WARREN BUFFETT HINTS AT INDIAN SUCCESSOR

Warren Buffett hints at Indian successor
2 Mar 2009, 0108 hrs IST, TIMES NEWS NETWORK & AGENCIES

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There was Midas, and then there’s Warren Buffett. The world’s greatest living investor has been justly hailed as the Oracle of Omaha his financial
skills catapulted him to the status of the worlds richest man last year, ahead of buddy and bridge partner Bill Gates, and Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu.

Now, Buffett has hinted that his successor may be a person of Indian origin, Ajit Jain. In his annual letter to shareholders of his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett showered praise on Jain, who handles the reinsurance division.

He wrote, Ajit came to Berkshire in 1986. Very quickly, I realized we had acquired an extraordinary talent. So I did the logical thing: I wrote his parents in New Delhi and asked if they had another one like him at home. Of course, I knew the answer before writing. There isn’t anyone like Ajit.

Jain is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur and has an MBA from Harvard. A former McKinsey executive, he migrated to the US as his wife was keen to live there.

Buffett calls the reinsurance division “one of the most remarkable businesses in the world” because it employs only 31 people but generates billions. “It features very large transactions, incredible speed of execution and a willingness to quote on policies that leave others scratching their heads. When there is a huge and unusual risk to be insured, Ajit is almost certain to be called in whenever there is abig deal tobe made.

DEBATE: WHAT makes Indian so brilliant, so acceptable and so successful, I wonder. Is it the Hindu religious teachings which run through the bloodstream of each and every Indian, whether he be religious or not, seem to be part of our DNA. Please forward your comments. Thanks.