regardless of resigning as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway a few months ago, Warren Buffett it’s not making retirement easier. The investment icon still heads to Berkshire’s Omaha headquarters five days a week, offering advice and weighing in on deals, though the final call now rests with his chosen successor, Greg Abel. In his first interview since the transition, Buffett told CNBC Squawk Box this week that Abel”cover more ground in a day than I would in a week” and joked that his protégé is “so good — it was kind of embarrassing how good he is.”
Buffett’s decision to step down from the role that defined him for six decades stunned Wall Street last year. As chairman, he continues to shape Berkshire’s thinking while letting Abel, 63, take full control of execution. Buffett said he still contributes “just a little bit” to Berkshire and recently led “a small buyout” but never acts without Abel’s agreement.
Canadian-born Abel seems to be settling into his new role with ease. When I get calls from investment bankers, “I cut them off in about 10 or 15 seconds, and he spends more time with them,” Buffett said. He noted that Abel manages to juggle his new responsibilities with his passion for hockey. Abel serves as an assistant coach for his son’s youth team in Des Moines, Iowa.
Abel has long been a trusted lieutenant of Buffett’s, having joined Berkshire in 2000 after working at MidAmerican Energy Holdings, an energy company that Berkshire later bought, and CalEnergy. Ever since he stepped up to the lead role, he is committed to maintaining the company’s culture and core valuesemphasizing long-term competitiveness, decentralized management and minimal bureaucracy.
This philosophy also explains Buffett’s enduring aversion to gambling, whether in casinos or in the high-risk corners of the modern financial world. During the CNBC interview, he dismissed prediction markets and legalized sports betting as “things that make people suck,” calling it “a tax on stupidity.”
Instead, the chairman continues to favor concentrated investments in a handful of quality businesses. It remains Berkshire’s largest holding Applefirst bought about a decade ago. That position peaked at $170 billion before Buffett trimmed it to $62 billion late last year — transactions he now calls premature. “I sold it too quickly,” he admitted, hinting that he would happily buy some Apple stock if the price was right.
In typical self-deprecating fashion, Buffett appreciated a lot Apple’s success to the CEO Tim Cook. “Tim was a fantastic manager, and he’s a good guy, and somehow he gets along with everybody in the world,” Buffett said. “That’s a technique I wouldn’t have.”
