Buffett's Succession Plan Shows What Makes Berkshire Hathaway Unique

Summary Warren Buffett's immediate retirement as Board Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway was not due to declining mobility, eyesight, and hearing but a final step in his planned succession. Beginning in 2018, Buffett moved Greg Abel up in rapid steps to be his replacement in both operations and investments and overall leadership of BRK.A/BRK.B. Buffett's choosing his son Howard as board chairman reflects his unique place in preserving Berkshire's culture and values, which is more important than any balance sheet item. Long held policies on no dividends, buybacks at the right price, and acquisitions at the right price were reinforced. John Pollock/iStock Editorial via Getty Images When I first glanced at the headline, my fear was that Warren Buffett's immediate resignation as Berkshire Hathaway's ( BRK.A ) ( BRK.B ) Chairman of the board might imply that he had incurred some kind of health setback. I quickly learned This article was written by Jim Sloan 23.48K Followers Follow I am a retired professor, a retired investment adviser, and currently a private investor and full-time tennis pro. I bought my first stock in a custodial account in 1958. I am a student of history, particularly military and economic/market history. The intellectual passions of my retirement years have been markets, mathematics, and quantum theory. Recently I have found myself reading book after book on the thoughts and feelings of animals, and I believe they are subtly influencing some of my views. I have a cat I like a lot. I like to travel. I served in Vietnam. Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of BRK.B either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.