(This is refreshed version of a NEWSMAKER which ran in May

2024)

By Koh Gui Qing and Jonathan Stempel

OMAHA, Nebraska, May 3 (Reuters) - When Greg Abel

succeeds Warren Buffett at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A )

at the end of this year, he is expected to preserve the

culture at the behemoth even if he does not match the star power

of his legendary boss.

Abel, 62, now a Berkshire vice chairman, is expected by

investors and analysts to uphold the $1.18 trillion

conglomerate's track record of investing in companies for the

long haul and eschewing dividend payments to shareholders.

Berkshire, which owns railroads, insurance companies and an

ice-cream maker, has been planning for decades for the

eventuality when Buffett, 94, who has run the company since

1965, is no longer there.

Still, it came as a surprise when Buffett announced on

Saturday that Abel should replace him as chief executive. The

Oracle of Omaha had not before signaled a clear intention on

when to step aside.

Buffett has long alluded to his advanced age, and before

announcing his planned departure at Berkshire's annual

shareholder meeting in Omaha signaled Abel was more up to the

job than he was.

"It's working way better with Greg Abel than with me,

because I don't want to work as hard as he works," Buffett said.

One questioner asked Abel what his management approach

to subsidiaries would be. "More active," he responded.

Abel also praised Buffett, saying "Warren has obviously

been a remarkable teacher, and I have benefited from that for

years."

A DETAILS MAN

Gregory Edward Abel was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on June

1, 1962, to a working-class family.

Working odd jobs, he cleaned discarded bottles and filled

fire extinguishers, according to the Horatio Alger Association

of Distinguished Americans, an education non-profit that honored

Abel in 2018.

"It was a real working-class family where sometimes people

had jobs and sometimes they didn't," Abel said about his

childhood in a video posted on the Horatio Alger website. "You

realized we were all working hard to try to advance our family."

Abel graduated in 1984 from the University of Alberta and

worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and energy firm CalEnergy.

He joined Berkshire Hathaway Energy, then known as

MidAmerican Energy, in 1992, which Berkshire later took over,

and became MidAmerican's chief in 2008.

Abel now oversees Berkshire's non-insurance operations such

as BNSF, Berkshire Hathaway Energy and dozens of chemical,

industrial and retail operations.

He has in the last year also taken over some of the

capital allocation responsibilities that had been Buffett's.

Buffett said last year he would also want Abel to have

final say on decisions regarding Berkshire's portfolio of public

stocks, a job previously thought would be left to others.

Many executives who work with Abel call him a perceptive

questioner who closely scrutinizes financial metrics and wants

to closely understand the businesses and how they're run.

Abel's questions "ensure you are thinking through

directives and plans as a company," said Chris Kelly, chief

executive of HomeServices of America, the largest U.S.

residential real estate brokerage. "You come away smarter from

having a conversation with him."