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Warren Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Chairman, Names Son to Replace Him

108 pointsby saimiamtoday at 11:01 AM74 commentsview on HN

Comments

dugmartintoday at 11:51 AM

I guess Warren’s quote only applies to other people, not him. "It’s like choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics." (https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/14/us/dozens-of-rich-america...)

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keiferskitoday at 11:56 AM

Buffett has been planning this since at least 2011:

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Warren Buffett has told the CBS News program "60 Minutes" that after he dies, he wants his son to become non-executive chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Howard Buffett, a farmer with no college degree, would be a good successor, the elder Buffett said, because he understands the values of the company.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warren-buffett-wants-farmer...

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hn9zmdcaoutoday at 12:02 PM

Sat on a couple of boards and the non exec chair mostly just guards the culture and can fire the CEO. Abel runs the business. That's a very different job from Howard's.

jjallentoday at 1:44 PM

There's a big difference between keeping all of your ownership and giving it to the son and paying a huge salary and making him non-executive chairman while giving away most of your wealth.

BennyBallTCtoday at 12:21 PM

Many people do not know this but he still holds the stock that he first bought as a 13y old. It is now worth 8+ figures!

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theplumbertoday at 11:39 AM

So after all no one could be trusted

andrewstuarttoday at 1:01 PM

I think it would be tedious to be that wealthy. You’d spend all your time managing the money and associated stresses.

A super comfortable life with enough money to get you to 105 years old that all you need.

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bell-cottoday at 11:29 AM

Best wishes and all. But given Berkshire's scale, and the son's age (71), questions about the next succession plan seem appropriate.

Also, since the NYT says nothing else about the son: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Graham_Buffett In context, his recent involvement in local politics seems rather odd.

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dominotwtoday at 12:28 PM

Warren Jong-il

kittikittitoday at 11:47 AM

People take what he does and says as gospel so knowing he went with monarchy tier nepotism is going to be very annoying.

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mrlonglongtoday at 12:48 PM

Nepo dynasty.

It'll all burn eventually.

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