Ajit Jain

Berkshire Hathaway reinsurance division president
Born: 1951, India
Now lives in U.S.

Who could replace the Oracle of Omaha? How about the Oracle of Orissa? Speculation about a replacement for Warren Buffett often focuses on Jain. Born in Orissa, a state in eastern India, Jain studied engineering at IIT Kharagpur and worked for IBM in India before going to Harvard for an MBA and joining consultants McKinsey in 1978. He has been with Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) since 1986. In May, Buffett told investors Jain was irreplaceable, saying "Ajit is needed, and we won't find a substitute for him."