Warren Buffett to Stay On as Berkshire Hathaway Chairman After Surprise CEO Exit

After shocking his shareholders with his request to be replaced as CEO, it seems that Warren Buffett is not retiring for good. 

The board of directors of multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway have unanimously voted for 94-year-old Warren Buffett to remain as chairman. 

This comes after Buffett made a shock announcement during the company’s annual shareholder meeting Saturday, revealing that he wanted to be replaced as CEO. 

Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who was likewise caught unaware by the announcement, has been made the President and CEO of the company by a unanimous vote. Abel has been the designated successor of Buffett since 2021. 

Warren Buffett Will Not Sell His Stocks 

During Saturday’s company meeting, Buffett revealed that he did not inform anyone of his decision to step down as CEO beforehand except for his two children, Howard and Susie Buffett.

He added that he has no plans of selling any of his stocks in Berkshire Hathaway. 

“I have no intention, zero, of selling one share of Berkshire Hathaway,” he said during the meeting, according to a report by the BBC. “It will get given away.” 

Despite this, Buffett emphasized that the final decision when it comes to company operations and investment now lies with Abel. Still, the 94-year-old plans to stick around and help the company out. 

“I could be helpful, I believe, in that in certain respects, if we ran into periods of great opportunity or anything,” he said. 

Who Is Warren Buffett?

Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is one of the world’s best-known and most successful investors. The son of a US congressman and businessman, Buffett grew up in the world of business and developed an interest in investing at an early age. 

According to Forbes, which pegged his net worth at $160.1 billion (approximately PHP 8.91 trillion), Buffet made his first investment at the young age of 11. Decades later, he is now at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway, which initially began as a textile company. Buffet took over the company in 1965. 

Today, Berkshire Hathaway is a multinational conglomerate that owns dozens of businesses, including sports equipment and apparel company Brooks Sports, media company Business Wire, fast food chain Dairy Queen, and alkaline battery manufacturer Duracell. 

Berkshire Hathaway likewise owns publicly traded US stocks in companies such as Amazon (0.1%), Apple (2%), BYD (4.4%), Coca-Cola (9.3%), The Kraft Heinz Company (27.5%), and Mitsubishi (9.7%), among others. 

Despite his immense success and wealth, Buffett is also a well-known philanthropist. The billionaire has previously promised to donate his fortune, having already started by donating to the Gates Foundation. He likewise launched the Giving Pledge with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, which aims to encourage billionaires to donate at least half of their wealth to charitable causes.