Buffett said he remains optimistic about the
future of the conglomerate that he and his
partner, Charlie Munger, have built over the
decades, even though Buffett is 89 and Munger
is 96 years old. Buffett said Berkshire’s managers
and board members will protect the company
after he and Munger are gone.
“We possess skilled and devoted top managers
for whom running Berkshire is far more than
simply having a high-paying and/or prestigious
job,” Buffett wrote. “Finally, Berkshire’s directors
— your guardians — are constantly focused on
both the welfare of owners and the nurturing of
a culture that is rare among giant corporations.”
Buffett, who has no plans to retire, didn’t offer
any new details about the succession plan that
has long been in place at Berkshire to eventually
promote an internal manager to be the
company’s next CEO.
But he did say that longtime Berkshire executives
Greg Abel and Ajit Jain will also take questions
along with Buffett and Munger at this year’s
annual meeting. Since 2018, Jain has overseen
all of Berkshire’s insurance businesses while
Abel has overseen all of the conglomerate’s
non-insurance business operations.
Andy Kilpatrick, a retired stockbroker who wrote
a Buffett biography and follows the company
closely, said Berkshire’s many businesses
generally delivered solid results last year even
though the company’s stock trailed the overall
market. Berkshire’s stock gained 11 percent last
year to the S&P 500’s 31.5 percent gain.
“It wasn’t an exciting year, but it was a good
year,” Kilpatrick said.