OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Berkshire Hathaway 's new CEO Greg Abel hinted that he may depart from Warren Buffett 's longtime hands-off operating model at the conglomerate as he announced a $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison.
Abel suggested in the deal announcement he plans to consolidate Taylor Morrison with Berkshire's existing site-built homebuilding operations that are part of its Clayton Homes subsidiary. For six decades under Buffett, Berkshire promised to largely leave companies alone after it acquired them and allow the executives to keep running the day-to-day operations the same way.
"Over time, we expect to unify our site-built homebuilding operations into a combined platform," Abel wrote, "enabling us to deliver the dream of homeownership to more Americans."