Warren Buffett's son Howard becomes Illinois county sheriff

[September 16, 2017]  By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Howard Buffett, the oldest son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, was named sheriff of Macon County in central Illinois on Friday.

Buffett, 62, has served since September 2014 as undersheriff in the county of roughly 107,000 people.

He will hold the county's top law enforcement job until a new sheriff is elected later this year. Buffett replaces Thomas Schneider, the sheriff since 2008, who is retiring immediately.

"I look forward to serving our citizens and our Sheriff's Office employees in a broader capacity," Buffett said in a statement.

Howard Buffett is also a director at Berkshire Hathaway Inc and expected to become the conglomerate's non-executive chairman after Warren Buffett, 87, is no longer in charge.

Both father and son are also big philanthropists. Howard Buffett has pledged most of the roughly $235 million of Berkshire stock he owns to charity, a regulatory filing shows.

In an email, Warren Buffett said he supports his son's latest undertaking.

 Howard G. Buffett, chairman and CEO of the Howard Buffett Foundation, poses for a portrait in New York October 22, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

"Whatever Howie takes on he'll do well," Buffett said. "I'm sure it will not diminish activity for his philanthropy or the Berkshire board. Howie has unlimited energy."

Before his promotion on Friday, Howard Buffett had completed more than 3,300 hours of patrol and training, and had 76 weapons qualifications including Tasers, handguns, rifles and shotguns.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by David Gregorio)

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