Greg Abel

Incoming Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel is assembling his team to help him lead the conglomerate Warren Buffett built starting in January after a couple of key departures. Berkshire said Monday that one of its two investment managers besides Buffett who has also served as CEO of Geico for several years, Todd Combs, and longtime Chief Financial Officer Mac Hamburg are both departing. Combs is taking a job helping JP Morgan decide how to invest USD 10 billion while serving as a special advisor to CEO Jamie Dimon while Hamburg is retiring after 40 years. Combs' departure is the most significant news in the announcement that also included creating the jobs of general counsel and a new manager of the many retail and consumer businesses Berkshire owns, But now the question is whether insurance Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, investment manager Ted Weschler and all the CEOs of Berkshire's myriad businesses will remain. There's still two elephants in the room: what's Ajit Jain going to do and wh

Abel and most of Berkshire's board of directors were not aware of his plans prior to the announcement

Greg Abel, a Canadian executive with deep roots in energy and a long tenure at Berkshire, is set to succeed Warren Buffett as CEO of the conglomerate in 2025

Warren Buffett, 87, has run Berkshire since 1965 and has not signalled any plans to leave soon