Warren Buffett set to resign as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffett is set to step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year, marking a surprise ending to his 60 year career as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’.

The famed American investor said he will recommend to the company’s board that Greg Abel, chair of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, should take over at the end of the year.

“I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year-end,” said Buffett.

At the end of his 60th annual general meeting at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway, the famed American investor added that he would not be selling out of the company following his departure.

“I have no intention – zero – of selling one share of Berkshire Hathaway. I will give it away eventually,” said Buffett.

“The decision to keep every share is an economic decision because I think the prospects of Berkshire will be better under Greg’s management than mine.”

As he announced the news, Buffett told the audience that only Howie and Susie, two of his children who are both Berkshire directors, had known about the decision.

Buffett had made no indication of his decision to retire to the media, stating in 2023 that he planned to keep “playing in extra innings”.

“I feel privileged to have been here in 2023 for what turned out to be Charlie’s last appearance and now, in 2025, to what might be Warren’s,” Keith Ashworth-Lord, CIO of Sanford DeLand Asset Management, told City AM after attending the AGM.

In 2023, Berkshire Hathaway vice chair Charlie Munger made his last appearance on stage at the meeting before passing away later that year.

“As the audience rose to its feet in loud and spontaneous appreciation, Warren said that the applause ‘could be taken in one of two ways’. Truly the end of an era,” added Ashworth-Lord.