ABSTRACT

Warren Buffett, 96, has stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and will become chairman emeritus effective immediately, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said on Friday. The company named his son, Howard Buffett, a Berkshire director since 1993, as its new chairman. The move comes about nine months after Greg Abel took over as chief executive, a handover Berkshire announced in January, and follows Buffett's May 2025 announcement of plans to step away. Berkshire said Buffett will remain a member of the board of directors and continue to offer what the company described as his valued judgment and perspective.

Al Jazeera English

Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman; son Howard named chairman

Sep 18, 2026, 2:32 PM

Context

Berkshire said in a statement that Buffett would keep a board seat as chairman emeritus. Buffett wrote in a letter to shareholders that 'Father Time always wins,' adding in a separate letter comment reported by the BBC that the timing was right to complete the transition. Berkshire Hathaway said day-to-day operations would remain steady, with Abel managing corporate strategy and capital decisions.

Howard Buffett will hold a non-executive board role rather than a management position, and Berkshire has said his main responsibility is to preserve the company's culture. Buffett described the division of duties in the letter: 'Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet.' He added, per multiple outlets, 'Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.'

Howard Buffett has been a Berkshire director for 33 years. According to Fortune, his career has run largely outside finance: he operates a 1,500-acre family farm in Pana, Illinois, ran foundation-linked research farms in Arizona and South Africa, served as a Douglas County, Nebraska commissioner from 1989 to 1992, and was Sheriff of Macon County, Illinois from September 2017 to November 2018, and still serves as the county's undersheriff. It also reports he has published photography from conflict zones and wildlife habitats across roughly 130 countries. The BBC described him as a former farmer, philanthropist and sheriff.

Buffett took control of Berkshire in 1965, when it was a New England textile company, and the company became a conglomerate with businesses including Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom. In the second quarter, Berkshire's operating profit rose 16 percent to $12.98 billion, beating analyst forecasts, while net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion, figures reported by Al Jazeera and The Jerusalem Post. Fortune reported that Abel has already deployed $10 billion into Alphabet and paid $6.8 billion to acquire homebuilder Taylor Morrison within his first year.

The Jerusalem Post reported that in August, Berkshire said it had begun reducing its cash pile in the second quarter by investing billions in stocks such as Alphabet and repurchasing its own shares. Class B shares were down 0.3 percent in premarket trading, according to Al Jazeera, while PBS reported shares pointed lower before the opening bell.

All Perspectives

Warren Buffett: In his shareholder letter, Buffett wrote: 'Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me.' The BBC reported he wrote, 'The timing is right to complete the transition,' noting he had recently celebrated his 96th birthday and the first birthday of a great-grandchild who is 'moving a bit faster' than he is. PBS reported he also wrote, 'I have served Berkshire since 1965. Sixty-plus years in, I still have the best job in the world. That is not something many people my age can say, and I have never felt better about what comes next,' and that he was confident in Abel and Howard leading the company. He described the roles as: 'Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,' and 'Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.'

Greg Abel, chief executive: In a statement on Friday, Abel said, according to multiple outlets: 'Warren's impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business. The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian.'

Howard Buffett, incoming chairman: On Berkshire's culture, Howard Buffett told the Wall Street Journal in January 2025: 'It's not rocket science. The culture is to keep things simple, to do what you need to do, but don't do a lot of things you don't need to do, treat people fairly, respect your managers, respect your shareholders. Tell them the bad news upfront; be honest.' In a January CNBC conversation with his siblings reported by Fortune, he said of philanthropic funding in countries such as Congo and Sudan: 'There's a lot of things you can fund that will go nowhere. If you're not addressing the real issue of rule of law then you just can't have success.'

Brian Jacobsen, Annex Wealth Management: Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, told Al Jazeera English: 'It was always a matter of when, not if. Buffett has made a graceful exit. Berkshire has had years to prepare for this transition, so this feels more like the completion of a carefully planned succession than a sudden changing of the guard.'

Michael Withers, University of Notre Dame: Withers, a professor of management at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, told PBS NewsHour that Buffett took a deliberate approach to succession and carried it out step by step: 'Buffett seems to have understood that succeeding him wasn't just about finding another extraordinary leader. It was about building a structure that could preserve what makes Berkshire different long after he has stepped away. The test moving forward will be whether Abel and Howard can honor that legacy while still giving Berkshire room to adapt to a market that looks very different from the one Buffett mastered.'

Berkshire Hathaway (company statement): The company said in a statement: 'As Chairman Emeritus, Mr Buffett will remain a member of the Board of Directors and will continue to offer his valued judgment and perspective.'

Position not represented in the source reporting: Howard Buffett, the incoming chairman, whose own position on or response to the appointment is not stated in any source.

Where sources differ

How long Buffett served as chairman: PBS NewsHour says he had been chairman since 1970 and held the post for more than 50 years, while other outlets frame his tenure as dating to his 1965 arrival at the company and describe more than six decades of leadership.
Berkshire's valuation: The Jerusalem Post reports approximately $1.03 trillion; the BBC and Al Jazeera cite $1.1 trillion; Al Jazeera and PBS also refer to a $1 trillion conglomerate.

Gaps & Unknowns

No source quotes Howard Buffett commenting directly on his appointment as chairman, his plans for the role, or his reaction to the transition.
No source gives a reason beyond pre-existing succession planning for the specific timing of the announcement.
No comment appears from other named Berkshire figures, including Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, President Adam Johnson, or lead independent director Susan Decker.
The transition is described solely through company statements and Buffett's letter; no independent verification of the succession process appears in the supplied sources.
Market reaction is limited to premarket movement and pre-opening indications; no closing share price or full-day market response is established.
The exact size of Warren Buffett's remaining fortune is given only by Fortune, which cites $145 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index; other sources state only amounts already given away or the fortune's source.

Sources & Further Reading

Al Jazeera English — original
BBC World — by Francisco Velasquez
Fortune — by Catherina Gioino
PBS NewsHour — by Michelle Chapman, Associated Press
The Jerusalem Post — by REUTERS

Read the original at Al Jazeera English

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