Warren Buffett has become Chairman Emeritus of Berkshire Hathaway and handed the chairmanship to his son Howard Buffett, completing the final major piece of a succession plan that has been years in the making.
Berkshire announced the change on September 18, saying it was effective immediately. Buffett, who recently turned 96, remains a member of Berkshire’s Board of Directors and will continue to provide his judgment and perspective. Greg Abel remains Chief Executive Officer, while Susan L. Decker continues as Lead Independent Director.
The distinction matters. Buffett is giving up the chairman’s title, but he is not suddenly handing over day-to-day control of Berkshire. Abel already has that job. Howard Buffett’s role, according to his father, is principally about protecting the culture built over more than six decades.
“Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me,” Buffett wrote to shareholders.
Berkshire’s Class B shares were trading at about $507.54 at 11:41 a.m. ET on Friday, down roughly 0.3% from Thursday’s $509.20 close, a relatively muted market response to the announcement.
This Is the Last Step of Berkshire’s Succession Plan
Buffett wrote that he has served Berkshire since 1965 and that, “Sixty-plus years in, I still have the best job in the world.”
But the operational transition has already happened. Abel became CEO at the start of 2026 after Buffett relinquished that role at the end of last year. FinanceFeeds covered that CEO handover in January, when Abel formally took responsibility for running the conglomerate.
Buffett’s latest letter makes the division particularly explicit. He said his expectations for Abel had been “sky high” and that the new CEO had exceeded them, adding that Abel had taken hold of the chief executive role “in every respect.”
That is why Friday’s announcement is better understood as the completion of the transition rather than the beginning of one. Berkshire already has its operating chief. It has now put the final piece of its post-Buffett governance structure in place.
Howard Buffett Had a 33-Year Apprenticeship
Howard Buffett has served on Berkshire’s board since 1993, giving him 33 years as a director before taking the chair.
His father highlighted the length of that preparation directly, calling it “a longer apprenticeship than I served before taking the reins at the age of 34.”
Howard’s mandate is also deliberately different from Abel’s.
“Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against,” Buffett wrote.
The implication is that Howard is not being installed as a second operating chief. Abel runs Berkshire. Howard is there to protect the culture and values around which Berkshire’s decentralized model was built.
That distinction is reinforced by Howard’s outside career. He has served as Chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation since 1999 and spent nearly a decade as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Against Hunger for the World Food Programme. His previous corporate board roles include Archer Daniels Midland, ConAgra Foods, The Coca-Cola Company and Lindsay Corporation.
Abel Still Runs Berkshire
The governance structure now has three clearly defined parts: Abel runs the company, Howard chairs the board and guards its culture, and Decker remains Lead Independent Director.
Abel, speaking on behalf of Berkshire’s board, said, “Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business.”
Investors have already had most of 2026 to see what Berkshire looks like under Abel’s operational leadership. In August, FinanceFeeds reported that Berkshire became a net buyer of stocks for the first time in 14 quarters during Abel’s first full quarter as CEO, while Alphabet moved into the portfolio’s top three holdings.
That episode also illustrated why Friday’s chairmanship change should not be confused with an executive handover. Capital allocation and operating decisions have already moved into the new structure.
Buffett Is Leaving the Chair, Not Berkshire
Buffett is therefore stepping further away from formal control without disappearing from Berkshire.
He remains a director and shareholder, and Berkshire said he will continue offering his perspective. Howard takes responsibility for the board, but Abel retains the authority to run the businesses and make the decisions that matter.
Buffett himself framed the announcement less as an ending than as confirmation that the structure is ready to function without him at its center.
After more than 60 years at Berkshire, the succession question that followed the company for decades now has its answer: Abel runs it, Howard guards the culture, and Buffett stays on the board as Chairman Emeritus.
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