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Greg Abel
Origin of Relationship
Greg Abel is the Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Hathaway Energy (formerly MidAmerican Energy) and has been formally designated as Warren Buffett's successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He first appears in Berkshire letters from the mid-2000s as David Sokol's operational partner at MidAmerican Energy.
Major Milestones
- 1992: Joins MidAmerican Energy and rises through the organization under David Sokol's leadership.
- 2005: Buffett begins mentioning Abel by name as an expanding operational figure—a signal in Berkshire's letter-writing convention that a manager is being formally acknowledged as exceptional.
- 2008: Becomes CEO of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (later Berkshire Hathaway Energy).
- 2018: Designated Vice Chairman. As announced in early 2018 (referenced in the 2017 and 2018 Letters), Abel was elected to the Berkshire Hathaway Board of Directors and given formal responsibility for all of Berkshire's non-insurance business operations. In the 2018 letter, Buffett states that Berkshire is now "far better managed than when I was alone."
- 2020: Co-presents the annual meeting alongside Buffett (Charlie Munger participated remotely), becoming the first time Abel took on a principal stage role at the shareholder meeting. In the Q&A, Buffett explicitly names Abel alongside Todd Combs and Ted Weschler as the three people who will be responsible for capital allocation after he and Munger are gone. Abel demonstrates deep fluency in BHE's $40B capital program, Berkshire's capital allocation philosophy, and subsidiary operations. He also clarifies Berkshire's position on government assistance (none taken) and on the airline exit (no further subsidies for impaired businesses).
- 2021: The succession question is finally resolved. During the 2021 Annual Meeting, Charlie Munger unintentionally reveals that "Greg will keep the culture," effectively naming Abel as the designated CEO successor. Buffett formally confirmed this to the press shortly after.
- 2024: Abel articulated the full capital allocation philosophy at the annual meeting — internal reinvestment, 100% acquisitions, equity positions — with language indistinguishable from Buffett's own. Confirmed as the person managers now call instead of Buffett.
- 2025: The Final Step. At Buffett's 60th and final annual meeting, with five minutes remaining and most directors unaware, Buffett announced he would recommend Abel become CEO at year-end 2025. "The decision to keep every share is an economic decision because I think the prospects of Berkshire will be better under Greg's management than mine." Abel committed to maintaining the fortress balance sheet, decentralized culture, and long-term orientation. Greg recalled his first meeting with Buffett: Warren zeroed in on derivative contracts on the balance sheet, not the income statement — a formative lesson Abel carries into the CEO role.
- 2026: The CEO Era Begins. In February 2026, Abel authored his first annual shareholder letter as CEO (for the fiscal year 2025), emphasizing cultural continuity, paying tribute to Buffett's and Munger's legacy, and detailing the operating performance and the acquisitions of OxyChem and Bell Laboratories.
Literature Insights
- The Co-Approval Decider Structure (2026): While Abel is designated as the CEO and final authority ("the decider"), the July 15, 2026, CNBC interview reveals a highly collaborative capital allocation structure. Buffett stated that he initiated the massive $31 billion Alphabet investment, but clarified that neither he nor Abel execute transactions without mutual consent: "I am not doing anything that he doesn't approve of. He's not doing anything I don't approve of." (
[CNBC Squawk Box Interview 07-15-2026](/wiki/CNBC%20Squawk%20Box%20Interview%2007-15-2026)).
Strategic Importance
Abel's selection as the future CEO reflects the key criteria Buffett articulated in his succession framework: a deep understanding of Berkshire's culture and subsidiary autonomy model, a long track record within the Berkshire system, and a demonstrated ability to allocate capital intelligently (especially within regulated businesses). His transition to overseeing all non-insurance operations in 2018 proved to Buffett that the decentralized model could scale even beyond his and Munger's direct oversight.
The 2020 meeting was a critical proof point: Abel demonstrated not just operational expertise, but the philosophical vocabulary and temperament of a Berkshire capital allocator.
