Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire chairman at 96
Warren Buffett moves to chairman emeritus as son Howard becomes Berkshire's new board chair
After decades at the helm, Warren Buffett is finally stepping back from the chair he's held for most of Berkshire Hathaway's modern history. At 96, the move isn't a surprise, but it does mark the closing of an era investors have been watching for years.
Berkshire confirmed Friday that Buffett will step down as chairman effective immediately, moving into the chairman emeritus role. Taking over as chair is his son, Howard G. Buffett, a succession plan that's been publicly telegraphed for years rather than a sudden shift.
However, for 71-year-old Howard, accepting a desk job is not an easy feat either. He has been working on balancing his philanthropic ventures all across the world, including 155 countries in total, while running his personal farm and visiting Ukraine time and again in recent times.
When interviewed by Yahoo Finance in 2024, he talked about how it would come with the cost of losing out on those trips, as some "won't happen" anymore, he said quite matter-of-factly.
Howard is known to be a custodian of the special culture of Berkshire, developed over several decades by his father and Charlie Munger, who is now no more.
But that does not make his work any less challenging when Berkshire has to manage everything from the Burlington Northern Railway to the home builder company Clayton Homes.
Before joining the board of Coca-Cola in 2007, he worked as an investor relations manager at Archer Daniels Midland.
Howard has been clear that he isn't stepping in as an operational leader. He described his job as supporting CEO Greg Abel, not running the company day to day, and said the shift will likely lower the risk level in his own life since he now has to prioritise simply being available for Berkshire.
