe him as grounded and grounded—additionally like Buffett—together with being extraordinarily good, pushed, and difficult when he must be.
Though one thing of an insider’s secret, he has stepped up public appearances within the final two years, a notable onstage presence at latest annual conferences. His solutions to questions, particularly about power conservation and sustainability, went down effectively with analysts and shareholders.
Hockey is one among Greg Abel’s passions. He performed the game as a boy and coaches his kids’s groups. He additionally sits on the Hockey Canada Basis’s Board of Administrators.
Who Is Warren Buffett’s Successor?
In 2021, Greg Abel, chair of Berkshire Hathaway, was named Warren Buffett’s eventual successor.
What Is Greg Abel’s Web Value?
Greg Abel’s internet price is estimated to be between $484 million.
How A lot Is Warren Buffett Value?
As of August 2022, Warren Buffett’s internet price is estimated to be simply over $102 billion.
The Backside Line
Greg Abel will face challenges when he steps into the massive function. An more and more activist group of Berkshire shareholders is agitating for the corporate to spend extra of its appreciable money reserves, to cut back its carbon footprint, and to advertise range. All this, together with the truth that he is not Warren Buffett.
However then, he will not be inheriting Buffett’s actual function. The job Buffett did will in all probability be divvied up amongst numerous individuals. Abel would be the CEO of Berkshire, however Buffett’s son Howard is prone to be named Berkshire Chair of the Board.
Jain appears prone to proceed as vice chair of the insurance coverage operations, and his job might increase additional. He is additionally been cited as subsequent in line for CEO, ought to something occur to Abel.
Lastly, there might be an even bigger function for Todd Combs and Ted Weschler. Each of those males are funding managers for Buffett and have been taking over higher tasks in managing smaller firms within the Berkshire portfolio. It’s potential that each will probably be given extra duty after Buffett’s departure.