🔗 Connections
- Company: MidAmerican Energy, Berkshire Hathaway Energy
- People: David Sokol, Warren Buffett, Todd Combs, Ted Weschler
- Concepts: Owner's Manual Principles, Manager Autonomy, Succession Planning, Capital Allocation
- Sources: 2004 Letter, 2005 Letter, 2017 Letter, 2018 Letter, 2018 Meeting, 2020 Letter, 2020 Meeting, 2024 Meeting, 2025 Meeting, 2025 Letter
- Literature: CNBC Squawk Box Interview 07-15-2026, CNBC Annual Meeting Interview 05-02-2026, CNBC Special Presentation 01-13-2026
📚 Historical Mentions & Citations (31)
Click a reference document below to expand and read the exact paragraph(s) containing this concept in the archive.
📜2004 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2004 LetterExcerpt Available
The remaining 19.5% of MidAmerican is owned by three partners of ours: Dave Sokol and Greg Abel, the brilliant managers of these businesses, and Walter Scott, a long-time friend of mine who introduced me to the company. Because MidAmerican is subject to the Public Utility Holding Company Act (“PUHCA”), Berkshire’s voting interest is limited to 9.9%. Voting control rests with Walter.
🎙️2004 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2004 MeetingExcerpt Available
And we talked to the two managers about it and actually, as we presented it, we had it so that something over 50 percent went to the CEO, Dave Sokol and something under 50 percent went to the number two man, Greg Abel, who’s enormously well named. And when we gave it to David, he said, “Let’s just” — he said, “I like it fine, but let’s make it 50/50.” That’s the extent of it. As you have commented, that’s wildly different than the approach at companies. I mean, most companies go through very elaborate procedures in working out executive compensation. I don’t think that Charlie and I have spent ever, maybe five minutes, on thinking about any. We have an arrangement at See’s Candy with Chuck Huggins. We worked it out in 1972. It’s still in force now. John Holland took over Fruit of the Loom a couple of years ago. I met with him for a couple of minutes, suggested something, takes up a paragraph or two. And that’s what we’ll have with John the rest of his life.
📜2005 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2005 LetterExcerpt Available
Though our voting power has increased dramatically, the dynamics of our four-party ownership have not changed at all. We view MidAmerican as a partnership among Berkshire, Walter Scott, and two terrific managers, Dave Sokol and Greg Abel. It’s unimportant how many votes each party has; we will make major moves only when we are unanimous in thinking them wise. Five years of working with Dave, Greg and Walter have underscored my original belief: Berkshire couldn’t have better partners.
🎙️2005 MeetingReference Only▼
2005 MeetingReference Only
Mentioned in this document.
📜2006 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2006 LetterExcerpt Available
Our partners in ownership of MidAmerican are Walter Scott, and its two terrific managers, Dave Sokol and Greg Abel. It’s unimportant how many votes each party has; we will make major moves only when we are unanimous in thinking them wise. Six years of working with Dave, Greg and Walter have underscored my original belief: Berkshire couldn’t have better partners.
🎙️2006 MeetingReference Only▼
2006 MeetingReference Only
Mentioned in this document.
📜2007 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2007 LetterExcerpt Available
Our partners in ownership of MidAmerican are Walter Scott, and its two terrific managers, Dave Sokol and Greg Abel. It’s unimportant how many votes each party has; we make major moves only when we are unanimous in thinking them wise. Eight years of working with Dave, Greg and Walter have underscored my original belief: Berkshire couldn’t have better partners.
🎙️2007 MeetingReference Only▼
2007 MeetingReference Only
Mentioned in this document.
📜2008 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2008 LetterExcerpt Available
Charlie and I are equally enthusiastic about our utility business, which had record earnings last year and is poised for future gains. Dave Sokol and Greg Abel, the managers of this operation, have achieved results unmatched elsewhere in the utility industry. I love it when they come up with new projects because in this capital-intensive business these ventures are often large. Such projects offer Berkshire the opportunity to put out substantial sums at decent returns.
