Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett over the weekend announced plans to step down as chief executive starting next year.
Greg Abel, the vice chairman of non-insurance operations at Berkshire, received unanimous approval from the board to succeed Buffett, who, after more than half a century, plans to relinquish the top job.
Abel will start his tenure as Berkshire’s new CEO on Jan. 1, 2026.
Buffett’s planned successor has held his current position at Berkshire since January 2018 and chairs Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the subsidiary that owns firms such as PacifiCorp, Northern Natural Gas and BHE Renewables.
Abel has a long history in the energy sector, having worked at CalEnergy and later MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company after CalEnergy bought it and assumed its name in the late 1990s.
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He joined Berkshire in 1999, when the conglomerate purchased a majority interest in MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. He was president of MidAmerican at the time of that deal and would eventually become CEO of the firm.
His first job out of college was at PricewaterhouseCoopers, according to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, a nonprofit where he holds the role of president.
Abel, a Canadian, attended the University of Alberta, obtaining a commerce degree.
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Prior to recommending Abel to become Berkshire’s next CEO, Buffett had made clear on numerous occasions that Abel was his top choice for a successor.
The “Oracle of Omaha” told CNBC in 2021 that Berkshire’s directors were “in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who’d take over tomorrow morning.”
Buffett wrote in his 2023 letter to shareholders that Abel “in all respects is ready to be CEO of Berkshire tomorrow.” Additionally, more recently, in his 2024 letter, he said it “won’t be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters.”
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Berkshire said Buffett will stay chairman when Abel assumes the CEO job at the start of next year.
The conglomerate generated $89.7 billion in total revenues in the first quarter.
Berkshire’s market capitalization hovered north of $1 trillion as of late Monday morning.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK.A | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 775,637.51 | -33,712.49 | -4.17% |
| BRK.B | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 517.09 | -22.22 | -4.12% |
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