Greg Abel, the dependable successor of Warren Buffett

Greg Abel, the next CEO of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, will start with the advantage of having the full confidence of the great businessman and financial guru Warren Buffet, who last weekend made a surprise announcement of his retirement at the respectable age of 94 and named Abel as his successor.

Abel is the current chairman and CEO of the company’s energy subsidiary, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and already sounded as a possible successor to the company in 2021, but will not take over until the end of the year, although board approval is still pending and it is unclear whether he will assume the role of chairman.

“Greg should become CEO of the company by the end of the year, and I want the directors to effectively take that on,” Buffett said at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

At the shareholder meeting, Abel was asked to describe himself, to which he replied, “I would say ‘more active.’ But hopefully in a very positive way.” He added, “We have an exceptional group, so we have done exceptionally well.”

He also noted that the company has great businesses run autonomously, which will remain in his tenure, and reflected that if they see opportunities, they will discuss whether they should be taken advantage of and whether they are “adequately addressing risk.”