No. of Recommendations: 5
I found that post somewhat puzzling. My comment I ran to it:
So I’m a bit confused. Let’s see a few points clarified. I’m a 25+ year Berkshire holder, who has read every one of his letters back to the ’70s.
1. Board composition – Susan Decker isn’t listed, so I’m curious what your source is of who is on the board.
2. Board age and nepotism – that’s the real concern; despite holding the stock a quarter century, I’m younger than everyone on the board. You don’t get novel new ideas from an average age of 70something. Howard Buffett has no interest in these business dealings, and Warren’s positioning of him on the board to “preserve culture” is highly dubious. Ajit and Greg will do that far better.
3. Investing lieutenants – we all knew Todd was departing, but Ted? There is no press on his departure; if anything, Greg Abel will have Ted fill a bigger role as Greg will be learning more about the corporation, and serving in a bigger/more public/outward facing role, and have less time for capital allocation. As for Todd and Ted’s performance, Warren flat-out said in one of the annual letters that they were doing better than he. Assuredly, Apple – Berkshire’s biggest raw dollar gain in securities in its history – was not Warren’s idea.