Who is Greg Abel, the executive picked to be successor to Warren Buffett? [Video]

OMAHA, Neb. – When Warren Buffett announced at his annual shareholder meeting Saturday that he is stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year, he elevated a low-key 62-year-old Canadian executive named Greg Abel who has long been one of his top lieutenants.

For the past seven years, Abel has been overseeing Berkshire’s BNSF railroad and its treat makers See’s Candies and Dairy Queen along with dozens of other manufacturing and retail businesses that Buffett acquired over the years.

He grew up in Canada as a hockey player and learned the value of hard work as he redeemed discarded bottles and worked for a small company filling fire extinguishers. Now he finds himself at the top of the food chain in the investment world.

Berkshire confirmed Abel as Buffett’s successor in 2021 after former Vice Chairman Charlie Mungerlet it slip at the annual meeting. Since then, Abel has largely remained …