It’s Berkshire’s first major acquisition since Greg Abel became chief executive on Jan. 1, and Warren Buffett, now 95 and a chairman, made a point of standing back from it.
“Greg did that faster than I could have done it, smoother than I could have done it, and I never talked to the CEO,” he told CNBC’s Becky Quick.
While Abel has been at the helm for several months now and presided over the company’s annual shareholders meeting for the first time as CEO last month, Buffett indicated his successor has finally made the job his own.
“He has launched,” he said of Abel.
Yet despite Buffett handing the credit to his new CEO, the deal is still classic Buffett, who led the company for 60 years and has made an indelible mark on its DNA.
