Warren Buffett’s farewell letter as Berkshire Hathaway chairman includes a big vote of confidence for Greg Abel

Warren Buffett has stepped down as chairman at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., effectively immediately. 

Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus and remain as a member of the board of directors. His son, Howard Buffett, will take over as chairman of the board after serving as a Berkshire Hathaway director for 33 years. 

“Serving as your chairman has been the privilege of a lifetime, and I have never taken your trust for granted,” Buffett said in a letter to Berkshire’s shareholders. “Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me. He has given me the opportunity to see Berkshire reach a point where I am more confident than ever about what lies ahead.”

He added that the “company is in excellent hands, and I look forward to remaining a shareholder alongside you.”

Today marks the next step of Buffett’s transition from power

In May 2025, Buffett announced he would step down as CEO. Greg Abel, Buffett’s right-hand man at Berkshire Hathaway and then vice chair of non-insurance operations, stepped into the role on January 1 of this year. 

In today’s letter to stockholders, Buffett credited Abel as a reason he felt comfortable stepping down as chairman. 

“My expectations for him were sky high from the start, and he has exceeded them,” Buffett said. “He has taken hold of the chief executive officer job in every respect. He has been making the decisions that matter for some time now, and I have not had to think twice about any of them.”

Abel is already planting his own investment flags

Buffett’s decision is a clear vote of confidence in Abel, who is making his own mark on Berkshire Hathaway investments.

Buffett has previously voiced regret over not valuing—or even understanding—tech companies. For instance, it wasn’t until 2016 that he invested in Apple. 

Just five months into his tenure, Abel led a $10 billion investment in Alphabet, Inc., Google’s parent company. Alphabet intends to use the money “to scale AI infrastructure and global compute.”