Thread

Warren Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Chairman, Names Son to Replace Him

323 points · 221 comments · saimiam

dugmartin · 1789732295 · focus · HN ↗
I guess Warren’s quote only applies to other people, not him. "It’s like choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics." (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/14/us/dozens-of-rich-americans-join-in-fight-to-retain-the-estate-tax.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/14/us/dozens-of-rich-america...)
1. nlitened · 1789734152 · focus · HN ↗
  As I understand, the son is there not to lead the company (Greg Abel is the CEO), but to oversee their family's share in the enterprise.
  1. yuuu · 1789734967 · focus · HN ↗
    I thought he was giving away 99% of his wealth?
    al_borland · 1789740784 · focus · HN ↗
    That’s now in limbo
    <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/warren-buffett-breaks-lifetime-pledge-144757141.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/warren-buffett-...
    DennisP · 1789741411 · focus · HN ↗
    Plenty of other charities in the world. Just because he stopped giving to the Gates Foundation over Epstein ties doesn't mean he won't send the money somewhere else.
    al_borland · 1789758225 · focus · HN ↗
    Sure. The thing with the Gates Foundation is that it was able to handle billions. Most charities aren't equipped to effectively manage and deploy that kind of wealth. The Gates Foundation made it easy for billionaires to send a large lump sum to one place that was equipped to deal with it.
    Having to part out all his wealth $5m at a time to spread it around without overwhelming the systems in place, would be a second act that I'm not sure Buffett has the time for.
    DennisP · 1789764074 · focus · HN ↗
    That's a good point but the Gates Foundation isn't alone; there are a fair number of other foundations in the $10-100 billion range.
    <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_charitable_foundations" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_charitable_...
    fakedang · 1789854505 · focus · HN ↗
    None that operate at the scale of deployment that BMGF operates in.
    DennisP · 1789867472 · focus · HN ↗
    Since the BMGF is only the fifth largest, how do you justify that statement?
    fakedang · 1789878457 · focus · HN ↗
    Scale of deployment vs scale of funding.
    DennisP · 1789924534 · focus · HN ↗
    Do you have a source? Because it seems unlikely to me that charitable foundations with even more capital are not deploying it at similar scale.
    fakedang · 1789931829 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://givingcompass.org/article/who-are-the-worlds-10-largest-foundations" rel="nofollow">https://givingcompass.org/article/who-are-the-worlds-10-larg...

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