Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman

Buffett will become chairman emeritus immediately and his son Howard will become chairman.

Warren Buffett took control of a struggling textile company in 1965 and built it into a trillion dollar conglomerate [File: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Time Inc]

Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway in the next step of the transition at the top of the $1 trillion conglomerate he led for more than six decades.

Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus and will take on his new role immediately, nine months after handing the CEO reins to longtime lieutenant Greg Abel, the company said Friday.

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His son, Howard, will become Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman, part of a long-planned succession. Howard Buffett has been on the Berkshire Hathaway board since 1993.

Warren Buffett is credited with transforming Berkshire from a failing textile company into a $1.1 trillion conglomerate while building an investment philosophy that influenced generations of investors and executives, making him one of the most consequential figures in the modern corporate United States.

Berkshire’s Class B shares were last down 0.3 percent in premarket trading. Buffett’s reputation has also been reflected in the company’s valuation, with investors for years ascribing a “Buffett premium” to its shares.

Berkshire remains the only financial firm in the trillion-dollar market-value club dominated by technology giants.

“It was always a matter of when, not if. Buffett has made a graceful exit,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.

“Berkshire has had years to prepare for this transition, so this feels more like the completion of a carefully planned succession than a sudden changing of the guard.”

“Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me,” Buffett, 96, who has been with Berkshire since 1965, wrote in a letter to shareholders on Friday.

Buffett’s influence has extended far beyond Berkshire, shaping generations of corporate leaders and investors with his emphasis on long-term thinking, disciplined capital allocation and straightforward management.

“The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian,” Abel said in a statement on Friday.

CEOs have looked to Buffett, often known as the Oracle of Omaha in a nod to the city he lives in, as a sounding board on everything from acquisitions and succession to navigating periods of market turmoil. His annual shareholder meetings became a gathering point for investors.

“As Chairman Emeritus, Mr Buffett will remain a member of the Board of Directors and will continue to offer his valued judgment and perspective,” Berkshire said in a statement.

Buffett first announced plans to step away from the conglomerate in May 2025, surprising shareholders and analysts despite his age. After decades at the helm, he had become synonymous with the company, making his succession one of the most closely watched in the US corporate world.

Berkshire’s businesses include Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, many energy and industrial companies, Dairy Queen ice cream, and grizzled brands such as the World Book Encyclopedia. It also owns hundreds of billions of dollars of both stocks and US Treasuries.

In the second quarter, its operating profit rose 16 percent to $12.98bn, topping analyst forecasts. Net income more than doubled to $25.67bn, including unrealised gains and losses on stocks that Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire still owns.

‘It’s not rocket science’

Unlike his father, Howard Buffett, known as Howie, would not have a management role as chairman, and his main responsibility would be to preserve Berkshire’s culture.

That culture includes letting Berkshire’s operating businesses handle their day-to-day affairs without interference from upper management, though Abel is widely seen as more eager than Warren Buffett to address performance shortfalls.

“Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,” Buffett said. “Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.”

Abel has direct oversight of several Berkshire business lines, while Vice Chairman Ajit Jain oversees insurance and newly installed President Adam Johnson oversees consumer, services and retail subsidiaries.

Howard Buffett had his own definition of Berkshire’s culture.

“It’s not rocket science,” he told the Wall Street Journal in January 2025. “The culture is to keep things simple, to do what you need to do, but don’t do a lot of things you don’t need to do, treat people fairly, respect your managers, respect your shareholders. Tell them the bad news upfront; be honest.”

