A faithful right arm
Abel has their thirties when he leaves PwC in San Francisco to join one of his customers, an Omaha energy production company called Calenergy. We were then in the early 1990s. His new CEO, David Sokol, sends him across the Atlantic to manage an acquisition when the group buys English Northern Electric. Its mission is a great success, so that Warren Buffett will quote it to justify the qualities of its counterpart a few years later. “Abel is a rare pearl”, Also says David Sokol.
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At the dawn of the 2000s, Abel set himself up to the rank of president of the energy company. Walter Scott, their largest shareholder and longtime friend of a certain Warren Buffett, slides a few words to his old friend concerning an investment in the energy company. It doesn’t take more for Buffett to acquire the company for $ 2 billion, and $ 7 billion in assumed debt. At the time, this transaction was the very first of Berkshire in the electricity sector. Berkshire Hathaway Energy was born. And Buffett chose Abel to ensure the role of CEO in 2008.
From there, Greg Abel illustrates like a faithful right -hand man for Omaha’s Oracle, making Berkshire Hathaway Energy one of the largest companies with acquisitions and investments. While David Sokol, weighed down by an initiate offense, is forced to resign.
Buffett then names Abel Vice-President, at the head of all Berkshire companies outside of his insurance operations, and joined his board of directors in 2018.
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The two men share the scene during the famous Berkshire annual meetings, and work hand in hand for recent investments in Japan. So that in recent years, Abel has played a key role in the growth of Berkshire’s position in five Japanese conglomerates.
“The time has come for Greg to become director general of the company “, was therefore able to assert, confident, Warren Buffett to its shareholders this weekend. Even if it must be admitted, replacing the big boss will not only be done with Abel Greg. But also with Ted Weschler and Todd Combs fund managers, as well as Warren’s son Howard Buffett, who could become non -executive president.
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