A new future for
Berkshire Hathaway and it insurance interests may be announced shortly.
Company head Warren Buffett revealed to shareholders this weekend that he and the company board had found a successor for Buffett, and Berkshire Vice-Chairman Charlie Munger confirmed that Ajit Jain and Greg Abel are the front-runners for the position.
“Both the board and I believe we now have the right person to succeed me as CEO – a successor ready to assume the job the day after I die or step down,” Buffett wrote in his Saturday shareholders letter. “In certain important respects, this person will do a better job than I am doing.”
Jain, head of National Indemnity’s reinsurance operation since 1986, has a strong insurance background and was praised by Munger for his risk management and underwriting skills. If the insurance industry experienced a $250 billion loss from some mega-catastrophe, for example, “Berkshire as a whole would likely record a significant profit for the year because of its many streams of earnings,” Munger said.
Abel, meanwhile, heads Berkshire Hathaway Energy and gained acclaim for overseeing the company’s second-largest acquisition last year—the $5.6 billion buyout of Nevada’s NV Energy.
Munger stressed Abel and Jain are both loyal to Berkshire, neither likely to abandon ship for new opportunities in the near future.
Speculation has been rife among shareholders and other industry leaders as to who will replace the 84-year-old Buffett, who leads the fourth-largest insurance company by market share in the US.
With
GEICO and the newly minted Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, Berkshire claims 4.26% of the US insurance market share and boasts $23,169,106 in direct premiums written ($000).
Buffett did not say when he plans to announce his successor, but the choice could depend on when he decides to step down. The Berkshire Hathaway head said he hopes the future CEO will be young enough to spend at least a decade at the helm.
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