Greg Abel

Last updated
Greg Abel
Born
Gregory Edward Abel

(1962-06-01) June 1, 1962 (age 61)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Education University of Alberta (BComm)
Occupation(s)Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy
Vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway
SpouseAndrea Abel
Children4

Gregory Edward Abel (born June 1, 1962) is a Canadian businessman, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and vice-chairman of non-insurance operations of Berkshire Hathaway since January 2018.

Contents

Early life and education

Gregory Edward Abel was born on June 1, 1962, in Edmonton, Alberta. [1] [2]

During his childhood Abel did odd jobs like distributing flyers and returning bottles to make money. He also worked as a laborer for a forest product company. [3] He did not participate in too many extracurricular activities in school, aside from hockey and football. [4]

He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Alberta in 1984, and is an AICPA certified public accountant. [2] [5]

Career

Abel began his career working as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers in their San Francisco office. In 1992, he joined CalEnergy, a geothermal electricity producer. [2] In 1999, CalEnergy acquired MidAmerican Energy, adopting its name, and Berkshire Hathaway acquired a controlling interest later that year. Abel became CEO of MidAmerican in 2008, [6] and the company was renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2014. [2]

In January 2018, Abel was named Berkshire Hathaway's vice chairman for non-insurance operations and appointed to Berkshire's board of directors. [7]

Abel is also vice chairman of Edison Electric Institute, and a director of Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Limited, Kraft Heinz, Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited, the Hockey Canada Foundation, the Mid-Iowa Council Boy Scouts of America, and the American Football Coaches Foundation. He has been on the board of trustees at Duke University and at Drake University. [8] [9]

In a May 2021 interview, Warren Buffett confirmed Abel as his future successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. [10] [11] Abel's handling of CalEnergy’s take-over of a British utility in the 1990s is credited to mark the start of this transition. [12]

Net worth

In 2021 according to Forbes Abel's net worth is estimated at $484 million mainly thanks to his 1% stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy. [13]

In June 2022, he sold his 1% stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy for $870 million. [14]

In October 2022, it was announced that Abel purchased 168 shares of Berkshire Class A shares worth approximately $68 million. This equates to an approximate average share purchase price of $404,761.90. Prior to this latest purchase, Abel held five Class A shares, and 2,363 Class B shares, according to previous filings. [15]

Honors

He received a Horatio Alger award in 2018. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Buffett</span> American business magnate and philanthropist (born 1930)

Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his immense investment success, Buffett is one of the best-known fundamental investors in the world. As of September 2023, he possessed a net worth of $121 billion making him the seventh-richest person in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkshire Hathaway</span> American multinational conglomerate holding company

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float in a broad portfolio of subsidiaries, equity positions and other securities. The company has been overseen since 1965 by its chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger, who are known for their advocacy of value investing principles. Under their direction, the company's book value has grown at an average rate of 20%, compared to about 10% from the S&P 500 index with dividends included over the same period, while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fruit of the Loom</span> American clothing manufacturer

Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and underwear. The company's world headquarters is in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pampered Chef</span> American multi-level marketing company

Pampered Chef is a multinational multi-level marketing company that offers a line of kitchen tools, food products, and cookbooks for preparing food in the home. They also offer some products to help transport some of their products and gardening tools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesco Financial</span> U.S. financial services company

Wesco Financial Corporation was a diversified financial corporation headquartered in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Scott Jr.</span> American businessman (1931–2021)

Walter Scott Jr. was an American billionaire businessman, civil engineer, philanthropist, and CEO of Kiewit Corporation. At the time of his death, his net worth was estimated at US$4.2 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Enterprises</span> American media company

Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is based in Davenport, Iowa.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy is a holding company that is 92% owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire has owned a controlling stake since 1999. The company also controls power distribution companies in the United Kingdom and Canada. The remaining 8% is owned by the family of Walter Scott Jr.

Ajit Jain is an Indian-American executive who is the Vice Chairman of Insurance Operations for Berkshire Hathaway as of January 10, 2018. Ajit Jain is an older cousin of Anshu Jain, who was the former Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank.

David Sanford Gottesman was an American businessman and billionaire. He founded First Manhattan Co. (FMC), and was noted for his friendship with Warren Buffett.

John J. Byrne was an American longtime insurance industry executive who was CEO of GEICO, White Mountains Insurance Group and Fireman's Fund. He also served as chairman of Overstock.com.

