[DesertCat]

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How will his successor be able to take over when so much of Berkshire's DNA resides in Mr. Buffett's head?

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The answer is he or she won't be able to. Therefore the solution is for Buffet to spin off the insurance operation into a seperate company. Also spin off other whooly owned companies. Then start liquidating the stock holdings. Finally, issue a cash dividend to Berkshire shareholders and ride off into the sunset as the greatest investor.

Why set up the successor for failure? Cash out Buffet.

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I think the point of the article is that it's pretty easy to manage the subsidaries. There is no need to spin them out or sell them. The portfolio doesn't need to be liquidated either, Lou Simpson is well up to the task of continuing to generate market beating returns with it.

But issuing dividends (either large one time or quarterly) after his death makes a great deal of sense. It would help Lou's returns by giving him a more focused portfolio that can buy smaller stocks. And Buffett's foundation is going to need cash. And it will help support the stock price. I'm pretty sure that's the plan.