Billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett has announced his intention to retire at the end of this year. He is 94 years old.
Buffett, the world’s fifth-wealthest person, shocked the arena full of shareholders on Saturday when he announced at the end of 2025 that he would resign as CEO and chairman of the subclass Congrat Mart Berkshire Hathaway.
Thousands of investors in the arena in Omaha, Nebraska, gave Buffett a long standing ovation, acknowledging him to lead the company for 60 years.
“I think it’s time for Greg to become the company’s chief executive at the end of the year,” Buffett said.
“We don’t intend to sell a single share of Berkshire Hathaway, and we’ll ultimately pass it on,” Buffett said. “The decision to maintain all share is an economic decision because I think Berkshire’s outlook is better under Greg’s management than mine.”
Buffett made the presentation at the end of the five-hour question-and-answer session and did not ask questions about his retirement plans. The only officers who knew about the announcement in advance were his children, Howard and Susie Buffett. Abel, sitting next to Buffett on stage, was unaware, but joined the crowd to praise his boss.
Born in Alberta, Canada, Abel (62), was the successor to Buffett’s CEO since 2001. He is a 25-year Berkshire veteran and already manages all the non-insurance businesses of the conglomerate, including dozens of fossil energy, chemicals, real estate and retail. However, the announcement came as a shock as Berkshire CEO had previously insisted he had no plans to retire despite Buffett’s senior age.
Buffett has been heading an Omaha-based company since 1965, transforming Berkshire from a burning textile maker into a $103 million conglomerate, gaining numerous companies in insurance, rail, energy and other sectors.
Democrat Buffett has previously said he plans to donate 99.5% of his remaining wealth to a charitable trust that was overseen by his daughter and two sons when he died. Buffett’s net worth is $165.3 billion, according to Forbes.
Earlier on Saturday, Buffett warned of the dire global consequences of Donald Trump’s tariffs, with thousands of investors telling the annual meeting that “there is no doubt that trade could become an act of war.”
Buffett said Trump’s trade policy has increased the risk of global instability by angering other parts of the world.
“When there are 7.5 billion people you don’t really like and 300 million people screaming about how they did it, that’s a big mistake in my opinion.
“We should be trying to trade with other parts of the world. We should do our best and do what they should do best,” he said.
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In February, Berkshire reported third-highest straight-line operating profit, rising 27% to 27% in 2024 to $47.4 billion.
Longtime democratic mover and shaker Buffett didn’t support Kamala Harris in 2024 and Joe Biden in 2020.
Buffett faces a distribution of controversy, including anti-trust investigations and criticism from fire victims after Berkshire’s Pasicorp utility failed to cut off the power generation line during the Labor Day weekend wind closures in 2020, leading to fatal wildfires in Oregon and Northern California.
Speaking before the retirement bomb, Abel said “keeping the lights” is no longer a priority for conglomerate utilities when the threat of wildfires is excessive.
“It’s about protecting the public and making sure the fire doesn’t spread even further,” he said.