Warren Buffett promoted two of his top lieutenants to vice-chairman roles at Berkshire Hathaway on Wednesday, apparently endorsing the market’s view that one of them would eventually succeed him at the top of the sprawling conglomerate.

沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)周三将两名高级助手提拔为伯克希尔哈撒韦公司(Berkshire Hathaway)的副董事长，显然证实了市场观点，即他们中的一位最终将接替他成为这个庞大企业集团的掌门人。

Greg Abel, the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and Ajit Jain, the Omaha-based group’s reinsurance chief, were added to Berkshire’s board of directors.

伯克希尔哈撒韦能源(Berkshire Hathaway Energy)首席执行官格雷格•阿贝尔(Greg Abel)，以及总部位于奥马哈的该集团旗下再保险业务主管阿吉特•贾殷(Ajit Jain)，加入了伯克希尔董事会。

Mr Abel was named vice-chairman of non-insurance business operations while Mr Jain was elevated to vice-chairman of Berkshire’s insurance group.

阿贝尔被任命为非保险业务副董事长，而贾殷被提拔为伯克希尔保险集团的副董事长。

Mr Buffett, 87, the so-called Oracle of Omaha, will continue as chairman and chief executive of the $500bn company that he has led over the past 50-plus years. Charlie Munger, the 94-year-old vice-chairman of the company, will remain in his current role.

现年87岁的巴菲特有“奥马哈先知”(Oracle of Omaha)之称，他将继续担任这家他已经执掌了50多年的5000亿美元公司的董事长兼首席执行官。该公司94岁的副董事长查理•芒格(Charlie Munger)将继续担任现职。

Shares in Berkshire, which owns the insurer Geico, apparel maker Fruit of the Loom, and the chemicals group Lubrizol, closed above $300,000 apiece for the first time last month and are up more than 25 per cent over the past year. After the announcement on Wednesday, they were up roughly 0.8 per cent at $306,819.

伯克希尔股价上月首次收盘突破30万美元，过去一年涨幅超过25%，该公司旗下拥有保险公司Geico、服装生产商Fruit of the Loom以及化工集团路博润(Lubrizol)。周三消息宣布后，其股价上涨了约0.8%，至306819美元。

In an interview on CNBC, Mr Buffett said the decision was “part of a movement towards succession over time”. However he noted that there was “nothing magic” about the timing of the announcement.

巴菲特在接受CNBC采访时表示，这个决定是“逐渐完成交接班的过程的一部分”。不过他指出宣布的时机“没什么玄机”。