Warren Buffett said he is stepping down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman, effective immediately, becoming chairman emeritus while remaining a director. His son Howard Buffett takes the chairmanship under a long-standing succession plan, with Susan Decker continuing as lead independent director. The move completes a handover already most of the way through, after Greg Abel took over as CEO nine months ago with Buffett retaining the chairmanship. Buffett wrote that "Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values," and said Abel had exceeded his expectations. Berkshire shares are up 1% in 2026 against more than 11% for the S&P 500, and investors are waiting to see whether Abel can deploy the $365.5 billion cash pile as Buffett did, after he lifted buybacks to $4.5 billion in the second quarter. Over six decades Buffett built a $1 trillion company returning 19.7% a year, nearly double the S&P.
Berkshire Hathaway IncBuffett steps down as chairman with son Howard taking the role under a succession plan; no clear directional driver for the stock.
NVIDIA Corporation