Buffett to investors: Don’t worry about who’ll succeed me
OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire Warren Buffett deflected questions about his eventual successor at Berkshire Hathaway yesterday and encouraged the thousands of people at his annual meeting to focus more on big picture investing principles than day-to-day events.
The shareholder meeting celebrates the successes of the conglomerate that Buffett built with Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger while offering a chance to learn from the two accomplished businessmen.
Buffett doesn’t plan to retire, even though he’s 87 years old, but he invited more questions about his eventual successor earlier this year when he promoted Greg Abel and Ajit Jain to vice chairmen and expanded their responsibilities. Both men now oversee about half of Berkshire’s operating companies.
Buffett and Munger both said little has changed because Berkshire’s businesses largely run themselves day-today. Buffett said he still spends most of his time reading about businesses, thinking and fielding the occasional phone call.
“Part of the Berkshire secret is that when there is nothing to do, Warren is very good at doing nothing,” Munger said.
Dairy Queen CEO Troy Bader was promoted to lead the restaurant chain this year, and he said Berkshire’s overall philosophy hasn’t changed just because Buffett isn’t directly overseeing the companies now.
“Warren preaches that we should manage it as if it’s our own business and protect reputation,” Bader said. Many shareholders say they trust that Buffett has a solid succession plan in place.
“He’s done a phenomenal job for his shareholders,” said Gary Gocken of Lincoln. “I think they’ve got it all taken care of as far as what will happen when they eventually retire or move on.”
Longtime Berkshire board member Ron Olson told Yahoo Finance he thinks the new roles for Abel and Jain will take some pressure off Buffett and make it easier for him to continue running Berkshire, which includes an eclectic mix of more than 90 companies.
Berkshire investors are also eager to see how Buffett might spend the company’s $116 billion in cash and short-term investments. Buffett reiterated Saturday that he thinks shareholders will be better off if that cash is reinvested in the business, not used for dividends.