Overview
- Greg Abel will take over as Berkshire Hathaway chief executive in January as Warren Buffett remains chairman.
- Buffett said he will keep a significant Berkshire stake until shareholders gain the same comfort with Abel that they had with him and Charlie Munger.
- On Monday he converted 1,800 Class A shares into 2.7 million Class B shares and donated roughly $1.3 billion: 1.5 million shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 400,000 each to the Sherwood, Howard G. Buffett and NoVo foundations.
- Buffett will step up lifetime philanthropy and has arranged for his children to oversee a charitable trust containing nearly all remaining wealth after his death, with successor trustees designated.
- He said he is “going quiet,” ending his annual report letter and marathon meeting Q&A but continuing a yearly Thanksgiving message, and he cautioned that Berkshire’s size will constrain future outperformance even as he works in the office five days a week.