Warren Buffett Makes Shocking Announcement

An extraordinary era in American business is coming to an end.

Warren Buffett is officially stepping away from the chairman’s seat at Berkshire Hathaway, closing another chapter in a remarkable run that stretched for more than half a century and turned the legendary investor into one of the most influential figures in modern business.

Berkshire announced Friday that Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus effective immediately. He isn’t cutting ties with the company entirely, however, and will remain on Berkshire’s board of directors.

Taking his place as chairman will be his son, Howard Buffett.

Howard has served as a Berkshire director since 1993 and has spent decades leading the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. His elevation to chairman represents another major piece of a succession plan Berkshire has been preparing for years.

For Warren Buffett, the announcement marks the latest — and one of the most significant — steps away from the company he spent decades building into a corporate powerhouse.

Buffett had served as Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman since 1970.

During that time, he oversaw an extraordinary transformation, taking what had once been a struggling textile business and building it into a massive conglomerate with operations spanning insurance, railroads, energy, manufacturing, retail and services.

His influence over the company’s day-to-day operations had already begun to diminish.

Buffett stepped down as Berkshire’s chief executive late last year, turning control of the company over to longtime lieutenant Greg Abel.

Now the chairman’s title is changing hands as well.

Friday’s announcement means Berkshire is entering a new era in which Abel runs the company’s operations while Howard Buffett oversees the board.

Warren Buffett, however, isn’t disappearing.

As chairman emeritus, he will remain a director and continue providing his judgment and perspective to the company’s leadership — preserving a connection between Berkshire’s future and the man who shaped its identity for generations.

Following the announcement, Abel paid tribute to the enormous impact Buffett has had on the company.

“Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business,” Abel said in a statement. “The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian.”

That culture became almost as famous as Buffett himself.

Rather than chasing every new market trend, Buffett built his reputation around patience, long-term investing, disciplined acquisitions and a straightforward approach to evaluating businesses.

Under his leadership, Berkshire accumulated an enormous portfolio of operating companies while also becoming famous for taking major stock positions in some of America’s most recognizable corporations.

Along the way, Buffett became more than a corporate executive.

His annual shareholder letters, public appearances and Berkshire shareholder meetings turned the Omaha investor into one of the world’s most closely followed voices on investing, business and the American economy.

But the transition away from Buffett has been unfolding for some time.

Last year, Buffett announced that Abel would become Berkshire’s top executive. He later signaled that his own public presence would shrink, including fewer appearances at Berkshire’s annual meeting and an end to writing the company’s annual shareholder letter.

Howard Buffett’s move into the chairman’s position wasn’t unexpected either.

The younger Buffett had long been identified as an important part of Berkshire’s eventual succession structure, with his father previously describing the chairman’s role as a safeguard for the company’s distinctive culture and values once he was no longer overseeing daily operations.

That succession plan is now becoming reality.

Greg Abel is running Berkshire as CEO.

Howard Buffett is taking control of the board as chairman.

And Warren Buffett — after more than five decades at the center of one of the most remarkable corporate transformations in American history — is moving into an advisory role as chairman emeritus.

The legendary investor may still have a seat at the table.

But the company he built is officially moving into its post-Buffett leadership era.