Berkshire Hathaway director Olson to step down, Buffett opposes shareholder proposals

Written by Jonathan Stempble

(Reuters) – Berkchire Hathaway said on Friday, Ronald Olson, who will leave his board of directors because of changing the policy that requires managers, with the exception of Warren Buffett, to step down after reaching 80 years.

In a statement of an agent of his annual meeting on May 3 in Umaha, Nebraska, Berkshire also said that the board of directors unanimously urged seven proposals for shareholders, including three in efforts to diversify its subsidiaries and combat discrimination.

Berkshire also said that Buffett’s compensation was 405,111 dollars in 2024, which includes his usual salary 100,000 dollars in addition to personal security and a house.

The Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Greg Abel, who is expected to succeed Pavite as CEO, and Vice Chairman Ajit Jain growing from one million dollars to 21 million dollars each.

ABEL, 62, supervises insurance companies such as BNSF RAILROAD and Berkshire Hathawaay Energy, while Jain, 73, is honored to insurance companies such as GEICO insurance.

Ulson, 83, a partner in the Munger and Tolles & Olson office, has been a manager in Berkshire since 1997.

Berkshire’s 14 -member Board of Directors leaves the minimum age of corporate governance. All other managers regardless of Pavite 75 or less.

Olson did not immediately respond to the suspension requests.

Pavite excuses the minimum age because it controls 30.3 % of the power in Berkshire, which leads to an exception to people who control at least 5 %.

The 94 -year -old billionaire owns about 14.4 % of Berkshire shares. He will be allowed to remain a manager upon retirement, if independent directors want to stay.

The shareholders’ proposals include decisions by conservative investors reports in Berkshire on how their commercial practices affect employees on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin and political opinions, and on the risks of their dependent -based initiatives.

The Berkshire Council described both unnecessary reports, saying that the subsidiary companies have set their own policies and “a simple Berkshire approach – follow the law and do the right thing.”

The Board of Directors also opposed a proposal to establish a committee to oversee diversity and integration, saying that its auditing committee already supervises the issues of diversity.

He also said that a proposal to supervise independent managers on the risks associated with artificial intelligence was not necessary nor inconsistent with the decentralized Berkshire culture.

(Participated in the reports of Jonathan Stempble in New York; edited by Richard Chang)