Our partners in ownership of MidAmerican are its two terrific managers, Dave Sokol and Greg Abel, and my long-time friend, Walter Scott. It’s unimportant how many votes each party has; we make major moves only when we are unanimous in thinking them wise. Nine years of working with Dave, Greg and Walter have reinforced my original belief: Berkshire couldn’t have better partners.
🎙️2008 MeetingReference Only▼
2008 MeetingReference Only
Mentioned in this document.
📜2009 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2009 LetterExcerpt Available
MidAmerican has two terrific managers, Dave Sokol and Greg Abel. In addition, my long-time friend, Walter Scott, along with his family, has a major ownership position in the company. Walter brings extraordinary business savvy to any operation. Ten years of working with Dave, Greg and Walter have reinforced my original belief: Berkshire couldn’t have better partners. They are truly a dream team.
📜2011 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2011 LetterExcerpt Available
As you can tell by now, I am proud of what has been accomplished for our society by Matt Rose at BNSF and by Greg Abel at MidAmerican. I am also both proud and grateful for what they have accomplished for Berkshire shareholders. Below are the relevant figures:
🎙️2011 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2011 MeetingExcerpt Available
So I would say that there are plenty of activities in this world that are unsavory that are committed by people with lots of money. So I don’t regard that as, you know, totally puzzling. But I will give you one instance that does make it puzzling. It makes it very puzzling to me. We bought MidAmerican at the end — Berkshire Hathaway bought MidAmerican — at the end of 1999. Berkshire Hathaway bought about 80 percent. Walter Scott, who I just introduced, and his family was the second largest holder, I think something over 10 percent, and then two operating people, Dave Sokol the senior one, owned or had options on a big piece, and Greg Abel, a terrific partner of Dave’s, also had a piece. And Walter Scott — and I’ve told this story privately a few times but not — I don’t think I’ve done it publicly. Walter Scott came to me a year or two after we’d bought it, and Walter said, I think we ought to have some special compensation arrangement for Dave and Greg if they perform in a really outstanding manner. And he said — I think maybe he suggested something involving equity and he saw me turn white.
So he said, “Why don’t you design one and let me know.” So I just scribbled something out on a yellow pad. It didn’t take me five minutes. And we call it, sort of in honor of Charlie, although he didn’t know about it, we called it the Lollapalooza. And it provided for a very large cash payout, which I’ll get to in a second, based on the five-year compounded gain in earnings. And we were starting from a high base, in other words this was not from any depressed level, and we set a figure that no other utility company in the United States was going to come close to. But if that figure were achieved, we were going to give $50 million to Dave and $25 million to Greg Abel. And I had Dave come to the office and I said, “Here’s what Walter and I are thinking,” and, “What do you think of this plan?” And it had these figures on per share that — that like I say, move forward at 16 percent compounded per year, and then I say, “Here’s the payout.”
📜2015 LetterReference Only▼
2015 LetterReference Only
Mentioned in this document.
🎙️2015 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2015 MeetingExcerpt Available
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. I can tell you — and I may write about this next year in the report, though — that Burlington Northern has the best safety record among the big railroads. And Berkshire Hathaway Energy, it’s extraordinary, their safety record, in terms of utilities. And every new utility we purchase at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, we’ve brought — the safety statistics, they’ve gotten far better after Greg Abel has taken over.
WARREN BUFFETT: Well, if it does, we won’t pay him a royalty for the idea. (Laughter) The — we did create a Berkshire Hathaway HomeService operation, which is a franchise operation. We bought two-thirds of the Prudential franchise operation a couple of years ago, and we have a contract where we can buy the — where we will — buy the remaining third in another couple of years. And so we were going to lose the rights to Prudential over time. And Greg Abel asked me about using Berkshire Hathaway, and I told him that they could use it, but that if I started hearing of any abuses of it or anything of the sort, we would yank it, and that maybe that would be a useful tool in making sure that people behaved like we wanted them to. And so far, that’s worked out fine. We’ve had no idea that we wanted to take Berkshire Hathaway into becoming a household name and that that would create extra value, but we were going to rename a large franchising operation. And, like I say, as long as the name does not get abused, that will be fine.
