Business this week

After 56 years at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett named Greg Abel to succeed him as chief executive. It is not clear when the 90-year-old Mr Buffett will actually vacate the job. Berkshire’s share price underperformed the S&P 500 over the past two years, but has rebounded in the first quarter of 2021, pleasing its legions of investors. Quarterly net income came in at $11.8bn, in part because of the soaring value of investments in Apple and other stockmarket stars.