From Energy Executive to Berkshire Ceo: Greg Abel's Surprising Career Path
Greg Abel’s early career was about as grounded as you can get. He started as an accountant, sure, but he quickly moved into the gritty world of energy—specifically, a company called CalEnergy. This wasn't your neighbor’s solar panel company; it was a firm that built massive geothermal and power plants in places like the California desert and even deserts in Indonesia.
Can you imagine the contrast? One day you’re in a suit talking about megawatts, and the next you’re being tapped to run a massive conglomerate that sells everything from See’s Candies to Geico car insurance. It’s like finding out your local electrician is actually the next head chef at a five-star French restaurant. How does that even happen?
The "Boring" Superpower
Here’s the secret sauce: Abel made his name by being incredibly good at the unsexy stuff. While others chased tech bubbles, he dove deep into the regulatory maze of the energy business. He bought utility companies, merged them, cut costs, and made them run like oiled machines. It was slow, patient work—the kind that would make a day trader fall asleep.
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But Warren Buffett loves that kind of boring. In fact, Buffett’s whole philosophy is about buying businesses you understand and holding them forever. Abel didn’t just understand energy; he lived it. He spent years in Iowa running MidAmerican Energy (now Berkshire Hathaway Energy), dealing with rate cases, renewable energy projects, and the occasional flood. He earned his stripes the hard way.
So, when Buffett started looking for a successor, he didn’t need a Wall Street hotshot. He needed someone who could run things, not just trade them. Greg Abel was that person. He was the guy who could look at a power plant and know exactly how to squeeze a dollar out of it, then turn around and explain that same dollar to a boardroom.
Greg Abel: conheça presidente da Berkshire Hathaway Energy