Buffett, 96, steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman after 61 years; son Howard takes the chair
He keeps a board seat as chair emeritus, less than a year after handing the CEO job to Greg Abel.
Warren Buffett told Berkshire Hathaway on Friday, Sept. 18, that he is giving up the chairmanship he has held since taking control of the company in 1965. He turned 96 last month. He stays on the board as chair emeritus, and his son Howard Buffett, long designated as the family's non-executive successor, becomes chairman. The move separates the last piece of authority Buffett held from day-to-day control. Greg Abel took over as chief executive earlier in 2026, less than a year before this announcement. Buffett's own explanation, per the BBC's account of his remarks: "Father Time always wins." Where it stands. Abel runs the operating businesses and decides how Berkshire spends its cash.
What the chair emeritus seat leaves Buffett:
- Voting control through his remaining Class A shares, which he has been giving away to charity in annual batches
- No operating role: capital allocation now sits with CEO Greg Abel
NOTABLE TAKE
Buffett's six-decade record is an argument for public markets, the WSJ editorial board says
The opinion page frames six decades of compounding returns at Berkshire as a rebuttal to the claim that public stock markets reward only short-term trading.