Just a couple of days after the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett announced his plans to retire as the top boss of Berkshire Hathaway, the company’s board has voted to keep him as chairman, CNBC reported citing sources. Delivering on his words, Buffett proposed Greg Abel as his successor for the CEO’s seat, a decision that received favour from Berkshire’s board, the report stated.
With this, Abel is set to take over as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway by the end of the year, marking an end to the six-decade long stint of Buffett at the helm.
Greg Abel is a Berkshire Hathaway veteran, overseeing the group’s extensive non-insurance businesses. With his promotion to the CEO's seat, Abel will now also take charge of Berkshire’s core insurance operations and major investment decisions, verticals previously managed directly by Buffett himself.
The announcement came at the close of Berkshire’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Omaha on 3 May, when Buffett, without fanfare or an invitation for questions, stated: “I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end.”
The decision had been kept under wraps, shared only with Buffett’s children, Howard and Susie, both of whom sit on the board. Even Abel, seated next to Buffett on stage, was not informed in advance.
However, with Buffett being retained as chairman, shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway took comfort with the prolific investors standing in to help Abel settle down in a seat that the former held for six decades. It was especially comforting for investors when looking at the turbulent times that global financial markets are caught into, more so with the backdrop of Trump’s tariff offensive on several trade partners.
Sailing through the turbulence, Berkshire Hathaway has began offloading holdings, taking the cash in its books to more than $347-bn, the highest since Buffett took over as CEO in 1965.
To that effect, shares of Berkshire Hathaway were down only 2% in pre-market trading despite Buffett’s decision to step down as the CEO. Aside from Buffett’s announcement, the company also reported a rather subdued set of quarterly earnings, also sounding alarms of uncertainty over what Trump’s tariffs could unleash.
Ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Berkshire shares closed at a record last Friday, sitting at a market capitalization over $1.1-tn.
