Berkshire Hathaway announced that Chairman Warren Buffett, aged 96, has stepped down from his position effective immediately. Buffett will serve as honorary chairman and remain a director of the company, while his son Howard Buffett will take over as chairman, in line with a long-prepared succession plan. The decision comes just over nine months after 64-year-old Greg Abel took over as chief executive. Buffett first announced he would step down as chief executive at the annual shareholders meeting in May 2025. Berkshire is a massive conglomerate valued at around 1 trillion dollars, with operating profit of 44.5 billion dollars last year and nearly 400,000 employees. During Buffett's leadership, the company delivered a compound annual return to shareholders of 19.7%, nearly double that of the S&P 500. Abel said the culture Warren built and the values he upheld will remain central to Berkshire, and Howard will be the guardian of these things.
Berkshire Hathaway IncWarren Buffett steps down as chairman with son Howard succeeding him under a long-prepared succession plan; no clear positive or negative driver for the stock.
