Warren Buffett announced that he has prostate cancer about a week ago and this has made investors in his company Berkshire Hathaway more interested about who will be the successor. This has been speculated for a very long time too. As for the prostate cancer, it is pretty sad news but almost 80 percent of men his age have the disease.
The iconic chairman of Berkshire Hathaway has been very candid about his ailment in comparison to Apple’s Steve Jobs. But then again, this is responsible governance shown by Buffett to ensure that the investors in his company do not misinterpret any frailty they observe in the chairman as a gloomy future for the firm.
Warren Buffett has been known to play the media really well and get the message that he wants across pretty effectively. I know that Buffett has always lived well below his means and has encouraged a pretty frugal lifestyle, but then again he is already such a big celebrity that he really does not need to bring in any more media attention. It is like I told my dad, so what if he drives his own car, he already has a private jet!
Buffett is very well known for his business acumen and his investing smarts and I wonder why he has kept delaying letting the public know about the succession plan of Berkshire Hathaway. It may have something to do with David Sokol who many felt was a successor to Buffett leaving due to an insider trading scandal. Either way, naming a successor brings problems of its own to a company as large as Berkshire Hathaway.