Shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell the next day on Friday CEO Warren Buffett left after a term of 60 years.
The 95-year-old officially stepped down on Thursday and successor Greg Abel, who started at Berkshire in 2000 and was vice chairman of the board, took over on Friday.
In midday trading Friday, Berkshire Hathaway’s Class A shares were down 1.5% as of 3 p.m. ET.
In Warren’s final year as CEO of the conglomerate Won 10.9%according to CNBC.
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Shares of Berkshire Hathaway fell on Friday, a day after CEO Warren Buffett left after a 60-year stint. (Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage/Getty Images)
“Berkshire is less likely to experience a devastating disaster than any company I know,” Buffett wrote in a farewell letter to shareholders in November. ‘And Berkshire has a more shareholder-conscious management and board than would almost be the case each company that I am familiar with (and have seen a lot of).
“Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that makes its existence an asset to the United States and eschews activities that would cause the country to become a supplicant.” Over time, our managers should become quite wealthy – they have important responsibilities – but they don’t have the desire for dynastic wealth or look at me.”
On a more personal note, he advised at the end of his long letter: “Greatness does that not are accomplished by accumulating 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’re religious or not, it’s hard to beat the Golden Rule as a guide to behavior.”
Buffett also praised Abel.
“Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire’s next CEO,” he wrote. “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.
Greg Abel officially becomes CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on Friday. (Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
WARREN BUFFETT writes final letter as ABEL prepares to take over
“I can’t think of a CEO, management consultant, academic, government member – you name it – that I would choose over Greg to handle your savings and mine.”
Buffett plans to remain chairman.
Buffett has been grooming Abel as his successor for years, telling CNBC in 2021: “The directors agree that if anything were to happen to me tonight, it would be Greg who would take over tomorrow morning.”
Shareholders attend Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Neb., May 3, 2025. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid)
He announced he would step down at the end of the year in May, telling the crowd at his annual shareholder meeting: “I think the time has come when Greg should become CEO of the company at the end of the year.”
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The 95-year-old took control of Berkshire in 1965 with late business partner Charlie Munger, which was then a failing textile company.
The conglomerate is now worth more than $1 trillion, and Buffett is worth more than $168 billion, even though he still lives in modest Nebraska house he bought it in 1958 for $31,500.
