Legendary investor Warren Buffett has announced his intention to stand down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the financial year.
The 94-year-old stock picker, known as the “Sage of Omaha” because of his canny market bets, sprang the announcement on his board and shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
Greg Abel, designated as his successor and the current chairman, should take over, Buffett said.
“I think the time has arrived when Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end and I want to spring that on the directors effectively and give that as my recommendation,” said Buffett.
Only two board directors, relatives of Buffett, were informed of his plans prior to the annual meeting.
Buffett said he “would still hang around and conceivably be useful in a few cases”.
However, he said that Abel, 62, would have “the final word” in operations, capital appointment, or “whatever it might be”.
Buffet said he has “no intention, zero, of selling one share of Berkshire Hathway”.
He made the announcement four hours into the annual meeting, known as “Woodstock of Capitalism” which until that point often been a light-hearted exchange with his devoted shareholders.
Earlier, when his shareholders had been waiting for clues that he might be ready to step aside to hand over to Abel, the Canadian who is also chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, he had been asked whether his record cash pile of $348 billion was to make it easier for Abel when he succeeds. Buffett joked that he would not be so “noble”.
It was a meeting that began with exchanges with investors in which Buffett said that America should endorse free trade and focus on producing goods in which it excelled and imported those in which it did not have expertise.
“We were good at producing tobacco and cotton 250 years ago,” he said. “We want a prosperous world. Trade should not be a weapon. The United States — we’ve won. We have become an incredibly important country starting from nothing.”
Buffett sat before two cans of Cola-Cola — one of his investments — as he took questions from his devoted followers in light-hearted exchanges.
On the topic of trade, he said: “I don’t think it’s a good idea to design a world where a few countries say, ha ha ha, we’ve won. I do think that the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, … the more prosperous we’ll become.” His comments attracted applause.
Despite concerns about the direction of the US economy and the country itself, Buffett retained his traditional optimism.
He said: “We’ve gone through great recessions, we’ve gone through world wars, we’ve gone through the development of an atomic bomb that we never dreamt of at the time I was born, so I would not get discouraged about the fact that it doesn’t look like we’ve solved every problem that’s come along. We’re all pretty lucky.”
President Trump announced his wide-ranging tariffs last month
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
As the meeting began, he introduced his team of “all stars” sitting at the front as well as Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, who rose to wave to the crowd.
Apple is one of Berkshire’s biggest holdings. Buffett said: “I’m somewhat embarrassed to say that Tim Cook has made Berkshire a lot more money than I’ve ever made Berkshire Hathaway. Credit should be given to him.”
Thousands of Berkshire shareholders attended the meeting
AP PHOTO/REBECCA S. GRATZ
In a wide-ranging discussion, Buffett downplayed recent stock market gyrations as “really nothing”. He also gave career advice to a person asking a question from the floor.
“You really want to work at something you enjoy,” he said. “If you find people who are wonderful to work with, that’s the place to go.”