Warren Buffett stepped down Friday as Berkshire Hathaway chairman after more than five decades in the role, becoming chairman emeritus while his son Howard Buffett assumes leadership of the company’s board.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett has relinquished the chairmanship of Berkshire Hathaway, completing another major stage in the leadership transition at the company he spent decades building into one of the largest conglomerates in the United States.
Berkshire announced Friday that the 96-year-old Buffett is becoming chairman emeritus effective immediately. He will remain a member of the company’s board of directors and continue providing advice to Berkshire’s leadership.
His son, Howard Buffett, will succeed him as chairman.
Howard Buffett has served on Berkshire Hathaway’s board since 1993, giving him more than three decades of experience as a director before assuming the chairmanship.
“As Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Buffett will remain a member of the Board of Directors and will continue to offer his valued judgment and perspective,” Berkshire said in announcing the transition.
The change separates Warren Buffett further from the formal leadership roles he held for decades while allowing him to maintain an advisory presence at the company.
Buffett had served as Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman since 1970, presiding over its transformation from a struggling textile operation into a sprawling conglomerate with businesses spanning insurance, railroads, energy, manufacturing, retail and other industries.
The company is now valued at more than $1 trillion.
Buffett had already surrendered Berkshire’s chief executive position earlier in 2026 to longtime executive Greg Abel, who remains CEO.
That transition placed responsibility for Berkshire’s day-to-day operations with Abel while leaving Buffett as chairman until Friday’s announcement.
Abel credited Buffett with creating a corporate structure and investment culture that will continue after his departure from the chairmanship.
“Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business,” Abel said in a statement. “The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian.”
Howard Buffett’s role is expected to center on stewardship of the company’s culture and board oversight rather than management of its daily business operations, which remain under Abel.
Warren Buffett had previously identified his son as the person he wanted to eventually serve as Berkshire’s nonexecutive chairman, describing that position as a safeguard for the company’s values rather than an operational role.
Howard Buffett’s elevation therefore formalizes a succession structure that places two different responsibilities with two longtime Berkshire figures: Abel running the company as CEO and Howard Buffett overseeing the board as chairman.
Warren Buffett remains part of that structure as both a director and chairman emeritus.
The transition follows a career at Berkshire extending more than half a century.
Buffett took control of the company during the 1960s and eventually moved it away from its textile origins, using insurance operations and investment capital to acquire businesses and build large positions in publicly traded companies.
His approach emphasized businesses with durable economics, disciplined capital allocation and long-term ownership rather than frequent trading.
Berkshire eventually accumulated operating companies including GEICO, BNSF Railway and Berkshire Hathaway Energy alongside substantial stock investments.
Buffett’s departure from the chairmanship does not sever his relationship with the company.
Berkshire specifically said he will remain on the board and continue providing his “judgment and perspective,” preserving a formal role for him even as Howard Buffett and Abel assume the principal governance and management responsibilities.
The succession leaves Berkshire with a leadership structure markedly different from the one that defined most of its modern history, when Warren Buffett simultaneously served as chairman, chief executive and the company’s principal capital allocator.
With Friday’s announcement, both of Buffett’s former top positions have now passed to successors: Abel as chief executive and Howard Buffett as chairman.
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