Buffett said he has made mistakes before and he will make
more in the future. Now that the details of David Sokol's Lubrizol investment of $10 million in stock are mostly out, Buffett said people can make their own judgments about him.

Buffett said Sokol's behavior was inexcusable and clearly violated company possibilities. Sokol, who resigned, denies any wrongdoing.

Buffett said he and Sokol have had little to say to each other since the resignation. "He called me once after the CNBC interview and another time a few days later and I just told him it's inappropriate we talk because any time we talk we may be asked about it later, so it's better not to talk."

Buffett said there's no way Berkshire can be free of problems with 260,000 employees, but the company will try to deal with any misdeeds swiftly and surely.

Buffett expects his eventual successor to do some things differently, but the conglomerate he built will be in good hands. The 80-year-old still refuses to name the internal chief executive candidates Berkshire's board will chose from after his death, but Buffett talked a bit during this weekend's annual shareholder events about the qualities he believes his successor will have.

He said his successor will be an ethical leader who can act like an interested shareholder for Berkshire's roughly 80 different subsidiaries. Buffett said Berkshire's next CEO might well change the way Berkshire's managers report to headquarters.

Currently, Buffett reviews figures for Berkshire's business, but doesn't require regular reports. He joked that he hasn't heard from some managers in more than a year.

The annual shareholders' weekend in Omaha wrapped up Sunday.