The debate around the likely successor of billionaire, Warren Buffet has reignited after he dropped a hint at who might succeed him to run his Berkshire Hathaway empire. Although Buffet did not directly name anyone as his successor, he said that Gregory Able, who handles the non-insurance business at Berkeley and Ajit Jain, who handles the insurance business at Berkeley – both of whom were promoted last year to the board of directors would soon join him and his 95 year old partner, Charlie Munger, to answer shareholder questions. The 87-year old billionaire was all praise for Able and Jain. He said, “You could not have two better operating managers than Greg and Ajit. It’s just fantastic what they’ve accomplished.”
Jain who hails from the state of Odisha in India, had graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. Thereafter, he went on to work for IBM and earned his MBA from Harvard. He joined Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance business in 1986, at a time he said he knew “little about insurance”. However, Jain must have learnt really fast because under his watch, not only did the insurance business grow, but it also contributed in a significant way to Berkshire’s investment float. Buffet was able to use the vast premiums collected through the insurance business and invest them in his portfolio. Therefore, the legendary returns generated by Buffet’s investments were not solely a result of his stock-piling skills but were amplified by low-cost ‘floats’ (premiums collected in the insurance business) generated by Jain.
Jain’s excellent and “unmatched” underwriting skills also won the praise of Buffet. In the past, he is learnt to have previously lauded Jain’s underwriting skills, saying he insures risks on which no one else has the desire or the capital to take on.
The octogenarian also said, “His operation combines capacity, speed, decisiveness and, most important, brains in a manner unique in the insurance business. Yet he never exposes Berkshire to risks that are inappropriate in relation to our resources.” He added, Jain’s “mind, moreover, is an idea factory that is always looking for more lines of business he can add to his current assortment.” However, Buffet’s high regard for Jain is truly manifested in a letter to the shareholders in which he said, if “Charlie, I and Ajit are in a sinking boat, and only one of us can be saved, swim to Ajit”. Jain, therefore, seems like the front-runner as far as succeeding Buffet at Berkshire Hathaway.
