From boy picking up scraps to successor to Warren Buffett

From 2026, billionaire Warren Buffett leaves the position of CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the age of 96. His successor is Greg Abel, 64 years old. The new CEO will run a corporation with a capitalization of 1,080 billion USD, with 381.7 billion USD in cash by the end of September 2025.

Many years ago, investors continuously urged Buffett to reveal who would succeed the leader of Berkshire Hathaway, when the “Oracle of Omaha” was about to retire. Rumors swirled around many names, but in the end Abel was appointed for 2025.

“Greg Abel has far exceeded the very high expectations I had when I first thought he should be chosen to become Berkshire’s next CEO,” billionaire Buffett wrote in his final letter to shareholders last year.

Theo FortuneAbel had a journey to one of the most desirable positions in the American business world from very humble beginnings. He “entered the market” at an early age, by collecting, washing and exchanging empty soft drink bottles, to earn 5 cents each.

To maximize revenue, he even calculated his cycling route from school to home to pick up as many bottles as possible. On average, he collected 5 bottles per trip and accumulated 20 bottles per week, equivalent to 1 USD at that time.

In addition to his “bottle job”, Abel also rides a bicycle to distribute advertising leaflets around the neighborhood in his hometown of Edmonton (Canada), receiving a salary of 0.25 cents for each distribution. During his high school years, he continued to work a variety of side jobs, such as recharging fire extinguishers for the company where his father worked.

After he graduated from the University of Alberta (Canada) in 1984, he began to experience a real corporate environment. Abel joined the auditing firm PwC, then left his home country of Canada to work at the office in San Francisco (USA). Here, he is in charge of the customer, geothermal company CalEnergy.

Not long after, Abel left PwC to join CalEnergy as an auditor, then gradually built the company into a global corporation with tens of thousands of employees, according to Horatio Alger Associates. From 1992 to 2008, he held many senior leadership positions before becoming CEO and Chairman. [UNK].

It was during this period that Abel had a big turning point, bringing him into the “orbit” of Berkshire Hathaway. In October 1999, Berkshire announced the purchase of a controlling stake in CalEnergy, then changed its name to MidAmerican.

MidAmerican was gradually transformed into Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Abel held the role of CEO and executive chairman of this company from 2008 to 2018, then was appointed Vice President in charge of non-insurance segment of Berkshire Hathaway. On that occasion, he received a remuneration package of 20 million USD when promoted.

Over the years, Abel has proven to be a worthy successor of the legendary Buffett – the man who has steered the trillion-dollar corporation for six decades. “He understands many businesses and teams better than I do and learns very quickly about issues that many CEOs never even think about,” Buffett commented.

According to investors, Greg Abel takes over as CEO at a sensitive time for the company. Berkshire shares performed worse than the benchmark S&P 500 index in 2025. Billionaire Buffett also said that it is difficult to find acquisitions that can “create significant changes” for the corporation.

Berkshire has been gradually reducing stakes in longtime investments like Apple and Bank of America. The huge amount of cash being accumulated also makes some investors worried. In addition, the legacy Warren Buffett leaves behind is no small pressure.

Theo Reutersthe conglomerate must now defend its six-decade track record without the chief architect who reshaped modern investing and transformed the company from a struggling textile business into a trillion-dollar giant. “It’s hard to imagine that the group will receive the same passionate admiration as before,” commented Brian Jacobsen, Chief Economist at Annex Wealth Management.

According to documents filed with the US Securities Commission (SEC) on January 6, the new CEO of Berkshire Hathaway received an annual cash salary increase to 25 million USD. This decision takes effect the same day. Previously, in the position of Vice President, he received a salary of 21 million USD in 2024, along with 17,250 USD in other remuneration.

Thus, Greg Abel’s new salary is 250 times the salary that billionaire Buffett received last year, which was 100,000 USD, not including more than 305,000 USD in other remuneration. But compared to assets, Mr. Abel owns one billion USD while the legendary investor is the 10th richest in the world, with 150 billion USD, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Currently, only 18% of Abel’s assets are in Berkshire Hathaway shares. For comparison, the value of the Berkshire shares that Abel holds is only 1/1,000th of Buffett’s ownership. Compared to other CEOs, Abel’s level of financial commitment to the company is also low. For example, CEO Tim Cook has 38% of his net worth tied up in Apple stock.

Bloomberg points out the reason why most of Abel’s assets come from the 2022 deal, when Berkshire bought Abel’s $870 million stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which he once ran.

After this deal, he has about 175 million USD left in shares at the parent corporation. In addition, Abel also received a remuneration package of 20 million USD after being promoted to Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway in 2018.