巴菲特将立即成为名誉董事长，他的儿子霍华德将接任董事长。

1965年，沃伦·巴菲特接管了一家陷入困境的纺织公司，并将其发展成为一家市值万亿美元的企业集团。[图片：Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Time Inc]

沃伦·巴菲特将卸任伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司董事长一职，这是他领导这家市值万亿美元的跨国集团高层权力交接的下一步。他领导这家集团超过六十年。

该公司周五表示，96岁的巴菲特将成为名誉董事长，并将立即担任新职务。此前九个月，他将首席执行官的重任交给了长期副手格雷格·阿贝尔。

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他的儿子霍华德将成为伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的新任董事长，这是公司长期以来计划的继任安排的一部分。霍华德·巴菲特自1993年以来一直是伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司的董事。

沃伦·巴菲特将伯克希尔从一家濒临破产的纺织公司转型为一家市值 1.1 万亿美元的企业集团，同时建立了一种影响了几代投资者和高管的投资理念，使他成为现代美国企业界最具影响力的人物之一。

伯克希尔哈撒韦B类股在盘前交易中下跌0.3%。巴菲特的声誉也体现在公司的估值上，多年来，投资者一直认为其股票存在“巴菲特溢价”。

在市值超过万亿美元的金融公司行列中，伯克希尔哈撒韦公司仍然是唯一一家，而这个行列主要由科技巨头主导。

“这只是时间问题，而不是会不会发生的问题。巴菲特的退出方式很优雅，”Annex Wealth Management首席经济策略师布莱恩·雅各布森表示。

“伯克希尔有多年时间为这一过渡做准备，因此这感觉更像是精心策划的继任计划的完成，而不是突然的权力交接。”

“时间老人总是最终的赢家。然而，他对我还算慷慨，”96岁的巴菲特周五在致股东的一封信中写道。巴菲特自1965年以来一直在伯克希尔哈撒韦公司任职。

巴菲特的影响力远远超出了伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司，他强调长期思维、严谨的资本配置和直截了当的管理方式，塑造了一代又一代的企业领导人和投资者。

“沃伦建立的文化和他所倡导的价值观将继续成为伯克希尔的核心，而霍华德将成为它们的守护者，”阿贝尔周五在一份声明中表示。

首席执行官们一直将巴菲特视为良师益友，他常被誉为“奥马哈先知”，这源于他居住的奥马哈市。从收购和继任计划到如何应对市场动荡时期，巴菲特都为他们提供建议。他的年度股东大会也成为了投资者们的聚集地。

伯克希尔哈撒韦公司在一份声明中表示：“作为荣誉主席，巴菲特先生将继续担任董事会成员，并将继续提供他宝贵的判断和见解。”

巴菲特于2025年5月首次宣布计划卸任，尽管他已年迈，但这一消息仍令股东和分析师感到意外。执掌公司数十年后，他已成为公司的代名词，因此他的继任问题成为美国商界最受关注的事件之一。

伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的业务包括盖可汽车保险、BNSF铁路公司、众多能源和工业公司、冰雪皇后冰淇淋，以及《世界图书百科全书》等历史悠久的品牌。该公司还持有价值数千亿美元的股票和美国国债。

第二季度，该公司营业利润增长16%至129.8亿美元，超出分析师预期。净利润翻了一番多，达到256.7亿美元，其中包括总部位于内布拉斯加州奥马哈的伯克希尔哈撒韦公司仍持有的股票的未实现损益。

“这又不是什么高深的学问。”

与他的父亲不同，霍华德·巴菲特（人称豪伊）作为董事长不会担任管理职务，他的主要职责是维护伯克希尔的企业文化。

这种文化包括让伯克希尔的运营业务自行处理日常事务，不受高层管理干预，尽管人们普遍认为阿贝尔比沃伦·巴菲特更热衷于解决业绩不足的问题。

巴菲特说：“格雷格负责公司运营；霍华德将守护公司的文化和价值观——这两者比我们资产负债表上的任何资产都更有价值。把霍华德看作是股东们拥有的一份保单，他们希望永远不需要为此付费。”

阿贝尔直接负责伯克希尔的几项业务，副董事长阿吉特·贾恩负责保险业务，新上任的总裁亚当·约翰逊负责消费者、服务和零售子公司。

霍华德·巴菲特对伯克希尔的企业文化有他自己的定义。

“这并不难，”他在2025年1月接受《华尔街日报》采访时表示，“企业文化就是化繁为简，做你该做的事，但不要做太多不必要的事，公平待人，尊重你的经理，尊重你的股东。提前告知他们坏消息；要诚实。”