Warren Buffett, 96, stepped down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway on Friday, September 18, 2026, effective immediately. It closes a run at the top of the company that began in the 1960s and that made a failing New England textile mill into one of the largest conglomerates in the United States.
"Father Time always wins," Buffett said of the decision.
Who takes what
The chair goes to Howard Buffett, his son, a member of the Berkshire board since 1993. The role he inherits is deliberately narrow: for years his father described the job as an insurance policy over the company's culture rather than a seat at the controls. Buffett returned to that framing in announcing the change, saying Greg Abel runs the operations while his son "will guard its culture and values".
Greg Abel stays where he is, as chief executive — the job Buffett handed over after announcing his retirement from day-to-day management. Susan Decker, the former Yahoo president, continues as lead independent director.
Buffett himself does not leave the building. He takes the title of chairman emeritus and remains on the board.
"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."
A handover into a weak year
The succession is arriving while the share price is flat. Berkshire stock was up roughly 1% for the year at the time of the announcement, against a gain of about 12% for the S&P 500, and the shares did not move in pre-market trading after the news — a reminder that the market had already priced this transition in over the two stages it took.
That gap is the question Abel and the board now carry. Berkshire's identity has rested for six decades on one investor's judgment about what to buy and when to sit still; the cash pile and the operating businesses survive the chairmanship change intact, but the premium that came attached to the name does not transfer automatically.
Reporting from NPR, Axios and CNBC.
