Who is Greg Abel?
May 03, 2025 4:59 PM ET
By: Anuron Mitra, SA News Editor
Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) famed top boss Warren Buffett on Saturday dropped a shocker after saying he would ask the conglomerate's board to let chosen successor Greg Abel take over as chief executive at the end of the year.
Though the actual choice of Abel wasn't a surprise, the timing of it was. According to Buffett, his plans were being revealed for the first time to both Abel and to nine of the company's 11 board directors.
So who is Greg Abel?
 Berkshire Hathaway Energy
Abel is currently the vice chairman of Berkshire's (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) non-insurance operations. He is also unit Berkshire Hathaway Energy's chairperson.
Gregory Abel was born in 1962 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Living in a working-class neighborhood, Abel's childhood was taken up by his extended family, his love for hockey and education. He graduated with distinction from the University of Alberta in 1984, and joined PricewaterhouseCoopers. One of his clients there was CalEnergy, and he joined the company shortly after.
Abel and his partners proceeded to build CalEnergy into an international firm with 23K employees from a small geothermal business with 500 employees. He served as a senior executive from 1992 to 2008, after which he took over as CEO. CalEnergy became MidAmerican Energy in 1999, and finally, in 2014, became part of holding company Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE).
Today, BHE runs domestic regulated utilities such as PacifiCorp and NV Energy, and Northern Powergrid in UK. Its natural gas pipelines consist of five domestic regulated interstate natural gas pipeline systems and a 75% interest in the Cove Point facility. BHE's unit HomeServices of America operates a residential real estate brokerage business.
Abel was appointed vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway's ( BRK.A)( BRK.B) non-insurance operations in 2018, cementing his place as a potential successor along with the conglomerate's vice chairman of insurance operations, Ajit Jain. Abel then emerged as the front-runner in 2021.
Now, after having built one of the largest energy businesses in the U.S., Abel will try to fill the shoes of his mentor Buffett in running one of the largest companies in the world. |
