At 96, investor Warren Buffett hands over to his son
At 96, Warren Buffett is passing on another part of his empire. His son Howard will take over as chairman of the board. The legendary investor will, however, still not be withdrawing entirely.
Son Howard will be stepping into the footsteps of legendary investor Warren Buffett – with immediate effect. Berkshire Hathaway announced this today, shortly after Warren Buffett's 96th birthday, in a statement to shareholders.
Earlier this year, he had already relinquished long-term leadership of the company, and now he is also giving up his position as chairman and thereby his supervisory role within the company.
Howard Buffett is 71 years old and has been a member of the board of directors at Berkshire Hathaway since 1993. The fact that he would take over the position of chairman of Berkshire Hathaway from his father comes as no surprise. Warren Buffett had already communicated this plan when he began his withdrawal from the company.
Succession plan had been in place for years
In a letter, Warren Buffett also addresses shareholders personally. In it, he writes about his son, noting that Howard has already served on the board for 33 years – a considerably longer period of preparation than he himself had before taking over the reins at the age of 34.
Warren Buffett was known as an investor for his eye for long-term developments. The same applied to the planning of his succession. He announced as far back as 2011 that he intended to eventually pass the chairmanship to Howard.
In addition to his position on the Berkshire board, Howard Buffett is a farmer and agricultural entrepreneur. He is committed to sustainable agriculture. Over the years, he has served on the boards of various companies, including Coca-Cola. He was also active as a politician in the 1990s and most recently from 2017 to 2018.
Warren Buffett led the company for 60 years
Warren Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 and transformed the textile company into one of the ten most valuable companies in the world. Today the holding company is worth $1.1 trillion on the New York Stock Exchange.
As "chairman emeritus," a kind of honorary chairman, Warren Buffett will continue to remain a member of the board and make "his valued opinions and views" available, the company said.
In his letter, Buffett is also full of praise for his successor Greg Abel, who replaced him after 60 years as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett had high expectations of Abel from the beginning, "and he has exceeded them." He praised Abel's decisions and said he had not "had to think twice about any of them."
Warren Buffett looks back on his time as a businessman with gratitude. "After sixty years, I still have the best job in the world." Time had been generous to him. He had witnessed Berkshire reach a point "where I am more confident than ever about the future."
