By Jonathan Stempel
OMAHA, Nebraska, April 30 (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway is hosting its annual shareholder weekend in Omaha, Nebraska, the first since Warren Buffett ended his 60-year tenure as the conglomerate’s CEO. The gathering is the largest in corporate America and includes Berkshire’s annual meeting on Saturday.
At the meeting, new CEO Greg Abel will discuss Berkshire’s businesses for about one hour, and answer shareholder questions for 2-1/2 hours.
Three other executives within Berkshire will also answer shareholder questions: Ajit Jain, who oversees insurance operations; Katie Farmer, CEO of the BNSF railroad; and Adam Johnson, CEO of NetJets and president overseeing Berkshire’s consumer products, service and retailing subsidiaries.
The meeting will be livestreamed on cnbc.com.
Here are some facts about Abel, Buffett and Berkshire.
GREG ABEL, WARREN BUFFETT
Gregory Edward Abel was born on June 1, 1962, in Edmonton, Alberta, and graduated from the University of Alberta.
Abel joined Berkshire in 2000 when it bought a majority stake in MidAmerican Energy, now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy, where he had worked. He became CEO of that business in 2008 and held that job for a decade. Abel was elevated in 2018 to a Berkshire vice chairman overseeing all non-insurance subsidiaries.
Berkshire shareholders learned in 2021 that Abel was Buffett’s expected successor after late Vice Chairman Charlie Munger let the news slip during Berkshire’s annual meeting. Buffett announced his planned retirement as CEO and its timing at last year’s meeting.
Abel lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and regularly commutes about 135 miles (217 km) west to Berkshire’s headquarters in Omaha. He is a hockey fan and coaches his son’s hockey team.
Abel is believed to be a billionaire after selling his 1% stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy to Berkshire for $870 million in 2022. He owns about $179 million of Berkshire shares, including $14.6 million worth he bought in March with his after-tax salary, and plans to buy more shares with his future salaries.
Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, and remains Berkshire’s executive chairman.
Buffett took over Berkshire, a struggling New England textile company, in 1965 after winning a dispute with prior management. The textile business closed in 1985.
Buffett has said he goes to the office daily and is available to help Abel with investments or provide other advice, though Abel has the final say.
Buffett was worth $140.7 billion as of Wednesday, ranking 12th worldwide according to Forbes, despite having donated more than half of his Berkshire shares to charities since 2006. These donations include more than $47 billion to the Gates Foundation and more than $17 billion to four family charities.
Buffett’s three children will distribute his remaining Berkshire holdings, which account for nearly all his wealth, after his death. Donations to the Gates Foundation are expected to stop after Buffett dies. Buffett demurred when asked on March 31 on CNBC whether they might stop sooner.
As of March 4, Buffett owned 13.7% of Berkshire’s stock and controlled 30.2% of Berkshire’s voting power. His son Howard Buffett is expected to become non-executive chairman after his father dies or can no longer serve.
FACTS ABOUT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
* Leadership
Greg Abel, chief executive. Abel also has day-to-day oversight of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the BNSF railroad, industrial and building products businesses, the Pilot truck stop business, and the McLane grocery distributor.
Warren Buffett, executive chairman.
Ajit Jain, vice chairman. He has day-to-day oversight of Berkshire’s insurance businesses.
Adam Johnson, president. He is CEO of the NetJets luxury plane unit, and has day-to-day oversight of Berkshire’s consumer products, service and retailing businesses.
* Financials
Berkshire Hathaway reported $66.97 billion of net income in 2025, down 25% from a record $89 billion in 2024. Operating profit from Berkshire’s businesses fell 6% to $44.49 billion from $47.44 billion. Revenue was essentially unchanged at $371.44 billion. Net income included realized and unrealized gains on Berkshire’s stock investments. Net income also included $8.26 billion of writedowns for two Berkshire investments, Kraft Heinz and Occidental Petroleum.
Through Wednesday, Berkshire shares were down more than 5% in 2026 while the S&P 500 was up 4%.
Between 1965 and 2025, Berkshire shares posted compounded annual gains of 19.7%, topping the S&P’s 10.5%. Investors who owned Berkshire shares the entire time gained 6,099,294%, compared with a 46,061% gain in the S&P. Most of Berkshire’s outperformance came early, when the company was smaller. Long-term investors have recently seen Berkshire perform more like the index, though it sometimes outperforms or underperforms significantly over short time frames.
* Operating businesses and stock investments
Some of Berkshire’s operating businesses are: Alleghany, Benjamin Moore, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, BNSF, Borsheims Fine Jewelry, Brooks, Business Wire, Clayton Homes, Duracell, Forest River, Fruit of the Loom, Geico, General Re, HomeServices of America, IMC International Metalworking, International Dairy Queen, Jazwares, Johns Manville, Lubrizol, Marmon, McLane, National Indemnity, Nebraska Furniture Mart, NetJets, Oriental Trading, Pampered Chef, Pilot Travel Centers, Precision Castparts, See’s Candies, Shaw Industries.
Apple was Berkshire’s largest stock holding at the end of 2025. Other large investments included American Express, Bank of America, Chevron and Coca-Cola. Abel’s first annual letter to shareholders suggests that Berkshire considers American Express, Apple, Coca-Cola and Moody’s core long-term holdings.
*Select acquisitions
See’s Candies, $25 million (1972); Geico, $2.3 billion (1996); Dairy Queen, $590 million (1998); General Re, $15.9 billion (1998); NetJets, $725 million (1998); Clayton Homes, $1.7 billion (2003); PacifiCorp, $5.1 billion (2006); Iscar, $6.1 billion (2006-2013); Marmon, $8.9 billion (2008-2014); Burlington Northern Santa Fe, $26.5 billion (2010); Lubrizol, $9 billion (2011); NV Energy, $5.6 billion (2013); H.J. Heinz, $12.1 billion (majority stake, 2013; now part of Kraft Heinz); Van Tuyl (now Berkshire Hathaway Automotive), $4.1 billion (2015); Precision Castparts, $32.1 billion (2016); Duracell, $2.9 billion (2016); Pilot Travel Centers, $13.6 billion (2017-2024); Alleghany, $11.5 billion (2022); Occidental Petroleum chemical business, $9.5 billion (2026). (Sources: Barclays, Berkshire)
*Employees
Berkshire employed 387,815 people at the end of 2025. Its main office had 28, including Abel and Buffett.
*Annual meeting attendance:
12 (1965), about 24 (1979), 1,000 (1986), 4,100 (1995), 13,000 (2000), 21,000 (2005), 42,000 (2015, Buffett’s 50th anniversary running Berkshire). (Sources: Omaha World-Herald, Berkshire, Reuters)
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; editing by Colin Barr and Rod Nickel)
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