🎙️2016 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2016 MeetingExcerpt Available
And, in general, the federal government has done it through tax subsidies, which means taxpayers, generally, throughout the country subsidize it. And the public utility commission in Nevada decided that after seeing this experiment, they decided that it was not right for a million — well over a million — customers to be buying electricity at a price that subsidized the 17,000 people, and therefore increase the prices of electricity for the million. And that question of who subsidizes renewables, and how much, is, you know, going to be a political question for a long time to come. And I personally think that if society is the one that’s benefiting from the lack of — reduction of — greenhouse gases, that society should pick up the tab. And I don’t think that somebody sitting in a house in someplace in Nevada, we’ll call it Las Vegas, but it could be other cities because we serve most of Nevada, should be picking up the subsidy for their neighbor, and the public utility commission agrees with that. I think we have Greg Abel here who — NV Energy is a subsidiary of Mid-American — of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Greg, was there anything you want to add? Can we get a spotlight down here? Maybe?
GREG ABEL: I think it’s on now. So, as usual Warren, you summarized it extremely well. When we think of Nevada, it’s exactly as you described. I would just add a few things. One: as you’ve touched on earlier, we absolutely support renewables. So we start with the fundamental concept that we are for solar. But, as you highlighted, we want to purchase renewable energy at the market rate, not at a heavily subsidized rate that 1 percent of the customers will benefit from and harm the other 99 percent. And it goes back to being as fundamental as this: if you take, as you touched on, a working family in Nevada who can’t afford the roof top unit and you ask him, “Do you want to subsidize your neighbor, that 1 percent?” the answer is clearly no. At the same time, we’re absolutely committed to Nevada utilizing renewable resources, and absolutely proud of what our team’s doing. By 2019, we will have eliminated or retired 76 percent of our coal units and be replacing it with solar energy. So we’re on a great path there. Thank you.
📜2017 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2017 LetterExcerpt Available
I’ve saved the best for last. Early in 2018, Berkshire’s board elected Ajit Jain and Greg Abel as directors of Berkshire and also designated each as Vice Chairman. Ajit is now responsible for insurance operations, and Greg oversees the rest of our businesses. Charlie and I will focus on investments and capital allocation.
📜2018 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2018 LetterExcerpt Available
Before moving on, I want to give you some good news — really good news — that is not reflected in our financial statements. It concerns the management changes we made in early 2018, when Ajit Jain was put in charge of all insurance activities and Greg Abel was given authority over all other operations. These moves were overdue. Berkshire is now far better managed than when I alone was supervising operations. Ajit and Greg have rare talents, and Berkshire blood flows through their veins.
🎙️2018 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2018 MeetingExcerpt Available
WARREN BUFFETT: I’m Warren. He’s Charlie. Charlie does most things better than I do, but (laughter) - you know, this one’s a little tough. Charlie, maybe you can chew on that a while. OK. (Laughter) At the formal meeting that will begin at 3:45, we will elect 14 directors. Charlie and I are two of them, and I would like to introduce the other 12. I’ll do it in alphabetical order. If they will stand as I announce their name. Withhold your applause. May be hard to do, but give it your best. And when we get all through, then you can let loose, but We’ll do this alphabetically beginning with Greg Abel, if you’ll stand and stay standing. Howard Buffett, Steve Burke, Sue Decker, Bill Gates, Sandy Gottesman, Charlotte Guyman, Ajit Jain, Tom Murphy, Ron Olson, Walter Scott, and Meryl Witmer. (Applause)
WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. The - you’re right about when tax credits phase out and all of that. Although, as you know, they’ve extended that legislation in the past. Who knows exactly what the government’s position will be on incentivizing various forms of alternative energy? But my guess is - I mean, if you take the logical expenditures that may be required in all aspects of the public - like regeneration and the utility business generally - I think there’ll be a lot of money spent. And the question is whether we can spend it and get a reasonable return on it. There again, we’ll do what’s logical. There are three shareholders, basically, of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Berkshire Hathaway itself owns 90 percent of it. And Greg Abel and his family, perhaps, and Walter Scott and, again, family members - own the other 10 percent. And we all have an interest in employing as much capital as we can at good rates. And we’ll know when it can be done and when it can’t be done. And we’ll do - there’s no tax consequences to Berkshire at all.
