Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
 Best Of BRK.ABest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of BRK.ABest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd

The week's question
In March 2025, in the thread "Re: OT, out", Umm asked the members: "Do you think it is because America is made up of magical soil that makes businesses based in America magically profitable?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (31) |
Author: sutton ✭  😊 😞
Number: of 22346 
Subject: Re: Warren stepping down as chairman
Date: 09/18/26 2:54 PM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 15
My older sister - no financial or investing knowledge or interest whatsoever - saw the headline and asked, what did I think?

It occurred to me after sending her a reply that today's news might bring to this board the occasional investor who is not a decades-long Berkshire groupie. This is pitched to the Occasional Shrews:

"Well, today's not actually that big of a deal. But thx for your concern.

What happened is that WEB announced he is stepping down as Chairman of the Board (to become Board Emeritus). This comes as no surprise to anyone who's watched him for at least the last few years, when it's become obvious that while he's still sharp, the mainspring on this 96 year-old man is visibly winding down. And, he's having the courage, strength of character, judgement, and grace to depart before he does this(1).

The real news was May 3, 2025, when he announced he was stepping down as CEO. That's the key position - making the day to day as well as policy decisions. He handed the keys to a man he and Charlie Munger (deceased three years ago, at 99) had groomed for a number of years, a fella named Greg Abel, and who both men expressed a limitless confidence in.

Mr Abel became the de facto CEO seventeen months ago, and the de jure last January 1.

The day before the annual meeting, Berkshire B shares sold for around $540, dropping steadily to $465 over the next few months. As I type, they currently fetch $507.

I think most of us Berkshire groupies feel that a) $540 was stupid overpriced, and b) Greg is an operations guy, which BRK needed...there was a fair amount of rust developing in key areas e.g. Geico and the railroad. And, just as a new US President's economic plan can't really be judged for at least 18 months after Inauguration Day, giving Greg a couple of years to start visibly producing is only fair. Say, until the end of 2027 or so, or the 2028 annual meeting.

And, Berkshire's biggest strength, demonstrated again and again over the decades, is when the wheels fell off everywhere else: 2000 (internet bubble popped) and 2008 (so-called Global Financial Crisis: remember all the foreclosures?), there was BRK with bags of honest-to-God cash ready to bail out horribly overextended large concerns with only a weekend phone call followed by a faxed, one-page term sheet ...because a guy on fire will pay a lot for a bucket of water, right now.

For those of us that think that the economy is way overdue to do that again: we don't have to like a stock that's gone worse-than-nowhere for a year and a half (it pays no dividend, so the only realizable cash is in the price of a share), but we feel it's fairly priced at the moment, and it has stunning boatloads of cash buried in the yard, waiting for the big black economic headlines. We just wish Warren was around to make the deals, as Greg is unproven there.

As far as the Chairman of the Board position: its primary responsibility is to keep close watch on the CEO. In this case, Howard Buffett ("Howie", Warren and Suzie's son) is charged with maintaining the Berkshire corporate culture. Think of what Orange has done to the US reputation in a few years, and you get a sense for how big those intangibles of trust and reputation are, and how easily they can be squandered by someone stupid, evil, or both. Having served on the Berkshire board for many years, Howie was the obvious choice...but I don't think anyone is pretending he would be Board Chair if his last name didn't start with a B and rhyme with "Muffit". Nothing particularly ominous, but not especially impressive, either. (His Dad was not a particularly notable family man, I admit)

But yes, I miss Charlie Munger still. And I'm about to start missing Warren Buffett.

--sutton

(1): YouTube: Trump Tries to Buy Votes, Calls A.I. Threat a Hoax & Mitch McConnell is BACK! (Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to sutton here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 21,850 posts about Berkshire Hathaway. The article-length ones it recommended most:
BRK: Why Not XOM? · 62 recs · 2024
Second quarter comments · 60 recs · 2023
Berkshire's Profit Contributors · 58 recs · 2023
Summary of 2Q 2026 · 55 recs · 2026
3Q Summary · 53 recs · 2024
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (31) |


Announcements
Berkshire Hathaway FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Ticker or Board Name Author

Best Of BRK.A | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community