Warren Buffett in Omaha, the United States, May 4, 2019. (AFP / Johannes Eisele)
Register in the footsteps of an investor with legendary flair? Or print your own brand? For Greg Abel, replace Warren Buffett at the head of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate is not won in advance.
Officially appointed successor to Mr. Buffett from 2021, Greg Abel saw this appointment take another turning point on Saturday, when the boss of Berkshire Hathaway announced to release the reins of his group at the end of the year.
In the process, taking office of Mr. Abel as Managing Director from January 1, 2026 was confirmed on Monday by a short press release from the group.
The announcement of this change of direction “was a little surprising” so much Warren Buffett, “one of the greatest investors of our time”, seemed irremovable, judge with AFP Art Hogan, financial analyst of B. Riley Wealth Management.
In addition to half a century at the head of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, 94, transformed what was a textile SME into a gigantic conglomerate worth more than $ 1,000 billion in Wall Street.
This conglomerate has dozens of companies (from Duracell batteries to the American insurer Geico) and actions in carefully selected companies, from Coca-Cola to Bank of America, via Chevron or American Express.
All his life, Warren Buffett preferred to invest in the long term in stable companies whose accounts he peeled.
– “carefully selected” –
Behind the scenes, the multimillionaire had greatly prepared his succession for years. Greg Abel “does all the work and I harvest all praise,” said Mr. Buffett in 2023 to the CNBC television channel.
“In recent years, Greg (Abel) has been vice-president of all non-insurance companies. He has therefore exercised the function to which he will be appointed at the end of the year”, judge with AFP Robert Miles, professor and author, specialist in Warren Buffett.
For Patrick O’Hare, financial analyst from Briefing.com, “over the years, Mr. Buffett himself has tried to prepare investors to understand that he would not be eternal and, during this period, he underlined the success of some of the managers” by Berkshire Hathaway, like Greg Abel.
-Little known to the general public, Mr. Abel joined the company in 1992 in his energy division and overseas for more than seven years, all activities that do not fall under insurance.
“Abel was carefully selected by Buffett and has proven his capacities, which is, for investors, a first guarantee of trust,” assures AFP Stefan Lewellen, professor of finance at the State University of Pennsylvania.
– “Large responsibilities” –
The future boss of Berkshire Hathaway did not speak on the way he intended to direct the conglomerate from 2026.
But, according to Robert Miles, the “Berkshire system” has been set up by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, right -hand man of the manager who died in 2023, and Greg Abel’s mission “consists in perpetuating this culture.”
“No one can replace Buffett and it would be a mistake to try” because it was a “unique character”, warns Art Durnev, professor emeritus of finance at the University of Richmond.
For Steve Sosnick, Interactive Brokers financial analyst, “Greg Abel and the rest of the team have large responsibilities to assume and have huge amounts of money they can invest if they wish”.
Berkshire Hathaway is now sitting on cash over 340 billion dollars.
“A large question mark is to know to what extent Abel will be active in the management of Berkshire companies,” notes Mr. Lewellen.
“Everything suggests that it will be more dynamic than Buffett, but it remains to be seen if it is a good or a bad thing for investors,” adds the teacher.
“It is also important to find the right balance between selectivity and speculation,” concludes Mr. Durnev.
