Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman

Warren Buffett has stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the company announced Friday. The 96-year-old investor will take on the title of chairman emeritus while staying on as a board director. His son, Howard Buffett, will assume the chairman position under a long-standing succession plan.

Buffett cited Father Time in a letter to shareholders. "Father Time always wins," wrote Buffett. "He has, however, been generous with me. He has given me the opportunity to see Berkshire reach a point where I am more confident than ever about what lies ahead."

The change comes a little more than nine months after Greg Abel, 64, took over as CEO, with Buffett keeping the chairmanship until now. Buffett first announced his intention to exit the chief executive role at the company's annual meeting in May 2025.

Abel and Buffett emphasized continuity of culture and values. "The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian," said Abel in the company release. Buffett added that "Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet," and told shareholders to "Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against."

Berkshire's performance under Buffett transformed a small textile mill into a $1 trillion conglomerate. He has led the Omaha, Nebraska-based firm since 1965, delivering a 19.7% compounded annual return, nearly double the return of the S&P 500. Last year the company generated $44.5 billion in operating earnings and employed nearly 400,000 people.

Buffett remained active as chairman this year. Abel told CNBC in March that Buffett continued to visit the Omaha office daily. In May, he attended the annual meeting, offered brief remarks from his seat and sat for an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick.

In July, Buffett disclosed that he personally drove Berkshire's sizable investment in Alphabet. The Google parent now ranks as the firm's third-largest equity holding, behind Apple and American Express, following a $10 billion private stock purchase in June. Susan Decker will continue as lead independent director.