I recently had a chance to talk with Warren Buffett biographer Alice Schroeder, author of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. In this final part of a five-part interview, I ask her about Berkshire Hathaway
Mac Greer: Let's talk about Warren Buffett's successor. If you had to say right now, who is the frontrunner?
Alice Schroeder: I think that things are now in flux, because Warren has put Steve Burke on the board from Comcast
Mac: Is there a dark horse?
Alice: Yes, there is, but I can't tell you.
Mac: How about "rhymes with"?
Alice: (Laughs) I continue to believe that the board, in order to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities, must look outside the company. I've mentioned Byron Trott in the past, because I think he would be terrific, but he's not the only one outside the company. Byron Trott was the former Goldman Sachs
Mac: And in this succession vein, it's a question that we don't really hear asked very much, but who succeeds Charlie Munger?
Alice: Nobody. He is beyond irreplaceable. I am sure there will be a vice chairman, but the role of the unique personality of Charlie Munger? He's one of a kind. Warren is one of a kind, too. But someone has to succeed Warren, but no one has to succeed Charlie. There won't be anybody.
Check out the first four parts of our interview: