Next Berkshire CEO should be more than a stock picker: Warren Buffett

NEW YORK: A CEO should have "a significant array of skills," Buffett, 84, said on Saturday at Berkshire's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The billionaire said he's unlikely to support someone whose only expertise is in investing, but could accept a candidate who also had operational experience. Shareholders have speculated for years about who will eventually replace Buffett as CEO.

The billionaire, who is also chairman, has said his son Howard Buffett could replace him as leader of the board, and that money managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler could handle the company's investments. Berkshire has a stock portfolio valued at more than $100 billion, including the biggest stakes in Wells Fargo and Coca-Cola.

In his annual report to shareholders in February, Buffett outlined the qualities that he and the board were looking for in his successor, while keeping the leading candidate's identity secret.

Warren Buffett on Saturday rejected the idea that Berkshire Hatha way , a sprawling conglomerate he has built over 50 years, has grown so big that it is now too big to fail and requires tighter regulatory oversight.

"There is no reason, in logic or in terms of what we've heard, to think that Berkshire would be designated as a SIFI," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual meeting.