Berkshire Hathaway’s January 10, 2018, news release states that on January 9 the board increased its size from twelve to fourteen directors and elected Gregory E. Abel and Ajit Jain to fill the vacancies. Warren E. Buffett, then chairman and CEO, appointed Abel Vice Chairman – Non-Insurance Business Operations and Jain Vice Chairman – Insurance Operations. Buffett and Charles T. Munger would continue in their existing positions, including significant capital-allocation and investment work. The 2026 proxy later records Abel as a director since 2018 and vice chairman from 2018 through 2025.
On May 1, 2021, at the annual meeting, Munger said — in remarks widely reported and later quoted by Abel himself — “Greg will keep the culture.” CNBC the next day reported Buffett’s confirmation: “The directors are in agreement that if something were to happen to me tonight it would be Greg who’d take over tomorrow morning.” Buffett also said that if something happened to Abel, it would be Ajit, and that a longer runway mattered; Abel was then 58 and Jain 69, in that report. Those CNBC sentences are reporting of a public interview. Abel’s later letter treats the Munger line as a primary memory: it “will forever resonate with me.”
The Form 8-K with earliest event May 3, 2025, is the personnel instrument. On May 3, Buffett announced he would recommend to the May 4 board meeting that Abel be appointed chief executive officer effective January 1, 2026. On May 4 the board voted unanimously to appoint Abel President and CEO on that date. Buffett would remain chairman. The 2026 proxy repeats the sequence in a compensation footnote. Washington Examiner, Daily Caller, Daily Wire, and Epoch Times recapped the Omaha meeting and the vote; those pieces are reporting. The titles rest on the 8-K and the proxy.
On September 30, 2025, the board amended the bylaws to separate chairman and CEO, because those jobs would no longer be held by the same person (September 30 8-K). The 2026 DEF 14A states Abel became CEO on January 1, 2026; Buffett continues as chairman and is described as the largest shareholder, with about 30.0 percent of the voting interest and 13.7 percent of the economic interest as of the proxy’s discussion. The same filing names Abel, then age 63, as Berkshire’s chief risk officer beginning January 1, 2026 — a role the proxy says Buffett held through December 31, 2025.