Warren Buffett, Gregory Abel and Tracy Britt Join H.J. Heinz Board
On June 7, 2013, Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital completed their joint acquisition of H.J. Heinz, with each partner holding a 50% stake. The new board of directors of the privately held Heinz will consist of six members, three each from Berkshire and 3G Capital. Warren Buffett (82) has selected Gregory Abel (50), CEO of Berkshire’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings, and Tracy Britt (28), who is chairman of four Berkshire subsidiaries including Johns Manville and Benjamin Moore, to join him on the board. The three board representatives from 3G Capital are Jorge Paulo Lemann (3G partner), Marcel Herrmann Telles (board member at Burger King and former CEO of Ambev), and Alexandre Behring (chairman of Burger King).
Gregory Abel will now be given broader managerial exposure and is a possible candidate to eventually succeed Warren Buffett. (Other names that have been mentioned as possible successors to Buffett include Ajit Jain (CEO of Berkshire’s reinsurance business) and Matthew Rose (CEO of Berkshire’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad).
Tracy Britt received her B.A. from Harvard University in 2007, and her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 2009. Ms. Britt joined Fidelity Investments upon receiving her M.B.A. and was hired by Warren Buffett in December 2009.
I am quoted in a Bloomberg article on this topic:
“For Greg Abel, it broadens his exposure, and it certainly now raises the question, ‘Is he high up on Warren Buffett’s list’” for succession, said David Kass, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, who has accompanied students to meet the billionaire.
The entire article is available at:
Ms. Britt began working for Berkshire in December 2009, not 2012.