The 94-year-old billionaire has been at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway for 60 years. (Credit: X / @HiddenGemsInves and X / @DrParsaSalehi)
Legendary investor Warren Buffett on Monday released a letter to shareholders informing them that he will hand over the duties of writing Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report and speaking at shareholder meetings to his successor, Greg Abel.
Buffett, the 95-year-old chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathawaywrote: “I will no longer write Berkshire’s annual report or talk endlessly at the annual meeting. As the British would say, I am ‘quiet’.” Sort of.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK.B | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 497.18 | -2.03 |
-0.41% |
“Greg Abel will take over as boss at the end of the year. He is a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator. Wish him a longer tenure,” Buffett wrote of Abel, whom he and the board chose as his successor.
“I will continue to talk to you and my children about Berkshire through my annual Thanksgiving message terribly special group that is unusually generous in sharing their profits with others who are less fortunate. I enjoy the opportunity to stay in touch with you,” Buffett added.
BUFFETT DONATES $6BILLION TO BERKSHIRE RECOMMENDATIONS TO 5 FOUNDATIONS: LIFETIME GIVES TOPS $60 Billion
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett sent a letter to shareholders discussing his plans as he prepares to step down. (Photographer: Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Buffett wrote about his confidence in Abel will lead Berkshire Hathawaysaying that Abel “has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire’s next CEO.”
Warren Buffett selected business insider Greg Abel to succeed him as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. (Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“He understands many of our businesses and our workforce much better than I do now, and he learns very quickly about things that many CEOs don’t even think about. I can’t think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government – you name it – that I would choose over Greg to handle your savings and mine,” he added.
Buffett said he plans to accelerate the sale of his Berkshire shares to accelerate his donations to his children’s foundations, and said the transactions “do not in any way reflect any change in my views about Berkshire’s prospects.”
WHO IS GREG ABEL, WARREN BUFFETT’S SUCCESSOR AT BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY?
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRK.A | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. | 744,500.10 | -3,819.90 |
-0.51% |
He also said he plans to hold on to some of his ‘A’ shares of Berkshire stock “until Berkshire shareholders at Greg gain confidence that Charlie [Munger] and I enjoyed it for a long time. That level of trust shouldn’t last long.”
Buffett said Berkshire’s businesses have “fairly better-than-average prospects, led by a few uncorrelated and significant gems,” and that the conglomerate is “less likely to experience a devastating disaster than any company I know.”
The man nicknamed the “Oracle of Omaha‘ reflected on his luck in business and in life. He encouraged readers to take their mistakes in stride and “learn at least a little from them and move on.” It’s never too late to improve.”
BUSINESS LEADERS REACT TO WARREN BUFFETT’S RESIGNATION AS CEO OF BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: ‘GOAT ONLY’
Buffett offered readers advice in his shareholder letter. (Photo by Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage/Getty Images)
‘Greatness indeed not are accomplished by amassing large amounts of money, large amounts of publicity, or great power in government. When you help someone in thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is free, but it is also priceless. Whether you are religious or not, it is difficult to beat the Golden Rule as a guide to behavior,” Buffett wrote.
“I write this as someone who has been thoughtless countless times and made many mistakes, but has also had great luck learning from some great friends how to behave better (although far from perfect). Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is just as much a human being as the chairman,” he added.
‘I wish everyone who reads this a very happy life Happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the shocks; it’s never too late to change. Don’t forget to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. But it is – inevitably – fickle and sometimes venal in distributing the rewards,” he wrote.
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“Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better,” Buffett wrote.
