In its quarterly report, Berkshire said the energy unit bought Abel in June as part of a deal between them and the family of late billionaire philanthropist Walter Scott, who own an 8% stake.
Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate took a $362 million capital charge, reflecting the premium to stake value reflected on its books.
Berkshire now owns 92% of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, whose businesses include energy, utilities and pipelines, as well as a major real estate brokerage firm in the United States.
Scott, originally from Omaha, was a longtime Berkshire administrator and friend of Buffett who died last September at age 90.
The sale of Abel suggests the Scott family stake could be worth $7 billion. Berkshire ended June with more than $105 billion in cash.
“I suspect that if Abel sells, Walter Scott’s estate may also liquidate,” Edward Jones & Co. analyst James Shanahan said.
Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research, added: “It’s a little surprising there hasn’t been an earlier regulatory filing for such a large transaction.”
Shanahan and Seifert cover Berkshire.
Scott’s family could not immediately be reached for comment. Berkshire Hathaway Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Abel, 60, a hockey fan who grew up in Edmonton, Alta., joined Berkshire Hathaway Energy, then known as MidAmerican Energy, in 1992, eight years before Berkshire bought it out.
He became the head of MidAmerican in 2008, and the vice president of Berkshire overseeing its dozens of uninsured businesses in 2018.
Buffett turns 92 on August 30. He said in May 2021 that if he stepped down, Abel would become Berkshire’s chief executive.
Abel and Ajit Jain, a Berkshire vice president who oversees its insurance business, have each received $19 million in each of the past three years. Buffett sets their pay.
Shanahan said Abel’s sale “makes me wonder if he’s going to buy Berkshire stock. He doesn’t own a lot of it, and could use the proceeds from the sale to get more skin in the game.”