While the billionaire Warren Buffett will remain in Berkshire Hathaway As president of the Board of Directors when Vice President Greg Abel assumes the position of CEO from 2026, the actions of the monumental financial investment company 5% fell This Monday at Wall Street, after having reached a historical maximum on Friday.
In Six decades in commandBuffett transformed a Massachusetts textile company into an extensive but agile conglomerate that has from Daily Queen and See’s Candies to BNSF Railway and great insurers. As the company grew, Warren’s reputation grew with her, since Berkshire Hathaway’s actions constantly rose and surpassed the main indices by broad margins, to the return an average of 19.9% every year compared to 10.4% of the standard & Poor’s 500.
After the announcement that shook the markets, the conglomerate board of directors voted on Sunday to keep the Legendary 94 -year -old investor As director, a decision that probably relieves investors concerned with Berkshire’s remarkable streak while the economies of the United States and the world are affected by tariff clashes, financial turbulence and a growing risk of recession.
At the same meeting, the Council also approved the successor chosen by Buffett as CEO, Berkshire executive veteran Greg Abel62 years. In a surprise ad on Saturday, Buffett said he would leave that position at the end of the year.
Macrae Sykesportfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, praised the transparent way in which Buffett announced the transition at the meeting and believes that investors may have confidence that it will not go anywhere.
“Retaining the president’s position means that he can continue to be a mentor of Greg and Berkshire’s leaders, in addition to providing additional intellectual capacity when the inevitable time to make a more important capital allocation arrives,” Sykes told AP.
The decision to continue with the “Oracle of Omaha”as Buffett is known, as head of the Council differs from the Succession Plan established after his death. The billionaire said for a long time that Howard Buffettthe second of the three children of the investor should become president when he is no longer to protect Berkshire’s culture.
The current vice president, Abel, will assume as CEO while Great questions loom about the companybut this professional was already managing all Berkshire’s non -insurers since 2018. Buffett himself said that the president’s tariffs Donald Trump They were a big mistake. There are also concerns that Berkshire might not be able to avoid the fate of most conglomerates: being forced to dismember to recover the focus.
Then in the investor approach the cash of 348,000 million dollars of Berkshire, which allow him to maintain the influence and guard high in a turbulent 2025 for international bags.
Buffet recognized investors that You do not see many bargains in which you invest That money now, even in Berkshire’s own actions, but assured some of the approximately 40,000 attendees to the company’s annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, that one day the company would be “bombarded with opportunities.”
Greg Abel, a discreet Canadian with love for hockey, has already proved to be a more practical manager than buffet by asking difficult questions to managers and encouraging them to collaborate with other subsidiaries when it makes sense. Now he will assume the supervision of insurance businesses and the responsibility of investing the company’s cash. The vice president Ajit jain It will remain for now to help manage insurance businesses that include Geico and great reinsurers like General Rebut he is 73 years old.
Abel told shareholders on Saturday that he would not change Berkshire’s investment approach, who learned from Buffett. Keeping Berkshire’s solid balance will always be a priority, he said. Buffett backed Abel by communicating that he would maintain all his actions that give him control of 30% of Berkshire Hathaway and praised Abel during the shareholders meeting.
“It’s much better with Greg than with me because I didn’t want to work as hard as he works and I can get mine because we have a basically good business, a very good business, and I was not in danger of being fired by virtue of the property and the fact that we could do it quite well,” Buffet said. “But the fact that you can do it quite well does not mean that you can’t do better, and Greg can do better in many things,” he said.
