Of Jonathan Stempel and Suzanne McGee
Omaha, Nebraska (Reuters) -Warren Buffett ends his career as the most famous and reversor of the world, saying he will be headed as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in late 2025 and will give the reins to Vice President Greg Abel.
The movement is a time for Berkshire after the extraordinary 60 years of Buffett at the helm, which made it a house name, a billion millions and a history of American success.
“ I think the time has come when Greg should become the CEO of the company at the end of the year, ” said Buffett, 94, said on Saturday when he wrapped the Berkshire’s annual meeting in Omaha, adding that he would still be hung and that it would be possible in some cases, but that the “ final word ” would be Abel’s.
The announcement caused a praise for buffett of the CEOs and investors.
“Warren Buffett represents everything that is good about North -American capitalism and America: investing in the growth of our nation and its business with integrity, optimism and common sense,” said Jamie Demon, CEO of JpMorgan Chase & Co.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, in a publication in X said: “There has never been someone like Warren, and countless people, including, have inspired me in their wisdom. It has been one of the great privileges of my life to know it.”
Buffett’s movement will drive Abel to the point of Mira de Berkshire. Berkshire has been identified by Berkshire to be Buffett’s successor, may not have Buffett’s star power, although it is expected to preserve the conglomerate culture.
Buffett said that Abel and most of the Berkshire Board of Directors had not been aware of his plans before the announcement, although Buffett had told his two children that they are counselors. He said that the Berkshire Board of Directors will meet on Sunday to discuss the transition.
Abel, 62, has been Vice President of Berkshire since 2018 and was appointed expected successor of Buffett as CEO in 2021.
“It could not be more humble and honest to be part of Berkshire as we leave,” Abel told the shareholders.
Buffett also said that he had the “zero” intention of selling any of his Berkshire shares, almost all of which will be given after his death.
“The decision to maintain each quota is a financial decision because I think Berkshire’s perspectives will be better under Greg’s management than mine,” said Buffet.
Notable
The decision to reduce the capsule a remarkable 60 -year -old race where Buffett transformed Berkshire from a textile company that fails into a $ 1.16 trillion conglomerate with US economics companies.
Buffett’s own fortune totalizes $ 168.2 billion according to Forbes Magazine, almost all of which are in Berkshire shares.
Cole Smead, CEO of SMEAD Capital Management, said that after the announcement of Buffett who went to his father Bill Sead, who founded the firm and said, “Well, it’s the end of an age. It’s sad, but it’s life.”
The Berkshire shares price has increased by 19% this year, compared to a 3% drop in Standard & Poor’s 500.
Many investors have seen the management of the conglomerate and buffett as a safe refuge of uncertainty about the economy and fare policies of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
“The forward question is: Berkshire will still have a buffett premium when Buffett is not there?” Cathy Seifert, CFRA Research’s analyst. “You are buying a stock and you also get the investment capacity of a legend. With this missing legend, what is the value?”
“Greg can do -better”
Abel had already been assuming many of Buffett’s responsibilities, including capital allocation.
Asked during the meeting as his supervision of Berkshire’s 189 operating companies would differ from buffett’s, Abel said: “more active, but we hope very positively.”
Buffett said that the Berkshire Council could make agreements for power transfer over the coming months, and that “it could be useful in a few cases” after Abel is in charge.
“The fact that you can do it quite well does not mean that you cannot do it better, and Greg can do it better,” Buffett said to shareholders before the announcement.
The weekend of annual Berkshire shareholders, Buffett calls “Woodstock for capitalists”, annually attracts tens of thousands of people in Omaha for the meeting and for a series of shareholders’ events throughout the city, including purchases.
The company has said that it intends to continue to keep on weekends. Many shareholders have said that they will continue to attend after Buffett leaves, although many believe that attendance will go down.
Buffett took over Berkshire in 1965 and with his long -time friend and business partner, Charlie Munger, who died in November 2023, made it a story of North -American success.
With headquarters in Omaha, where Bufett and Munger grew, Berkshire now has about 200 companies, such as Geico Car Insurance, the BNSF railway, industrial and chemical companies, public services, dairy queen ice cream, fruits of the loom’s lingerie and SEE sweets.
It also ended in March with $ 264 million, including Apple, American Express and Bank of America.
“Oracle of Omaha”
Buffett became known as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his success by investing, as well as his wisdom folksy and modest lifestyle.
While Berkshire shares increased by 550,284% from 1965 to 2024, Buffett never moved to a house that paid $ 31,500 in 1958.
Buffett was a disciple of Benjamin Graham, the economist and his former teacher, emphasized the importance of the company’s foundations and not paying the assets.
This approach often made it difficult to deploy the Berkshire Cash Cash, which reached $ 347.7 billion by the end of March.
Abel joined the old mid -American energy, now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy, in 1992, eight years before Berkshire took him. Later he led this business for a decade.
Buffett’s fortune would have been much larger if it were not since 2006 given more than half of his Berkshire actions in Charity.
It is expected that almost everything else will enter into a new charity confidence supervised by his daughter Susie and his children Howard and Peter.
Abel will face challenges, including how to help Berkshire grow significantly without paying for acquisitions, either paying for a dividend and how to deploy cash.
Howard 70 -year -old Buffett is expected to eventually succeed to his father as non -executive president of Berkshire, to help preserve the company’s culture.
(Report by Jonathan Sumpel in Omaha, Nebraska; Additional Reports of Suzanne McGee and Carolina Mandl; Edition of Megan Davies, Diane Craft and Andrea Ricci)
