"For years, people had pressed hedge fund mogul Warren Buffett on who would take over Berkshire Hathaway as he geared up to step down. Rumors swirled, but 63-year-old veteran businessman Greg Abel was ultimately named his successor in 2025. The boomer billionaire has now assumed the throne of the $1 trillion company-but his journey to one of the most coveted roles in business began with working-class entrepreneurship."
"Abel got his first taste of business at a young age, collecting, cleaning, and redeeming empty soda bottles for just 5 cents a piece. To make the most out of his money-making venture, he would even optimize his bike rides home from school to snatch up as many as possible. According to reporting from fellow Fortune reporter Shawn Tully, a young Abel would collect up to five empty bottles every trip-and when the weekend came, he'd have 20 of them stored up,"
Greg Abel was named Warren Buffett's successor at Berkshire Hathaway in 2025 and assumed leadership of the $1 trillion company. Abel began entrepreneurial work as a child collecting, cleaning, and redeeming empty soda bottles for five cents each and optimizing bike routes to gather more. He delivered advertising fliers for a quarter of a cent per delivery and performed odd jobs such as filling fire extinguishers. Abel graduated from the University of Alberta in 1984, joined PwC, relocated to San Francisco, worked with geothermal company CalEnergy, then moved to CalEnergy as an auditor and rose to CEO and chairman.
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