The Berkshire Hathaway board is a step closer to naming a successor to CEO Warren Buffett after appointing two top executives as vice chairmen to the conglomerate.
The announcement was made Wednesday by Buffet, who revealed that Gregory Abel, 55, would head up non-insurance operations and Ajit Jain, 66, would oversee insurance operations, The Omaha World-Herald reported.
The roles would provide both men with more experience required should one of them take over as chief executive officer for Berkshire Hathaway.
"They are the two key figures at Berkshire," Buffet said, per The Omaha World-Herald, noting that it was "part of a movement to succession over time," CNBC reported.
Abel and Jain have both long been speculated as Buffet's top two potential successors and they fit the criteria set out by the 87-year-old chief executive officer, who said his successor should be produced from the company's ranks, relatively young and not motivated by ego, Fortune noted.
For years it has been speculated that Jain would head up the corporation after Buffet praised him highly in an annual letter, stating that he "created tens of billions of value for Berkshire shareholders," and that, "if there were ever to be another Ajit and you could swap me for him, don't hesitate. Make the trade!" CNBC noted.
However, the dynamic has shifted, with Abel's name being floated as the most likely successor.
"The most likely successor in our view, who Warren Buffett regularly praises, is Greg Abel," J.P. Morgan analyst Sarah DeWitt wrote in a note about Berkshire in September, according to CNBC. "We think Greg Abel would be a strong allocator of capital and the earning power of the underlying businesses would remain strong after Buffett."