A Bloomberg View column by Alice Schroeder is pretty negative about Warren Buffett. It mentions at the end that "The AFL-CIO Reserve Fund submitted a proposal for a shareholder vote in May seeking more transparency about Buffett's successors and regular updates to ensure the process will be board-driven." Details are available in Berkshire's proxy statement, which says the The AFL-CIO Reserve Fund owns 1,282 shares of Class B Common Stock and wants a "written and detailed succession planning policy."
The Berkshire board replies in the statement, "With the exception of the production of an annual report to shareholders on its succession plan, the Berkshire Board has been and intends to continue to follow procedures with respect to CEO succession planning that are at least as comprehensive as being proposed. The Board sees no benefit to formally publishing its plan. If an immediate need arose whereby Mr. Buffett was unable to manage Berkshire, the Board has identified the individual to succeed him. However, the Board's judgment as to the most capable successor could change over time and it would be highly unusual for a public company to name a successor for its CEO prior to either the incumbent leaving that position or to the establishment of a specific date for the CEO to relinquish the position. The Board believes it would be inadvisable to publicly report on an annual basis its plans as requested by the proposal or to add additional details to our current Corporate Governance Guidelines that already address this topic. Accordingly, the Board has concluded the shareholder proposal is not in the best interests of Berkshire shareholders."