Who is Greg Abel, the Canadian tapped to succeed Warren Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway?

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For the past seven years, Abel had oversight of Berkshire companies such as Fruit of the Loom Inc., See’s Candy Shops Inc., aerospace group Precision Castparts Corp. and Clayton Homes Inc., America’s biggest builder of modular housing.

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In 2024, he oversaw a legal dispute over Berkshire’s US$11 billion acquisition of truck stop operator Pilot Travel Centers LLC, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Ron Olson, Berkshire board director and one of the group’s main lawyers from Los Angeles-based firm Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, said Abel’s involvement gave him confidence that he was the right person to one day lead Berkshire, reported the Financial Times.

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What challenges does Abel face?

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There’s no question Abel has a rather gargantuan pair of shoes to fill next year as head of a company that has generated returns of approximately 5.5 million per cent since 1964.

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“Warren talks about curiosity being important as you go through things,” Abel said, according to CNN. “That would be my style, to have questions and comments around their business, their frameworks.”

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Buffett, who is Berkshire’s largest shareholder with a US$160 billion stake, said he wouldn’t sell a single share of the stock after the transition, affirming his confidence in Abel.

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“I would add this, the decision to keep every share is an economic decision because I think the prospects of Berkshire will be better under Greg’s management than mine,” Buffett said on Saturday.

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“You really need someone that behaves well on top and is not playing games for their own benefit.”

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Still, Berkshire’s large size means it has become more difficult for other potential investments to effectively “move the needle,” as Buffett himself once said.

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Abel’s priority as the conglomerate’s next chief executive will likely involve extracting better returns from Berkshire’s existing pool of businesses, as opposed to the extensive deal-making that Buffett has been known for over the past decades, observers have said.

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What was Buffett seeking in his successor?

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In his 2006 annual letter to shareholders, Buffett wrote about the desired qualities for his eventual successor at Berkshire.

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“Over time, markets will do extraordinary, even bizarre, things. A single, big mistake could wipe out a long string of successes,” he said. “We therefore need someone genetically programmed to recognize and avoid serious risks, including those never before encountered.”

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Abel will be taking the reins at Berkshire at a time fraught with uncertainty, including the current U.S. trade war, with Buffett himself warning the shareholder meeting that “trade should not be used as a weapon.”

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Berkshire’s shares slid six per cent during early trading Monday following Buffett’s succession announcement and Berkshire’s first-quarter results, which showed a 14 per cent drop in operating earnings.

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Berkshire said in the earnings report that its operating results could be affected in future periods due to “ongoing macroeconomic and geopolitical events, as well as changes in industry or company-specific factors or events.

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“The pace of changes in these events, including international trade policies and tariffs, has accelerated in 2025,” the report said. “Considerable uncertainty remains as to the ultimate outcome of these events.”