Canadian businessman Greg Abel is the right person to take over the reins of Berkshire Hathaway from its veteran leader Warren Buffett, a board member said at an event days before the company’s annual shareholders meeting.
Longtime Berkshire board member Ron Olson told investors gathered at the conference Thursday that Mr. Abel understands all the fundamental principles that guide Mr. Buffett, such as letting Berkshire’s companies largely run themselves. And Mr. Abel will be committed to running Berkshire in a conservative way that will protect a company that is known for its financial strength, he said.
Mr. Olson said, “Greg is not a guy who will generate the kind of popularity in the press that I think Warren has.” “On the other hand, I have every reason to believe that he will run the companies we have a responsibility to run, just as Warren ran them.
Mr. Olson said he was confident that business owners would still be willing to sell their companies to Berkshire after the Canadian utility executive takes over after Mr. Buffett, 93, leaves.
He said he didn’t think the public legal battle last year with the billionaire Haslam family over how much Berkshire would ultimately pay for the final 20 percent was worth it. pilot The truck stop chain that the family agreed to sell to Mr. Buffett would be a hindrance to future deals. Both the Haslams and Berkshire accused each other of trying to manipulate Pilot’s earnings to influence the final $2.6 billion price.
Mr. Olson said business owners considering selling can see all of Berkshire’s positive and respectful relationships with its dozens of other subsidiaries on display in the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall adjacent to the arena, where Saturday’s meeting will be held.
The legal battle actually gave Olson, who is a partner at Berkshire’s primary law firm, an opportunity to work closely with Abel, giving him even more confidence in the board’s chosen successor.
“I can tell you that their preparation and thinking was impressive. He is strategic in his thinking. And he is decisive in his decisions,” Mr. Elson said.
Plus, Berkshire has more than $167 billion in cash, so it has ample resources to make deals and, Mr. Olson said, “people generally prefer to be paid in cash.”
Mr. Abel, who keeps a low profile and does not typically grant interviews, will spend hours Saturday answering questions with Mr. Buffett, and will try to help fill the role of Buffett’s longtime partner Charlie Munger. Which preceded his death by decades. Mr. Abel has been overseeing Berkshire’s various non-insurance businesses for several years, while another vice chairman, Ajit Jain, oversees insurance businesses including Geico and General Reinsurance.
Mr. Olson said Mr. Abel is a person who can analyze a business’s balance sheet quickly and thoroughly, just like Buffett, and he is also a great listener who people enjoy working with.
But, Mr. Olson said, “Greg won’t be as entertaining as Warren and Charlie have been over the years.”
Therefore, thousands of people attending the meeting on Saturday will miss Munger. There is no way to replace the expertise, advice and friendship Munger provided Buffett with over six decades.
Professor Lawrence Cunningham, who has written several books about Berkshire, said he thinks the company he helped create will still suffer losses after Munger’s heavy losses.
“The chair is vacant. There is no way to fill it. But I’m also confident that Warren – and especially Greg and Ajit – will carry the torch forward,” Cunningham said.
Berkshire has grappled with succession questions for decades, but Cunningham said he believes Buffett and Munger have built an organization that is bigger than themselves and will endure.
Olson said Berkshire’s board knows there is no other Warren Buffett or Charlie Munger to replace those two men.