By Jonathan Stempel
Dec 15 (Reuters) - The elevation of Greg Abel to replace Warren Buffett at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway will cap the rise of a native Canadian who won over the legendary investor for being committed to the company's culture, long-term thinking, and an ability to spend money wisely.
Buffett announced Abel's promotion to chief executive officer at Berkshire’s annual meeting last May in Omaha, Nebraska.
That announcement surprised many who thought the 95-year-old billionaire might
never step down from the conglomerate he has run since 1965. Even Abel didn’t know the announcement was coming.
The promotion had been expected since May 2021, when late Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger let slip that Abel was the board's choice to become CEO. Buffett will remain chairman.
Abel, 63, joined Berkshire in 2000 when it bought MidAmerican Energy, and later built the since-renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy unit into one of the largest power providers in the central and western United States.
Since 2018, Abel has been a vice chairman overseeing Berkshire's non-insurance businesses, which include the BNSF railroad; chemical, energy and industrial companies; and retailers such as Fruit of the Loom and See's Candies.
Ajit Jain, 74, also a vice chairman, still oversees Berkshire's insurance businesses. Investors had long viewed him as a CEO candidate, though Buffett has said Jain did not want the job.
Berkshire, through Buffett's assistant, declined to comment, noting that Buffett discussed Abel in a Nov. 10 letter to shareholders and hasn't said anything different about his character, ability and dedication to Berkshire. Buffett and Abel were not available for interviews.
The company, however, announced a management shakeup just weeks before Abel takes over. As part of the transition, Abel hands direct oversight of Berkshire’s 32 consumer products, service and retailing businesses to Adam Johnson, who will continue running the NetJets luxury plane unit. Berkshire also elevated Nancy Pierce to run GEICO, where she had been chief operating officer.
She replaces Todd Combs, who had also been one of Buffett’s portfolio managers and moves to JPMorgan Chase JPM.N, where he has been a director. Berkshire also named a new chief financial officer, and its first-ever in-house general counsel.
Abel is positioning “trusted lieutenants and fresh talent to balance continuity with modernization at Berkshire,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital in El Segundo, California.
BUFFETT CALLS ABEL A 'GREAT MANAGER'
Abel has worked out of Des Moines, Iowa, about 135 miles (217 km) east of Omaha, where Berkshire is expected to remain based.
He is also a more hands-on manager than Buffett, but has said he will respect Berkshire's culture of letting operating businesses run largely autonomously.
Many Berkshire managers have described Abel as knowledgeable and compassionate, with a great capacity to listen.
His public image is closer to a blank slate.
Abel lacks his boss's showmanship and gift of dispensing silver-tongued advice. Buffett lent his image for Coca-Cola cans, Heinz ketchup bottles and rubber duckies, and appeared on TV's "All My Children" and "The Office."
But in his November letter, Buffett called Abel "a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator. Wish him an extended tenure.“
FOR A HOCKEY FAN, AN ICE BUCKET
Abel was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, becoming a lifelong hockey fan, and graduated in 1984 from the University of Alberta.
Trained in accounting, he joined PricewaterhouseCoopers and later moved to geothermal energy firm CalEnergy.
He joined MidAmerican Energy in 1992 and became chief in 2008. He benefited from its ability, unusual among utilities, to retain earnings that could be reinvested in the business to boost growth, instead of having to pay shareholder dividends.
Buffett has long preferred his businesses to invest in themselves or buy new companies.
That freedom helped Abel buy the Nevada utility NV Energy and Alberta electric transmission company AltaLink, and expand aggressively into renewable energy. Berkshire Hathaway Energy also controls a big U.S. residential real estate brokerage.
Abel owns nearly $170 million of Berkshire stock, a large amount for a CEO though some investors believe he should buy more. He could be a billionaire after receiving $870 million in 2022 when Berkshire bought his 1% stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy.
He has also demonstrated a capacity to have fun.
In 2014, he accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Abel flashed two thumbs up to a camera after a Berkshire Hathaway Energy employee soaked him with water.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
