A lot has changed at Berkshire Hathaway.
Greg Abel replaced Warren Buffett as CEO on January first. Warren Buffett remains Chairman of the Board and is in the office five days a week. Abel’s salary is $25 million, and he’s committed to spending 100% of it, after tax, on open market purchases of Berkshire. It’s a big step up from Buffett’s $100,000, but appropriate to the job. Abel owns $188 million of Berkshire shares, so he has plenty of skin in the game and his salary is small relative to his stock holdings.
CFO Marc Hamburg will retire on June 1, 2027 from the role he’s held since 1992. Charles Chang, CFO of BH Energy (BHE), will take over on June 1, 2026, allowing for a one year transition period.
Michael O’Sullivan will join Berkshire as a full-time in-house general counsel. Berkshire previously used Munger, Tolles & Olson as external counsel.
Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets, was promoted to President, Consumer/Retail and will oversee 32 businesses.
Nancy Pierce was named President of GEICO, replacing Todd Combs, who departed for JPMorgan Chase.
These moves show how Greg Abel is already making his mark on Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett is still around, so they have his implicit blessing.
Last week, shareholders got their first letter from Abel. It stressed that Berkshire’s culture, focused on partnership with shareholders, decentralization, financial strength, capital discipline, integrity, and excellence, will remain intact.
There were a couple hints of what might change.