Overview
- Berkshire announced Friday that Warren Buffett, 96, stepped down as board chairman with immediate effect and will remain on the board as chairman emeritus.
- Howard Buffett, 71 and a director since 1993, was named chairman of the board to safeguard Berkshire’s culture and corporate values.
- Greg Abel, who became CEO earlier this year, will continue running the company's operations and making capital‑allocation decisions.
- Investors are focused on Abel’s choices for Berkshire’s large cash holdings, which recent reports put in the hundreds of billions of dollars and have already been partly used for buybacks and stock purchases.
- The change completes the succession plan Buffett described to shareholders and keeps Susan Decker in place as lead independent director while Warren Buffett remains an active adviser and major shareholder.