Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman after decades

Warren Buffett has stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, ending a tenure that began in 1970, according to the Associated Press. The move completes a succession process that started in May 2025, when Buffett told shareholders he would leave the CEO job at the end of that year and Greg Abel would take over. Buffett had said at the time that he would remain chairman, with a plan to eventually pass that role to his son Howard Buffett upon his death.

Abel, 63, previously CEO of Berkshire's energy business, now leads the conglomerate without Buffett in either executive role. Buffett, often called the "Oracle of Omaha," joined Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, when it was a struggling New England textile maker. He built it into a holding company with a market value above $1 trillion, owning businesses such as insurer Geico, railroad BNSF, See's Candies and Dairy Queen, and holding major stakes in Apple, Coca-Cola and American Express.

Berkshire's share price has risen more than 5,500,000% since Buffett began using the company as his primary investment vehicle in 1964, compared with a 39,000% return for the S&P 500 over the same period, according to Bloomberg calculations cited by NBC News. Under his leadership, the company also became a lender of last resort during the 2008-09 financial crisis, extending lifelines to Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and General Electric that generated at least $10 billion in profit, The Wall Street Journal calculated in 2013. Buffett announced his exit from the CEO role at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting in May 2025, an event often called "Woodstock for Capitalists."

He told the audience in Omaha that Abel should become chief executive at year-end and that he wanted to "spring that on the directors effectively." The thousands in attendance gave him a standing ovation, according to CNN. At that meeting, Buffett also addressed Berkshire's $347 billion cash pile and warned that tariffs and trade wars were a "big mistake" that made the company's outlook uncertain.

Berkshire's operating earnings fell 14% in the first quarter of 2025, and its insurance underwriting profit dropped nearly 50% to $1.33 billion. He has pledged to give away almost all of his fortune to philanthropy, a commitment he made in 2006.