Editor’s note: This article was first published in September 2011. It is news from that month, and “this Monday” is 12 September 2011. Weschler was hired to manage part of Berkshire’s investment portfolio, and “successor” is meant in that sense; Greg Abel was later named Buffett’s successor as CEO.
This Monday, Warren Buffett announced his decision to bring Ted Weschler, a managing partner at the hedge fund Peninsula Capital Advisors, into the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate. With this second “signing,” Buffett is making sure that when the day comes that he stops running the company, Berkshire Hathaway’s investments will be in good hands.
Why Ted Weschler, and how did Warren Buffett hear about him?
Remember that for the past 11 years, a private lunch with Buffett has been auctioned off every year. In 2010 the auction was won (with a bid of $2,626,311) by someone who asked to remain anonymous, and this year’s winner (with a bid of $2,626,411) also asked for anonymity. Well, today we learned that the winner of the private lunch with Buffett in each of the last two years is the same person: Ted Weschler.
That fact caught Buffett’s attention to the point that he has put him in charge of part of the company’s investments, making him one of his future successors. The job has cost Weschler more than $5 million, although, as Buffett explained, it took some effort to get him to sign on with Berkshire Hathaway, because Ted isn’t motivated by money alone. It’s obvious, and Buffett confirmed it, that someone who spends $5 million on two lunches has money to spare.
Buffett was also struck by the returns of the fund Ted ran. If he does the same kind of job inside his new company, Berkshire Hathaway’s shares should keep climbing.
Ted Weschler hasn’t explained why he’s leaving his previous fund to join Berkshire Hathaway, although everything suggests he’s doing it purely out of admiration for Warren Buffett.
Further reading
