Warren Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Hathaway Chair
Warren Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Hathaway Chair
Reporter
September 19, 2026 | 06:59 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Warren Buffett, 96, has stepped down as chair of Berkshire Hathaway after more than six decades in the role, with his 71-year-old son, Howard Buffett, taking over, as reported by CNBC.
Berkshire Hathaway announced the change on Friday, September 18. Buffett will become chairperson emeritus and remain on the company’s board of directors.
The move comes less than a year after Buffett stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive officer, handing the role to Greg Abel.
“I have served Berkshire since 1965,” Buffett said in a message to shareholders, as cited by DW. “Sixty-plus years in, I still have the best job in the world. This is not something many people my age can say, and I have never felt better about what comes next.”
Buffett said Abel would continue to run Berkshire while Howard Buffett would oversee its culture and values.
“Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values, both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,” Buffett said. “Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.”
Abel said Buffett’s influence would continue to shape the company.
“The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian,” Abel said.
How Buffett Built Berkshire Hathaway
Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, when it was a textile company, and transformed it into a multinational conglomerate worth more than $1 trillion in market capitalization.
Berkshire owns businesses in industries including insurance and energy, as well as restaurant chain Dairy Queen. It also holds investments in major companies including Apple, Coca-Cola, Chevron and Bank of America.
Buffett’s investment record helped make him one of the world’s best-known investors. Berkshire Hathaway has outperformed the S&P 500 in 40 of the past 60 years.
Buffett, known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, where Berkshire Hathaway is headquartered.
Forbes ranks Buffett as the world’s 10th-richest person, with an estimated wealth of $144.7 billion.
Read: Anthropic to Set up Singapore Office amid Regional AI Push
Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News