No. of Recommendations: 2
Forgive my ignorance on successorship issues when WEB leaves the scene in a few days, but has there ever been a precedence whereby a former CEO can be ‘recalled’ or asked by the board to rejoin temporarily in decision making matters in the remote event that something catastrophic were to happen to our economy, and thus creating ripple effects across all equities, including our own at BRK? This isn’t really akin to Buffett getting yanked into the Solomon crisis years ago, but the analogy may still be salient I think. He would be there obviously to offer all the advice and guidance necessary as the acting board chairman, but could he also step in to assist Greg with hands-on leadership and shared decision making in the event of a severe economic shock and contagion? By ‘recalled,’ maybe I am thinking too much like a retired AF officer with a permanent regular commission, whereby even in old age, I could ostensibly be ‘recalled’ to active duty in the event of a severe national security crisis, maybe something that is borderline impactful on our survival. No one is indispensable of course, especially aging jetjockeys, but I’m wondering if my analogy is a bit of stretch?
No. of Recommendations: 5
Officially? No. I can see why we’d have something like this for armed forces. It seems akin to a draft of sorts, but you get way more experienced people.
I think what you’re worried about - that something bad happens to the economy and Berkshire is suffering because of it - is already something Buffett doesn’t handle. He’s just very hands off with the operating units. Look at how Geico was fixed when it fell behind the other insurers. Buffett put a trusted person in place to handle it.
But from what I can see, Buffett will remain in a role that allows him some of his strengths during a recession: the ability to evaluate public companies trading at a discount during a market crash, an ability to formulate deals like he made for BAC. The difference is these deals will be subject to *formal* approval now instead of just a “what do you think about this?” that may have happened in the past.
