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Berkshire Hathaway’s board of directors has voted unanimously to appoint Greg Abel as chief executive, with Warren Buffett remaining chair of the group he built from almost scratch into a $1.2tn conglomerate.
Omaha-based Berkshire said on Monday that its board had voted on Sunday, hours after the 94-year-old Buffett told shareholders at the group’s 60th annual meeting that he would hand over the reins to Abel.
Abel, who Buffett began lining up as his successor in 2021, will take over as chief executive on January 1, Berkshire said in a statement.
Buffett said on Saturday that “he would still hang around and could conceivably be useful in a few cases” but had not made clear that he would stay on as chair.
Shares in Berkshire, which hit a record on Friday, were down 2 per cent in pre-market trading on Monday.
Berkshire now makes much of its money from its vast insurance business, which includes companies such as Geico, as well as myriad other companies in industries from aerospace manufacturing and railways to chocolate shops.
It began as a medium-sized textile business that Buffett took over in 1965.
Abel is currently vice-chair of Berkshire’s non-insurance operations.
https://www.ft.com/content/c0ee1d82-c446-4f69-b8ce-b3329783b3b7
