Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway with immediate effect. The company said he will become chairman emeritus and remain a director on the board, while the chairmanship will pass to his son, Howard Buffett, under a long-established succession plan. Susan Decker will continue as lead independent director.
The 96-year-old investor disclosed the move in a Friday letter to shareholders. “Father Time always wins,” Buffett wrote, adding that time had also been generous in allowing him to see Berkshire at a stage where he feels more confident than ever about what lies ahead.
The decision comes a little more than nine months after Greg Abel took over as CEO while Buffett kept the chairman role. Buffett first announced his departure from the CEO post at Berkshire’s annual meeting in May 2025.
Greg Abel said the culture Warren built and the values he championed would remain at the heart of Berkshire, with Howard Buffett serving as their guardian. Buffett, for his part, wrote that Greg runs the company while Howard will protect its culture and values, which he described as worth more than anything on the balance sheet.
Buffett’s role in reshaping Berkshire Hathaway is widely regarded as unmatched in corporate America. He took control of a struggling New England textile mill at age 34 and spent the next six decades turning it into a diversified financial and industrial powerhouse. Last year, Berkshire generated $44.5 billion in operating earnings and employed nearly 400,000 people. Since 1965, the company has delivered a 19.7% compounded annual return for shareholders, almost double the return of the S&P 500.
Still active in the role
Despite his age, Buffett remained closely involved in the business through 2026. In March, Greg Abel told CNBC that Buffett was still coming into the Omaha office every day and that the CEO continued to consult him frequently.
In May, Buffett attended Berkshire’s annual meeting, offered brief remarks from his seat and gave an interview to CNBC’s Becky Quick. It was the first time the famed “Woodstock for Capitalists” was presided over not by Buffett, but by Greg Abel.
In July, Buffett told CNBC that he had been the driving force behind Berkshire’s recent major investment in Alphabet. Google’s parent is now Berkshire’s third-largest stock holding after Apple and American Express, following a $10 billion private stock purchase in June. In that same interview, Buffett said he had broken his leg a few weeks earlier but was recovering.
Buffett had already acknowledged the limits of age in a Thanksgiving letter last year, saying he moved more slowly and read with increasing difficulty, though he was still in the office five days a week. In Friday’s letter, he also joked that he had recently celebrated his 96th birthday and that his one-year-old great-grandchild was moving a bit faster than he was.
Berkshire’s weaker 2026 share performance
Berkshire Hathaway shares have lagged this year, and Buffett’s departure as chairman raises the pressure on Greg Abel. The stock is up just 1% in 2026, while the S&P 500 has advanced more than 11%. CNBC noted that rising oil prices and investor preference for faster-growing parts of the market are part of the explanation, but shareholders are also watching to see whether the new CEO can deploy the company’s sizable capital as effectively as Buffett did.
Investors are also focused on Berkshire’s $365.5 billion cash pile. Greg Abel has already started accelerating Berkshire share repurchases, with $4.5 billion spent on buybacks in the second quarter.
In his letter, Buffett praised Greg Abel’s work so far, saying his expectations had been sky high from the start and that Abel had exceeded them. He closed by saying the company is in excellent hands and that he looks forward to remaining a shareholder alongside other investors.
In a comment to CNBC, Greg Abel said Buffett had described his role at Berkshire as “the best job in the world.” Abel added that Buffett had handed him the best job in American business while giving him the freedom to lead in a way consistent with Berkshire’s culture and values.
