If you have more like Ajit Jain, send them over to me: Warren Buffet to India PM

NEW DELHI: Warren Buffett preferred to play second fiddle to his associate Ajit Jain when the duo called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.

"Shareholders in my company have more faith in him than in me. I am just a name," the Oracle from Omaha told the PM. "If you have more like him send them over to me," Buffet said. The 10-minute interaction also brought out Buffet's faith in IITs as centres of excellence. "In 1991, I asked Bill Gates which institution I should recruit from. He suggested IIT, and he was right," he told the Prime Minister.

Buffet who was bullish on economies of India and the US also interacted with a group of MPs. In the hour-long interaction, the investment wizard refrained from proffering any advice on what India should do. He, however, expressed his admiration for the emphasis of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and PM on inclusive growth.

He agreed with Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh that US had turned insular at a time when India and China were looking outward, but said that it was because of the crisis in the US economy. Asked whether financial liberalization was responsible for the economic crisis in the US, Buffet blamed what he called "mass delusion for house ownership". But while he said that another crisis could not be ruled out, the Wizard of Omaha was confident that the American economy would get out of its current woes shortly.
Replying to a question from BJP MP Chandan Mitra about corporate corruption, Buffet said that the USA was built on corporate corruption. But there was a clean up and regulation was brought in, he said. The iconic investment guru, however, stressed that he was not defending corporate corruption, but only suggesting that things needed to be viewed in a perspective.

Ajit Jain may succeed Warren Buffett as CEO

S. Rajagopalan

WASHINGTON: India born Ajit Jain is one of three top executives who could succeed billionaire investor Warran Buffett as CEO of the investment giant, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

But no one knows when the change will occur as the 78-year-old Buffett has not indicated when he plans to call it a day. On Saturday, Buffett once again had flattering things to say about Jain, who has worked for him since 1986, currently runs his re-insurance business and is one whom he talks with every day.

At the company’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett said it would be impossible to replace Jain at Berkshire’s insurance operations, remarking: ‘‘Ajit is needed, and we won’t find a substitute for him.’’

‘‘You can do enormous damage in the insurance business with your pen, and we’ve given our pen to Ajit in a way we wouldn’t give it to anybody else,” he said.

The legendary investor’s job will eventually be split with his son, Howard, succeeding him as chairman, and a still to be chosen Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer.

Born in Orissa, the 57-year-old Jain is an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and the Harvard Business School.

The other two top contenders from within the Berkshire empire for the CEO perch are David Sokol, chairman of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, and Tony Nicely, CEO of the company’s GEICO Corp.

According to reports, while the candidates for CEO already work for Berkshire, at least one of the contenders for the post of Chief Investment Officer is an outsider.

Buffett sees little logic in choosing the CEO successor well ahead. Reports quoted him as commenting that he doesn’t see any value in naming the person as the other two not chosen might leave Berkshire.As he put it, ‘It would be a waste of talent. I don’t really see any advantages in having some crown prince around.’’

As for Jain, this is not the first time that Buffett has showered praise on him.

‘‘Ajit’s value to Berkshire is enormous,’’ he said in 2004. In a comment a year ago, Buffett said: "Ajit came to Berkshire in 1986. Very quickly, I realised that 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."

For Berkshire Hathaway, as for most of Corporate America, it has been a bad time. Its first-quarter operating profit has fallen and the company’s book value is down by 6 percent. The operating profit is down 12 percent compared to a year ago.

As for the four candidates deemed to be in the race to replace him as Chief Investment Officer, Buffett commented: "In terms of 2008 by itself, you would not say that they covered themselves with glory. But I didn’t cover myself in glory either in 2008."