Berkshire has the best odds of lasting a century

Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway is better positioned than any company to endure for the next century as he handed over the CEO reins to his successor Greg Abel, whom he strongly endorsed.

“It has a better chance I think of being here 100 years from now than any company I can think of,” Buffett told Becky Quick in a special interview, parts of which aired on CNBC Friday.

(The full interview with Buffett will air on CNBC Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. ET.)

Buffett officially relinquished the CEO role to Abel Thursday, ending a six-decade legendary run at the helm that turned a struggling textile mill into a trillion-dollar conglomerate with varied businesses from insurance companies to railroads with over $300 billion in cash on the balance sheet.

“Greg will be the decider,” Buffett said. I “can’t imagine how much more he can get accomplished in a week than I can in a month….I’d rather have Greg handling my money than any of the top investment advisors or any of the top CEOs in the United States.”

Berkshire shares trailed the market after Buffett announced in May he was retiring as some investors questioned whether Abel could manage the sprawling collection of businesses, along with an equity portfolio, in a similar fashion as Buffett, while commanding a premium valuation from the market.

Buffett, who will remain chairman, noted that Abel is a sensible leader, who, like him, lives a normal life away from the spotlight.

“He’s not a distorted individual. You know, I mean, he likes to play ice hockey with his kids,” he said. “If the neighbors didn’t know who he was, they wouldn’t have any idea that on Jan. 1, he’s going to be the decider on a company that employs close to 400,000 people, and has got plans to be around 50 or 100 years from now.”

The 95-year-old investor also signaled a quieter public role going forward, saying he will not take the stage at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting this year, a notable shift from a tradition that has drawn tens of thousands of investors to Omaha for decades.

“Everything will be the same,” Buffett said. “I will come in. I won’t be up there speaking at the annual meeting, but I’ll be in the directors’ section.”