Warren Buffett Makes Stunning Announcement

Warren Buffett is leaving the chairman’s seat at Berkshire Hathaway, ending a run that lasted more than half a century. Berkshire said Friday that Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus immediately while remaining on the board.

His son, Howard Buffett, has been elected chairman. Howard has been a Berkshire director since 1993 and has long led the Howard G. Buffett Foundation.

Warren Buffett had been chairman since 1970. Under him, Berkshire grew from a struggling textile firm into one of the largest conglomerates in American business.

He already stepped down as chief executive late last year, handing day-to-day control to longtime lieutenant Greg Abel. Friday’s move is another step in a succession plan that has been discussed for years.

Buffett will not disappear from the company. As chairman emeritus, he remains a director and can still offer advice. In a letter to shareholders he wrote, “Father Time always wins.”

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

Buffett’s public style was built on long-term investing, large acquisitions, and a simple description of how businesses should work. Berkshire’s holdings now span insurance, railroads, energy, manufacturing, retail, and services, plus large stock positions in well-known companies.

He had already begun to step back. Last year he said Abel would become the top executive and later indicated he would appear less at the annual meeting and stop writing Berkshire’s shareholder letter.

Howard’s rise to chairman was also planned. Warren Buffett had said he wanted his son to protect the company’s culture after he left daily leadership.

The new arrangement leaves Abel running the company as CEO, Howard overseeing the board, and Warren Buffett in an advisory role. For one of the longest leadership tenures in corporate America, the announcement closes another chapter without removing Buffett from the firm entirely.

The change is structural more than sudden. The CEO handoff already happened. The board chair title is now following the same path.

Investors have watched this succession for years. Friday’s statement made the board transition official rather than leaving it as an expectation.

Berkshire did not frame the move as a retirement from business. Buffett remains a director. The title that defined him for more than 50 years does not.