The billionaire CEO and chairman of the company said that he would support Ajit Jain if he should ever want the top spot.
Back in 2011, at a Bengaluru news conference, Warren Buffet had said that he would be willing to support Berkshire insurance exec Ajit Jain, if he should ever wish to step up into the position of CEO and chairman.
Speculation has recently been rising among the company’s investors, with regards to who will succeed Buffett.
Warren Buffett, who is currently 84 years old, has yet to give any other indication as to who his preference would be in terms of replacing himself at Berkshire insurance. He has said about Jain that “He loves what he does, he’s not looking to take my job,” and that “If he was, the board of directors would probably put him in there in a minute.”
Very recently, Buffett explained that the board had identified his successor from Berkshire insurance.
The company’s second in command, Charlie Munger spoke of both Jain from the insurance company side of the business, and Greg Abel, who currently heads the energy companies at Berkshire. On Saturday, Munger said that Jain (63 years old), and Abel (52 years old), each had qualities that would make them “a better business executive than Buffett.”
Jain has been with Berkshire Hathaway since 1986. At that time, he was immediately placed at the head of the struggling, small sized reinsurance operation at National Indemnity, by Buffett, himself. Since that time, Jain has managed to grow his business into a unique insurance industry giant. Munger specifically pointed out that Jain’s decision making “never exposes Berkshire to risks that are inappropriate in relation to our resources.”
Jain is being given a significant amount of credit with regards to the success of Berkshire insurance and the fact that the company is preparing itself to record a considerable profit as a result of the many revenue streams that he has established. Munger pointed out that even if the entire insurance industry was to experience a gigantic catastrophe that could bring about $250 billion in losses “Berkshire as a whole would likely record a significant profit for the year because of its many streams of earnings.”