Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A / BRK.B), the holding company he has led since 1965.
Saying “Father Time always wins,” the 96-year-old businessman and investor announced that he is ending his professional involvement with Berkshire Hathaway in a letter to shareholders.
Buffett’s departure is effective immediately but he will be known as “chairman emeritus” moving forward and will remain a director on the company’s board.
Warren Buffett’s son, Howard Buffett, will replace him as chair of the board as dictated by a long-standing succession plan.
In his letter to shareholders, Buffett said that he is “more confident than ever about what lies ahead” for Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett’s departure comes nearly 10 months after Greg Abel, age 64, took over as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
News of the CEO transition was announced at Berkshire’s 2025 annual meeting, shocking the crowd in attendance and investors worldwide despite Buffett’s age.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest investors of all time, Buffett took Berkshire Hathaway from a broken-down textile mill to a diversified holding company worth $1 trillion U.S. today.
Berkshire owns a range of businesses spanning the U.S. economy, from insurers such as Geico to the BNSF Railway and Dairy Queen restaurant chain.
Known as a value investor with a buy-and-hold approach, Buffett took concentrated positions in blue-chip stocks such as Coca-Cola (KO) and American Express (AXP) and held them for decades.
Under Buffett’s direction, Berkshire also has large positions in technology companies Apple (AAPL) and Alphabet (GOOGL), as well as Bank of America (BAC).
During Buffett’s tenure, Berkshire Hathaway delivered a 19.7% compound annual return, nearly double the return of the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Buffett remains Berkshire Hathaway’s largest shareholder with a stake worth $145 billion U.S.
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