market folly

Hat tip to My Investing Notebook for stumbling upon this video. Who will be Warren Buffett's successor? It is a very interesting question indeed. There have been many postulations and the like, but most likely no one will know until the day itself comes. That certainly won't stop speculation in the mean time though. Fact: the most discussed item on the agenda at Berkshire Hathaway board meetings is the succession plan. One particularly hot topic is how Buffett is essentially irreplaceable in his dual role as chief investment officer and chief executive officer. So, it only makes sense that you will most likely see one person handle CEO duties and another individual with investing prowess handle the portfolio in the future.

For whatever reason, the two names that pop up most frequently in the discussion are David Sokol and Byron Trott. Sokol is currently the CEO of one of Berkshire's companies, MidAmerican Energy. Trott, on the other hand, was a longtime banker at Goldman Sachs who has worked with Buffett on numerous deals in the past, including Buffett's recent investment in GS last year. Trott has since started his own venture fund backed by Buffett, making the ties that much more interesting.

Buffett and board member Bill Gates chatted with Bloomberg about Berkshire and the potential succession plan in a 20-minute video interview embedded below. Additionally, they interviewed Sokol and Trott as well on the same topic.

Here's the video:



For more on Buffett, we recently detailed his recommended reading list and don't forget to check our Buffett's top 25 quotes.