about that a little, what he wanted, what he’s looking for.
CLAMAN: What does he want? What is he looking for?
WITMER: And Warren convinced me, actually, so that was fine.
I think he wants someone who’s a good — has high integrity, is a good capital allocator, and who understands management and business. And I think the thing about Berkshire is Warren’s created a beautiful company and you have to — and given people a lot of autonomy and great people like to work in a lot of place where they have a lot of autonomy.
So Warren wanted that, I wanted that, and I think, you know, I understand that, knowing management. So I think that that’s a really important trait in anyone who comes onto the board.
CLAMAN: Warren, why Meryl Witmer?
BUFFETT: Well, A, she’s just plain smart and, B, we know that she’s business savvy, which we look for. We know that she’s shareholder-oriented, which we look for. We know she’s got a strong interest in Berkshire, which we look for.
She’s joined Todd Colmes, who works with us, on businesses and companies. I’ve known her for her ideas on investments over time.
She brings the qualities of Berkshire that we look for. We’re not necessarily looking for some name that’s instantly recognizable with the whole population or anything like that. We’re looking for somebody that is smart about business and cares about the shareholders and particularly cares about Berkshire.
CLAMAN: Charlie, what does Meryl or any Berkshire shareholder have to have as part of their makeup to be sitting on this board?
MUNGER: Well, we like this owner-orientation. We like people who think like owners. And if you look at the board, you’ll find a lot of the people are rich through their own efforts. And we’re not losing in that department when we take on a rich woman like Meryl.
BUFFETT: Meryl’s very successfully managed money for a long time and I know not only the record, I know how the record was achieved, and that makes a huge difference.
CLAMAN: Warren has said, Meryl, that the number one focus of this board has to be succession. Have you already started to think about the time when Warren can’t run this company anymore?
WITMER: I have thought about it and I think we have a long time to go, I hope, with Warren and Charlie. And I’ve been in headquarters and I’ve met a lot of the management and I think Berkshire has a very deep bench.
CLAMAN: Have you met all 70-plus business managers?
WITMER: Not yet.
BUFFETT: I’m not sure I have.
(LAUGHTER)
CLAMAN: What strikes you about them? I mean, everybody talks about the management at Mid-American Energy, Matt Rose at Burlington Northern, Ajit Jain at the insurance company. There are so many different people who make up this company. What strikes you about them?
WITMER: They’re smart and they’re happy and they love being a part of Berkshire, absolutely. They really feel a loyalty and a kinship to the company. They’re where they want to be. And they like the autonomy. Warren’s terrific about that
CLAMAN: You don’t really meet with them much, do you?
BUFFETT: No, they know — Matt Rose knows so much about running a railroad that he can’t get anything from. I could learn from him. We hire people — or become associated with them — who are batting .400 in their arena and it would be crazy for me to tell them, you know, why don’t you hold the bat a little differently or stand deeper in the box or whatever it might be. We’re very, very fortunate to have the managers that we have.
CLAMAN: Well, that’s what strikes people a little strange what’s happening with Heinz. Because you did the Heinz deal with 3G Capital Partners and Bill Johnson, of course, ran that company, Heinz, for so long, did beautifully at it,
