Warren E. Buffett has been at the forefront of US capitalism for decades as executive director of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate that he built in a colossus of $ 1.1 billion.
At the end of the year, he is preparing to give up that role.
Mr. Buffett said at the annual shareholders meeting of Berkshire on Saturday that he plans to ask the company’s board to approach Gregory Abel, his apparent heir, the executive director by the end of the year.
Mr. Abel would have “the last word” when it comes to the company’s operations, how he invests and more, Mr. Buffett, 94, told the tens of thousands of Berkshire shareholders at the meeting in Omaha.
But Mr. Buffett added that “it still stayed and would be useful in some cases.” He will remain president of Berkshire, transmitting that role to his Sond Buffet after his death, and remains the largest shareholder in the company, with a participation of approximately 14 percent that is worth approximately $ 164 billion.
Mr. Buffett’s plan, who said he had only been known only for two or his children who sit at the company’s board, Howard and Susan Buffett, was received for a minute standing by Berkshire’s shareholders, Mr. Abel, 62, seemed surprised by the announcement of his boss. After the announcement, several members of the Board attribute the Berkshire meeting hugged.
He thought Mr. Buffett seemed with good health, after having directed several hours of investors questions on Saturday, the changes in this year’s annual meeting, its 60th in Berkshire, reflected their advanced age. He used a cane, which he first mentioned in the company’s annual letter in February, and shortened the shareholders’ question session for several hours.
If the Board approves the plan, it would mean the end of an era for one of the most successful companies in modern capitalist history, and one of its most famous investors. Mr. Buffett has accumulated a fortune similar to Midas as it is an intelligent shares selector, buying companies and maintaining them in the long term.
Through this investment philosophy, he gathered a conglomerate that executes a large insurance operation, an important railroad, deans of consumer partners and supervises a fixed sharing portfolio.
Among the most notable holdings of Berkshire are the names that many consumers recognize: GEICO CEO, the BNSF Railway, the Berkshire Energy company Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Dairy Queen, See’s’s Candies, Fruit of the Loom, The Painting Company. Together, those businesses helped Berkshire increase a cash treasure that is now at almost $ 348 billion, more than the assessment of the McDonald’s stock market.
Berkshire’s financial power has made Mr. Buffett as one of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs, giving their pronouncements on many issues, including politics, great weight. That included his criticisms or commercial policies of President Trump, which Buffett pointed on Saturday.
“Trade should not be a weapon,” Buffett said at the annual meeting. “I don’t think it’s correct and I don’t think it’s wise.”
Mr. Buffett’s comments on the rates were far from their first incursion into politics. A Democratic supporter, his name was attached to a proposal years ago by former President Barack Obama who would have increased taxes to millionaires. But Buffett has maintained a low profile for months, and even on Saturday he did not mention Mr. Trump by name.
Mr. Buffett’s plan to resign would be to complete one of the most viewed leadership transitions in corporate America. For years, he faced questions about who could take care of Berkshire, a unique complicated business, and several executives had floated as their successor.
But in 2021, Mr. Buffett finally confirmed that it would be Mr. Abel who joined the Berkshire fold when the company bought its energy business in 2000. Since then, the Canadian executive has increased through the ranks, turning what is now called Berkshire Hathaway Energy in one of the greatest energy in the United States.
Mr. Abel is currently the vice president of Berkshire companies that are not safe. The supervision of insurance operations of the Behemoth conglomerate has remained with Ajit Jain, a buffet lieutenant for a long time. Mr. Buffett and other executives have professed their belief that Mr. Abel could maintain Berkshire’s culture.
“Greg is ready,” Ronald L. Olson, a director of Berkshire who also renounces CNBC after the announcement of Mr. Buffett on Saturday, told CNBC.
Mr. Olson added that he hoped Mr. Buffet could serve as a valuable resonance board for Mr. Abel, as well as Charles T. Muger, Mr. Buffett’s commercial partner who died in 2023.
Together, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Muger entertained investors and, more, in the annual meetings of Berkshire, now in his 60th year, with a kind of vaodevil act, Mr. Buffett as the ironic optimist and Mr. Munger as the acute language pessimist.
The last Berkshire financial report card underrined the complications that Mr. Abel will face as Executive Director.
The company reported a strong drop in the first quarter, with operational income-MR. Buffett’s favorite measure, 14 percent less than the same time a year ago at $ 9.6 billion. Using generally accepted accounting principles, Berkshire reported a drop of almost 64 percent in net income, largely due to paper investment losses.
But while the markets have become more volatile in response to Mr. Trump’s trade approach, Mr. Buffett professed little concern about the effects of that volatility in Berkshire.
“It really is nothing,” Shareholders told that traveling in vicissitudes of the market was part of the investment in shares.
The company reported that a “majority” of its businesses had lower sales and profits in the first three months of the year, specularly in insurance subscription income, which was reached by losses linked to Forest Fires in California.
In a regulatory presentation on Saturday, Berkshire warned that Mr. Trump’s commercial policies were generating “considerable uncertainty”, which could affect the company’s operational results. “Currently we cannot reliably predict the potential impact on our businesses, white through changes in products, costs and efficiency of the supply chain, and customer demand for our products and services.”
Berkshire’s cash battery grew to $ 347.7 billion, a record, reflecting that Mr. Buffet has not found the type of investment opportunities of great success that helped put the company on the map. In the past, he has recognized that, given the size of Berkshire, it is now almost impossible for Berkshire to find agreements that can increase their profits.
Duration of its question and answers session with the shareholders at the annual meeting on Saturday, Mr. Buffett acknowledged stocking cash to prepare for any potential purchase opportunity. He revealed that he had weighed a possible investment of $ 10 billion, but then refused to prepare.
Berkshire continued to be a net seller of shares, selling capital worth $ 4.68 billion in the quarter, compared to $ 3.18 billion in purchases.
An issue that Mr. Buffet did not directed the address on Saturday is what would happen with Topps and Ted Weschler, whom he hired more than a decade ago to help Berkshire teams. It has been widely expected that the two become the Berkshire shares collectors after Buffett moves away, thought that Mr. Combs has also become the executive director of Geico.
Several prominent corporate and business leaders were present on Saturday, including the co -founder of Microsoft Bill Gates, Tim Cook of Apple (which is one of Berkshire’s biggest shares of shares) and Billonario Financial William A. ACKMAN. Also present were two first timers, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Priscilla Chan, the wife of the executive director of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg.
Andrew Ross Sorkin Contributed reports.
