Two executives of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. had been identified as possible candidates to succeed billionaire Warren Buffet, the company's chief executive officer.

The two - Greg Abel, head of Berkshire's energy companies and Ajit Jain, an insurance executive - were named at Berkshire's annual report to shareholders by Charlie Munger, the  company's vice chairman.

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In his letter to shareholders, Munger said the candidates can be described "world-leading" and "in some important ways, each is a better business executive than Buffet."

Speculations as to who will succeed Buffet had been rife after the 84-year-old CEO was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2012. 

However, Buffet who had since beaten his illness, had made it known that he already had a successor in mind but is keeping his options open.

In an earlier letter to shareholders, Buffet said that "both the board and I believe we now have the right person to succeed me as CEO," adding that "in certain important respects, this person will do a better job that I am doing."

Hinting that the potential successor is already a part of Berkshire, Buffet said that the successor should at least be able to stay on for a decade. 

"Our directors also believe that an incoming CEO should be relatively young so that he or she can have a long run in the job," Buffet said. Abel is 52 years old while Jain is 63.

Berkshire had recently reported a drop in fourth quarter net income by 17 percent but its full-year profit increased by two percent.  There was also a reported increase in operating profits for the two periods.

From a textile company that was on the brink of financial collapse, Buffet transformed Berkshire into a $363 billion conglomerate, with more than 80 operating businesses. 

With more than $117 billion of equity investments, Berkshire  is into insurance, railroad, food, apparel and energy.

Tagsberkshire hathaway, warren buffet