Gregory Edward Abel (born June 1, 1962) is a Canadian businessman,

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Berkshire Hathaway Energy Berkshire Hathaway Energy (previously known as MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company until 2014) is a holding company that is 92% owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire has owned a controlling stake since 1999. The company also controls power dist ...

, and vice-chairman of non-insurance operations of

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...

since January 2018.

Early life and education

Gregory Edward Abel was born on June 1, 1962 in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...

. During his childhood Abel did odd jobs like distributing flyers and returning bottles to make money. He also worked as a laborer for a forest product company. He did not participate in too many extracurricular activities in school, aside from hockey and football. He earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

in 1984, and is an AICPA certified public accountant.

Career

Abel began his career working as a chartered accountant with

PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounti ...

in their San Francisco office. In 1992, he joined CalEnergy, a geothermal electricity producer. In 1999, CalEnergy acquired

MidAmerican Energy MidAmerican Energy Company is an energy company based in Des Moines, Iowa. Its service area includes almost two-thirds of Iowa, as well as portions of Illinois, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Its territory is wholly encompassed by the territory ...

, adopting its name, and Berkshire Hathaway acquired a controlling interest later that year. Abel became CEO of MidAmerican in 2008, and the company was renamed

in 2014. In January 2018, Abel was named

's vice chairman for non-insurance operations and appointed to Berkshire's board of directors. Abel is also vice chairman of

Edison Electric Institute The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) is an association that represents all U.S. investor-owned electric companies. Its members provide electricity for 220 million Americans, operate in 50 states and the District of Columbia, and directly employ ...

, and a director of Associated Electric & Gas Insurance Services Limited,

Kraft Heinz The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz, is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods and Heinz co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is the third-largest food and bevera ...

, Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited, the Hockey Canada Foundation, the Mid-Iowa Council Boy Scouts of America, and the American Football Coaches Foundation. He has been on the board of trustees at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

and at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hist ...

. In May 2021, while speaking with partner Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett confirmed Abel as his future successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Abel's handling of CalEnergy’s take-over of a British utility in the 1990s is credited to mark the start of this transition.

Net worth

In 2021 according to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' Abel's net worth is estimated at $484 million mainly thanks to his 1% stake in

. In June 2022, he sold his 1% stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy for $870 millions. In October 2022, it was announced that Abel purchased 168 shares of Berkshire Class A shares worth approximately $68 million. This equates to an approximate average share purchase price of $404,761.90. Prior to this latest purchase, Abel held five Class A shares, and 2,363 Class B shares, according to previous filings.

Honors

He received a

Horatio Alger award The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to honor the achievements of outstanding Americans who have succeeded in spite of adversity and to emphas ...

in 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Greg 1962 births Living people Businesspeople from Edmonton University of Alberta alumni Canadian chief executives Directors of Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway employees Canadian accountants Canadian Jews