Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the $1 trillion conglomerate that he led for more than six decades.
Buffett, who had said his son Howard would one day succeed him as Berkshire’s chairman, announced the news Friday in a letter to investors. He will remain on the board and become chairman emeritus, he said.
Howard, known as Howie, has been a Berkshire director since 1993, and will assume the chairman role effective immediately. The company said Warren Buffett will “continue to offer his valued judgment and perspective.”
“Serving as your Chairman has been the privilege of a lifetime, and I have never taken your trust for granted,” Buffett, 96, wrote. “Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me,” he said. “The company is in excellent hands, and I look forward to remaining a shareholder alongside you.”
The move comes after Buffett had stepped down as Berkshire’s CEO at the end of last year, giving way to Greg Abel, who was previously in charge of the firm’s noninsurance businesses.
In his final shareholder letter as CEO in November, Buffett referenced his age as a factor in stepping back. “When balance, sight, hearing and memory are all on a persistently downward slope, you know Father Time is in the neighborhood,” he said.
The Omaha native transformed Berkshire from a struggling textile maker into a corporate behemoth and one of the most closely followed companies in the world. Each year, thousands of shareholders and admirers descended on Omaha for the annual meeting Buffett dubbed the “Woodstock of Capitalists,” while millions more followed his shareholder letters and absorbed his observations on investing, business and life.
Today, Berkshire owns companies spanning insurance, railroads, energy and manufacturing, alongside a vast portfolio of publicly traded stocks. Its textile operations were shut down in 1985.
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