Warren Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Hathaway Chairman -- 3rd Update

By Gareth Vipers

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 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."

Buffett, 96, 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, Neb., 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.

"Warren's impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business," Berkshire Chief Executive Officer Greg Abel said. "The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian."

Abel took over from Buffett as CEO at the start of the year.

Buffett has been preparing Howie, the second of his three children, to take over as chairman for some time. "He is getting it because he's my son," he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview last year. "I'm very, very, very lucky in the fact that I trust all three of my children," he said.

As a director on Berkshire's board for more than 30 years, 71-year-old Howie has had a front-row seat as his father built Berkshire into one of the largest companies in the U.S.

"I feel I'm prepared for it because he prepared me," he said. "That's a lot of years of influence and a lot of years of teaching."

-Updates to follow as news develops.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 18, 2026 07:09 ET (11:09 GMT)