‘Don’t Try to Be Warren Buffett’: Wall Street Has Words of Wisdom for Berkshire Hathaway’s New CEO
Greg Abel takes over Warren Buffett鈥檚 role as Berkshire Hathaway CEO in less than two weeks.
Key Takeaways
- Berkshire Hathaway鈥檚 incoming CEO, Greg Abel, takes over for Warren Buffett on January 1.聽
- Wall Street analysts urged Abel to find big opportunities and purchase more Berkshire stock.
- One analyst, Jonathan Boyar, expects Abel to be more hands-on as a manager than Buffett was.
Wall Street has a clear message for Greg Abel, 63, as he prepares to succeed Warren Buffett, 95, as Berkshire Hathaway CEO on January 1: 鈥淒on鈥檛 try to be Warren Buffett.鈥
Bill Stone, chief investment officer at wealth management firm Glenview Trust, told last week that the most important thing Abel can do is stay away from competing with Buffett. He cautioned that it would be impossible to beat Buffett at his own game.
Instead, Stone encouraged Abel to deliver steady profit growth and smart capital allocation in his own style. He argued that Abel should focus on what he can directly control: He can increase operating earnings. He can also keep an eye out for big opportunities. 鈥淏erkshire Hathaway is so big now that you have to find bigger opportunities to move the needle,鈥 Stone said.
Related: 鈥業t Was Unfair鈥: Warren Buffett Reveals the Real Reason He Stepped Down as CEO
Meanwhile, Jonathan Boyar, president of Boyar Research, told last week that Abel has the opportunity to differentiate himself by being more of a hands-on manager than Buffett was. Boyar expects Abel to be more involved with 叠别谤办蝉丑颈谤别鈥檚 subsidiaries than Buffett.
Abel will likely 鈥渆nhance profitability鈥 by consolidating divisions and cutting fat, Boyar said. He pointed out that Buffett was known as the 鈥済reatest investor of all time,鈥 but 鈥渉e鈥檚 not known as the best manager of all time,鈥 leaving a gap for Abel to fill.
Boyar also said Abel could best win Wall Street鈥檚 trust by personally buying a large amount of Berkshire stock. That way, Abel would 鈥渞eally put his money where his mouth is,鈥 according to Boyar.

叠别谤办蝉丑颈谤别鈥檚 shows that Abel already owns company stock, about $171 million worth. However, Boyar thinks a new, sizable purchase after taking the top job would send a powerful signal.
鈥淏uffett has created a business that can basically run itself,鈥 Boyar told Yahoo Finance. 鈥淚 just want him [Abel] to be a great steward of these assets, to go in and manage them better.鈥
Related: Here鈥檚 Everything Warren Buffett Announced in His Thanksgiving Letter
Analyst David Jagielski, a writer for The Motley Fool, that Abel is 鈥渨ell prepared鈥 for the CEO role. He expects Abel鈥檚 overall investing philosophy to stay close to Buffett鈥檚, but with some shifts in the investment portfolio. For example, Abel may target different companies.聽
Jagielski pointed to 叠别谤办蝉丑颈谤别鈥檚 recent stake in Alphabet as a 鈥済limpse鈥 of a possible tilt towards faster-growing tech names and away from slower holdings like Kraft Heinz. 叠别谤办蝉丑颈谤别鈥檚 end-of-third-quarter equity , released in November, showed that the company had purchased more than 17.8 million shares of Alphabet, valued at $4.9 billion, during the quarter.
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Key Takeaways
- Berkshire Hathaway鈥檚 incoming CEO, Greg Abel, takes over for Warren Buffett on January 1.聽
- Wall Street analysts urged Abel to find big opportunities and purchase more Berkshire stock.
- One analyst, Jonathan Boyar, expects Abel to be more hands-on as a manager than Buffett was.
Wall Street has a clear message for Greg Abel, 63, as he prepares to succeed Warren Buffett, 95, as Berkshire Hathaway CEO on January 1: 鈥淒on鈥檛 try to be Warren Buffett.鈥
Bill Stone, chief investment officer at wealth management firm Glenview Trust, told last week that the most important thing Abel can do is stay away from competing with Buffett. He cautioned that it would be impossible to beat Buffett at his own game.
Instead, Stone encouraged Abel to deliver steady profit growth and smart capital allocation in his own style. He argued that Abel should focus on what he can directly control: He can increase operating earnings. He can also keep an eye out for big opportunities. 鈥淏erkshire Hathaway is so big now that you have to find bigger opportunities to move the needle,鈥 Stone said.