Abel, the next CEO of Berkshire, sells a share in the energy firm he founded for $870 million.

The billionaire Warren Buffett's successor as CEO, Vice Chairman Greg Abel, sold his 1% investment in Berkshire Hathaway Energy for $870 million, according to a statement released on Saturday by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

In its quarterly report, Berkshire stated that the energy division purchased Abel in June as part of a deal with the late billionaire philanthropist Walter Scott's family, which has an 8% share.

The $362 million charge to capital made by Buffett's conglomerate in Omaha, Nebraska reflects the premium above the stake's worth as it was recorded on the company's books.

Currently, Berkshire controls 92 percent of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a company with activities in the energy, utility, and pipeline sectors as well as a sizable brokerage in the United States.

Scott, a native of Omaha and a devoted friend of Warren Buffett, passed away in September of last year at the age of 90. The sale of Abel raises the possibility that the Scott family's interest is worth $7 billion. At the end of June, Berkshire had more than $105 billion in cash.

According to Edward Jones & Co analyst James Shanahan, if Abel is selling, Walter Scott's estate "could also liquidate."

"It was a bit unexpected there wasn't an earlier regulatory filing for such a substantial deal," CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert continued. Berkshire is covered by Seifert and Shanahan.

A word from Scott's family was not immediately available. An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

Abel, 60, a hockey enthusiast from Edmonton, Alberta, joined Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 1992, eight years before Berkshire acquired it. At the time, the company was still known as MidAmerican Energy.

In 2008, he was appointed CEO of MidAmerican; in 2018, he was named vice chairman of Berkshire, in charge of the company's several non-insurance operations.On August 30, Buffett will turn 92. In May 2021, he declared that if he retired, Abel would take over as CEO of Berkshire.

In each of the previous three years, Abel and Ajit Jain, a vice chairman of Berkshire handling the company's insurance operations, received $19 million apiece. Buffet determines their pay.

In Shanahan's words, Abel's selling "makes me question whether he'll purchase shares of Berkshire. He doesn't have many possessions, therefore he may utilise the money to put more money on the line."