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After that, Abel got down to business, delivering a straightforward, thorough update on Berkshire’s various companies and equity holdings. He then answered questions from shareholders alongside Vice Chairman Ajit Jain.
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“He gave us a lot of detail on the business, touched on a lot of different businesses, demonstrated that he understood them, understood the risks, understood the opportunities,” said Adam Mead, chief executive and chief investment officer of Mead Capital Management, who attended the meeting. “He’s done his homework and he is absolutely the leader that Warren told us he would be.”
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Abel, who had never professionally managed money until he became chief executive this year, gave shareholders a glimpse of his investment perspective. Abel said Berkshire has identified several firms with interesting management and operations, but isn’t interested in buying or investing in them because of their high valuations.
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Though the Buffett-Munger duo’s legendary comedic chemistry was missing, Abel and Jain nevertheless got some applause and a few laughs from the audience.
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“There was a very healthy dynamic between Greg and Ajit,” said Mead. “It almost really felt like there was a little bit of a Warren-and-Charlie type of dynamic going on. I thought it was great.”
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One of Jain’s answers led Abel to compare him to Munger, who died in 2023. When asked whether Berkshire would consider offering insurance to ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, the critical shipping channel for oil that’s been essentially closed since the start of the war with Iran, Jain quipped, “The short answer is, depends on the price.”
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“I like your Charlie answer,” Abel responded.
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The chief executive also reiterated his faith in Berkshire’s conglomerate structure and said there are no plans to break up the company. The reason Berkshire’s structure works is because of the company’s focus on stamping out bureaucracy, Abel said.
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“The ABCs — the arrogance, bureaucracy, complacency that can creep into a company — will kill a company, and we intend to never allow that to happen,” he said.
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Power transition
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Though Berkshire Chairman Buffett was absent from the main stage, he still spoke at the meeting, delivering a short address to shareholders from his seat among Berkshire directors that focused on corporate leadership and, more specifically, successful transitions of power.
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Taking the example of Apple Inc., Buffett reminded the crowd that virtually no one knew who could successfully lead the iPhone maker after the death of Steve Jobs, and few investors knew who Tim Cook was at the time. Buffett, who invested US$35 billion in Apple a decade ago, or about 10 per cent of Berkshire’s resources, said that bet has since turned into US$185 billion including dividends, and he thanked Tim for that.
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The first shareholder question came from “Warren from Omaha” — Buffett, in an AI deepfake. Abel addressed the technology more broadly in his remarks, noting that Berkshire stands to benefit from its growth given that it owns the utilities that power data centres.
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Shareholder Christopher Davis of Hudson Value Partners said he was pleased that Abel laid out how Berkshire is approaching AI.
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“To hear that Berkshire operating businesses have adopted the mindset of builders of technology and not just buyers — with coders and engineers on staff — confirms that Greg Abel is bringing Berkshire operations into the modern AI era,” he said.
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With assistance from Jenny Surane
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English (US)