Berkshire Investors Praise Greg Abel at Post-Buffett Meeting (2)

Greg Abel didn’t take long to address the elephant in the room.

In his first few minutes addressing Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders on Saturday — the first annual meeting without Warren Buffett leading the festivities — Abel took investors back to one year earlier, when Buffett shocked the room and anointed him as its next chief executive officer.

Attendees arrive for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha on Saturday

Photographer: Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg

Abel, known as a shrewd operator who’s always looking for ways to improve profits at the $1 trillion conglomerate’s varied businesses, said he had just one thought at the time: The company had already shelled out the money to book the ...