Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old who has led Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to become a $1.16 trillion powerhouse, announced his plans to step down as CEO by the end of 2025 [1, 2]. The announcement was made on Saturday, May 3rd, at the company's annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska [2, 3, 4].
Greg Abel, currently the vice chairman for non-insurance operations, is set to succeed Buffett as the head of the conglomerate [1, 2]. Buffett has expressed his confidence in Abel, stating that Berkshire's prospects would be better under his management [1, 5].
Buffett, who has been CEO since 1970, received a standing ovation following the announcement [2, 5]. He plans to remain involved, assuring investors that he will "hang around" [1]. The annual shareholder meeting also addressed topics such as President Trump's tariffs and Berkshire Hathaway's business strategies [2, 12].
The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting took place on May 3, 2025, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha [3, 6, 7, 8]. The meeting included a Q&A session with Warren Buffett, Greg Abel, and Ajit Jain, which was broadcast on CNBC and CNBC.com [4, 7].
Abel, 62, has been overseeing Berkshire's various non-insurance businesses [5, 10]. He has earned praise for his understanding of diverse businesses and is expected to continue Berkshire's success [10, 14].
This article is based on our author's analysis of materials taken from the following resources: Reuters, Fox Business, and Forbes.