Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement

What happened

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who made Berkshire Hathaway a trillion-dollar financial juggernaut over 60 years of shrewd and patient "value" investing, told investors at his annual shareholder summit in Omaha he would retire at the end of the year. The announcement was a shock to attendees, including Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who Buffett officially named as his designated replacement.

Who said what

"The time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year-end," Buffett, 94, said at the end of a five-hour question-and-answer session. The "Oracle of Omaha" had named Abel, 64, his successor in 2021, but "it was always assumed that he would not take over until after Buffett's death," The Associated Press said.

Buffett's success was "notable for how much it differed" from his billionaire peers "and how little the money seemed to change him," The Washington Post said. "He has famously lived in the same five-bedroom home in Omaha that he bought in 1958 for $31,500." At the shareholder meeting, he implicitly criticized President Donald Trump's tariffs. "Trade should not be a weapon," he said, but "there's no question that trade can be an act of war."

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What next?

Abel, 62, already manages Berkshire's non-insurance businesses, including BNSF railroad, Dairy Queen, Duracell and See's Candies. Buffett has "done what he can to prepare his successor," but he won't be able to "simply hand off" the "Buffett brand and the glow it imbues on anything his company touches," The Wall Street Journal said. "No one can completely fill those shoes."