🎙️2019 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2019 MeetingExcerpt Available
WARREN BUFFETT: The first thing I’d like to do — Charlie is my partner of 60 years, a director and vice chairman, and we make the big decisions jointly. It’s just that we haven’t had any big decisions. So, (laughter) we haven’t — we’re keeping him available for the next big one. But now at the formal meeting today, we’ll elect 14 directors, and you’re looking at two of them. And I’d like to introduce the 12 that will be on the ballot at 3:45. And I’m going to proceed alphabetically. And if they’ll stand. If you’ll withhold your applause because some of them get sensitive if certain people get more applause than others, and (Laughter) they’ll — and if you’ll withhold it till I’m finished, then you can applaud or not, as you see fit, having looked at these directors. (Laughter) So, we’ll start on my left. Greg Abel, who’s both a chairman and a director. Greg? Yeah, oh, there we are.
CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, I think at Berkshire the environmental stuff is done one level down from us. And I think Greg Abel is just terrific at it. And so, I think we score very well. When it gets to so-called best corporate practices, I think the people that talk about them don’t really know what the best practices are. They just know what they think are the best practices. And they determine that based on what will sell, not what will work. And so, I like our way of doing things better than theirs, and I hope to God we never follow their best practices. (Applause)
📜2020 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2020 LetterExcerpt Available
Our home office group, led by Melissa Shapiro and Marc Hamburg, Berkshire’s CFO, quickly regrouped. Miraculously, their improvisations worked. Greg Abel, one of Berkshire’s Vice Chairmen, joined me on stage facing a dark arena, 18,000 empty seats and a camera. There was no rehearsal: Greg and I arrived about 45 minutes before “showtime.”
And now — drum roll, please — a surprise. This year our meeting will be held in Los Angeles . . . and Charlie will be on stage with me offering answers and observations throughout the 3½ -hour question period. I missed him last year and, more important, you clearly missed him. Our other invaluable vice-chairmen, Ajit Jain and Greg Abel, will be with us to answer questions relating to their domains.
🎙️2020 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2020 MeetingExcerpt Available
But on my left, we do have Greg Abel. And Greg is the vice chairman in charge of all operations, except insurance. Greg manages a business that has more than 150 billion in revenues and crosses across dozens of industries, and has more than 300,000 employees.
This is an extraordinarily young country. Now I’m comparing it to a couple of guys that are pretty old. But when you think about the fact that my age, Charlie’s age, or our life experience — and then we’ll throw in this young guy over here, Greg Abel — and if our life experiences combined, exceed the life of the United States, we are a very, very young country.
🎙️2021 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2021 MeetingExcerpt Available
WARREN BUFFETT: On my right, your left, I have the vice chairman in charge of everything except insurance and investments, Greg Abel. Greg was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He’s Canadian. Plays hockey. His eight-year-old plays hockey. And he came to the United States sometime after he graduated from college in Canada. And he is in charge of a business which has well over 150 billion in sales and employs 200 — more than 250,000 — probably 275,000 people. And does a much better job at doing that than I was doing previously.
GREG ABEL: Sure, Warren. Thank you. And, really, as Warren touched on, BHE and BNSF have our — have the significant carbon footprints when you think of Berkshire. And Warren, you touched on the disclosure that we’ve provided in the past going all the way back to 2007. I did pull those two investor presentations, one from 2007, and then our most recent one in 2021. So, if we could pull up BHE-1 as a slide, I think it would just highlight, going all the way back to 2007, we’ve been doing investor presentations for what we call our fixed-income investors, and we’ve done that through — every year through 2021. We’ve provided very similar disclosures to our board on an annual basis and had discussions around Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s plans to decarbonize. Now, it’s interesting. If you go back to the 2007 fixed-income conference — and we are having a conference at that point in time — we have third-party debt, capital debt, that our utilities raise. It’s a traditional capital structure used across our regulated entities to manage our total cost to the customer.
