In his opening speech at the shareholder meeting, Warren Buffett invited outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook to stand up and pay his respects. This evaluation also echoes Berkshire's own power transition - Buffett stepped down and Greg Abel took over as the new CEO.
Buffett talked about the tremendous pressure that Cook faced when he took over Apple and succeeded founder Steve Jobs, and praised Cook for withstanding the pressure and delivering a brilliant answer.
"Imagine how difficult it is to take over the mantle of Steve Jobs and continue the brilliant achievements he created. This can be called a miracle in the history of American business management... Thank you, Tim." After Buffett finished speaking, there was applause.
Cook announced this month that he will step down as Apple CEO and will be replaced by John Ternus, head of Apple's hardware department.
"When Steve Jobs passed away, we invested heavily in Apple and allocated nearly 10% of Berkshire's assets to this company, and this trust was left in Tim's hands. Today, he has created approximately US$185 billion in pre-tax income for us."