HomeServices of America is the United States' largest residential real estate services company, based on closed transactions. The company provides real estate brokerage services, mortgage loan origination, franchising, title insurance/escrow and closing services, home warranties, property insurance, casualty insurance, and relocation services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David L. Sokol</span> American business executive (born 1956)

David L. Sokol is an American business executive. He is a Chairman of Teton Capital LLC, headquartered in Wilson, Wyoming. He served as chairman, president, and CEO of NetJets, as well as a chairman of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, of which Berkshire Hathaway holds a 100% and 89.8% stake respectively.

Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies (BHGIC), also known colloquially as just “GUARD”, is a collection of Property & Casualty insurance carriers made up of 5 subsidiaries: AmGUARD Insurance Company, EastGUARD Insurance Company, NorGUARD Insurance Company, WestGUARD Insurance Company, and AZGUARD Insurance Company. BHGIC collectively is ultimately owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.

The Herald & Review is a daily newspaper based in Decatur, Illinois. It is owned by Lee Enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron Trott</span> American merchant banker

Byron David Trott is the founder, chairman and co-CEO of BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank that provides advice and capital to family and founder-led companies. Formerly, Trott was vice chairman of Investment Banking at Goldman Sachs. As of 2010, it was widely reported that he has a trusting relationship with Warren Buffett.

Todd Anthony Combs is a former hedge fund manager and current investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway, who has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of GEICO since January 2020. Alongside Ted Weschler, he is frequently cited as a potential successor of Warren Buffett as the chief investment officer of Berkshire. In 2016 he was appointed board member of JPMorgan Chase.

Seabury Stanton was an American businessman from New Bedford, Massachusetts who ran Berkshire Hathaway prior to its takeover by Warren Buffett in 1964.

Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI) is a Canadian-American multinational fast food holding company. It was formed in 2014 by the $12.5 billion merger between American fast food restaurant chain Burger King and Canadian coffee shop and restaurant chain Tim Hortons, and expanded by the 2017 purchase of American fast-food chain Popeyes. The company is the fifth-largest operator of fast food restaurants in the world behind Subway, McDonald's, Starbucks and Yum! Brands. They are based alongside Tim Hortons in Toronto. For tax purposes, Burger King and Popeyes retain their existing operations and headquarters, both in Miami. The 2014 merger focused primarily on expanding the international reach of the Tim Hortons brand and providing financial efficiencies for both companies.

References

  1. ↑ "Edmonton-born Greg Abel picked as Warren Buffett's successor as Berkshire Hathaway CEO". CBC News . May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nelson, Jacqueline (May 14, 2014). "Warren Buffett's Canadian lieutenant eyes Alberta expansion". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Business Leader and Philanthropist Gregory E. Abel to Receive 2018 Horatio Alger Award – Horatio Alger Association".
  4. ↑ "8 things to know about Greg Abel, Warren Buffett's successor at Berkshire Hathaway". Moneycontrol. 23 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "Executive Profile: Gregory Edward Abel". Bloomberg LP. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  6. ↑ Claman, Liz (2018-09-07). "Greg Abel: Holding a key to Buffett's Kingdom". FOXBusiness. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  7. ↑ Kim, Tae (10 January 2018). "Warren Buffett takes a step closer to naming a successor as Berkshire appoints Abel and Jain to board as vice chairs". CNBC. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  8. ↑ Das, Anupreeta (28 February 2015). "Greg Abel: an Astute Deal Maker Who Shuns the Spotlight". WSJ. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  9. ↑ Jordan, Steve (11 January 2018). "New Berkshire Vice Chairman Gregory Abel called 'truly innovative' with 'great ideas'". Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  10. ↑ Platt, Eric (May 3, 2021). "Berkshire succession: Greg Abel confirmed as Warren Buffett's successor" . The Financial Times. New York. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ Isidore, Chris (2021-05-03). "Warren Buffett names his successor | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
  12. ↑ Huddleston, Tom. "What you need to know about Greg Abel — Warren Buffett's successor at Berkshire Hathaway" . Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Tucker, Hank. "Just How Rich Is Warren Buffett Successor Greg Abel?". Forbes.
  14. ↑ Millar, Gerard (6 August 2022). "Berkshire CEO-designate Abel sells stake in energy company he led for $870 million". CNBC.
  15. ↑ "Warren Buffett's Future Successor Buys $68 Million in Berkshire Shares".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.