📜2022 LetterReference Only▼
2022 LetterReference Only
Mentioned in this document.
🎙️2022 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2022 MeetingExcerpt Available
WARREN BUFFETT: I’d like to introduce two fellows who really work at Berkshire. On Charlie’s left, Greg Abel, who runs all the operations outside — (Applause) — yeah. And next to him is — I ran the insurance business for about 15 years unsuccessfully. And then fortunately, the fellow on the far left came in one day — and I’ve written about it — but he came in on a Saturday. And I was opening the mail, and he said that he’d be happy to run our insurance business. I said, “Have you ever run an insurance business?” And he said, “No.” And as I’ve mentioned, I said to him, “Well, you know, I’ve never run one either, so I’m not doing so hot, so (Laughter) give it a try.” And, you know, he transformed Berkshire Hathaway. And Ajit Jain is here with us. (Applause)
GREG ABEL: Want me to go first? OK. Thank you, Becky. Let me just start by saying when we think of BNSF, we have an exceptional franchise here and a great business. And we do compete with other railways, and we’re very well aware of how they operate, including their operating ratios and the metrics they operate to and precision railroading. And it’s all part of it. But what I would share with is when I think of BNSF, we start with focusing on our customer, understanding how we can best service them, and, yes, we want to do it in an efficient and effective way that delivers great results back to our shareholders. And that will continue to be our focus. So, yes, we learn from all the metrics they report and how they operate their rail, and we observe it. But I would put our team up right beside them on any operating day. And we’re going to move our rail cars as well as any other rail company in America. And we’re going to do it on behalf of our customers.
📜2023 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2023 LetterExcerpt Available
Additionally, Berkshire continues to hold its passive and long-term interest in five very large Japanese companies, each of which operates in a highly-diversified manner somewhat similar to the way Berkshire itself is run. We increased our holdings in all five last year after Greg Abel and I made a trip to Tokyo to talk with their managements.
Greg Abel, who runs all non-insurance operations for Berkshire — and in all respects is ready to be CEO of Berkshire tomorrow — was born and raised in Canada (he still plays hockey). In the 1990s, however, Greg lived for six years in Omaha just a few blocks away from me. During that period, I never met him.
🎙️2023 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2023 MeetingExcerpt Available
And next to him we have Greg Abel, who’s in charge of all the operations except for insurance. (Applause)
GREG ABEL: Moving to BNSF, I’ll start again by expressing great pride in the BNSF team. We have an exceptional group led by [CEO] Katie [Farmer] and her managers that show up every day to do great work on the railroad. At the same time, they would be the first to acknowledge there’s more to be done there.
📜2024 LetterExcerpt Available▼
2024 LetterExcerpt Available
At 94, it won’t be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters. Greg shares the Berkshire creed that a “report” is what a Berkshire CEO annually owes to owners. And he also understands that if you start fooling your shareholders, you will soon believe your own baloney and be fooling yourself as well.
🎙️2024 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2024 MeetingExcerpt Available
In addition, well, we have, first of all, Greg Abel, our director, and -(Applause)
GREG ABEL: That’s a great honor.
🎙️2025 MeetingExcerpt Available▼
2025 MeetingExcerpt Available
I would like to first introduce our directors. I’m Warren Buffett, and I was born and raised here in Omaha. We have Greg Abel – he was born and raised in Canada, and we have Ajit Jain who was born and raised in India. So we have a very diverse group.
GREG ABEL: When you think of the five companies, there’s definitely a couple meetings a year, Warren. The thing we’re building with the five companies is, one, it’s been a very good investment, but we really envision holding the investment for 50 years or forever. We also are building relationships to do incremental things with each of those companies. We really hope to do big things with them globally. They bring different perspectives and different opportunities, and that’s why we’re building that long-term relationship with them.
📜2025 LetterReference Only▼
2025 LetterReference Only
Mentioned in this document.