Warren Buffett's successor Greg Abel publishes his first letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett speaks during an interview with Liz Claman on Fox Business Network's "Countdown to the Closing Bell," May 7, 2018, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett’s successor released his first letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday as the company took a US$4.5 billion write-down on the value of its Kraft Heinz and Occidental Petroleum stakes.

Greg Abel took over as CEO in January, so this is his chance to set the tone for his leadership. Investors are watching closely for any changes he might make, but Abel and Buffett have said there won’t be significant changes in the way Berkshire operates.

The letter opens with a tribute to Buffett and a promise to maintain Berkshire’s culture that’s based on trust and integrity and continue operating the same way that has worked so well for six decades.

“I am honoured by our board’s decision to appoint me CEO of Berkshire and humbled to succeed Warren as I write my first annual letter to you. Warren is obviously a very hard act to follow,” Abel said as he laid out his background and approach.

And Buffett remains chairman and the largest shareholder, so he’s still helping guide the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate he built. But Abel is now writing the annual letters that were always known as one of the most-read business reports out there because so many investors admired and followed Buffett because of his remarkable track record and homespun wit and advice.

Abel announced a few changes to the lineup for the shareholder meeting in May. The first question-and-answer period will feature Abel alongside Berkshire’s Vice Chairman for insurance, Ajit Jain. Then a second panel will have Abel answering questions with BNSF CEO Katie Farmer and NetJets CEO Adam Johnson, who now helps oversee all of Berkshire’s consumer, service and retail businesses.

The only initial changes so far are some administrative moves Abel made as he took over, and a filing in January suggesting Berkshire is considering sell off some or all of its 325 million Kraft Heinz shares. But Buffett may have supported that move because he had made comments about how Berkshire overpaid when it helped Heinz merge with Kraft, and he had been critical of packaged food giant’s plan to split into two companies. Many investors have tried to copy the moves Buffett made in Berkshire’s massive portfolio of stocks.

But Berkshire is powered by the dozens of companies it owns including major insurers like Geico, the BNSF railroad, a number of major utilities and an assortment of manufacturing and retail firms. Berkshire owns well-known brands like Dairy Queen and See’s Candy along with some of the companies that supply what other industries need like Precision Castparts, Lubrizol and Iscar Metalworking.

Abel already knows many of Berkshire’s companies well because he has been managing all of the non-insurance companies since 2018, and the executives who report to him have praised his insights into their different businesses.

Josh Funk, The Associated Press