Buffett: 'We won't find another Ajit' (2024)

Follow all the action around Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in Omaha, as Warren Buffett takes dozens of questions from investors.

Buffett: 'We won't find another Ajit'

Buffett credits Jain with creating a structure that didn't exist prior to his coming on board in 1986, many of which are "almost impossible for competitors to imitate." Moreover, Berkshire has "institutionalized some of our advantages," he said, calling insurance Berkshire's most important business.

"We won't have the same business if Ajit isn't running it, but we'll have a very good business," Buffett says.

Jain, who is on the dais alongside Buffett and Greg Abel, replies that, "nobody is irreplaceable."

In a shoutout to Tim Cook, who is in attendance at the annual meeting, Jain said the Apple CEO, who took over for the legendary Steve Jobs, has proven that point.

He also emphasized that Berkshire's board is conscious of succession concerns "not only at Warren's level but at my level." Jain said he regularly shares ideas with the board on what would happen to Berkshire's insurance operations "if I got hit by a truck." This includes reviewing a short list of candidates to take over the insurance operations and the particular individual to whom Jain would hand the keys.