World
Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman; son Howard takes over
Berkshire Hathaway said that Warren Buffett, its former CEO and the world's most revered investor, has been named chairman emeritus, effective immediately.
FULL ARTICLE · The Indian Express World
3 min readUpdated: Sep 19, 2026 08:07 AM IST
Warren Buffet built Berkshire into an approximately $1.03 trillion conglomerate with dozens of businesses. (File)
Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway after serving in the role for more than 50 years. The company said Friday that the 96-year-old Buffett will become chairman emeritus and will take on his new role immediately.
“Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me,” Buffett wrote in a letter to shareholders.
His son, Howard, will become Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman. Howard Buffett has served as a Berkshire Hathaway board member since 1993. Warren Buffett will remain a director. He has served as Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman since 1970.
Buffett stepped down as CEO of the company late last year. He was succeeded by Greg Abel.
“As Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Buffett will remain a member of the Board of Directors and will continue to offer his valued judgment and perspective,” Berkshire said in a statement.
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Profile · Business · September 18, 2026
Who is Warren Buffett?
At 96 he has given up the Berkshire Hathaway chairmanship he held for more than half a century, becoming chairman emeritus. He stays on the board. His son Howard takes the chair, and Greg Abel keeps running the company.
File photo · 2019
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett walks through the exhibit hall as shareholders gather to hear from the billionaire investor at Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., May 4, 2019.
(REUTERS)
“Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me. He has given me the opportunity to see Berkshire reach a point where I am more confident than ever about what lies ahead.”
Warren Buffett, in his letter to shareholders on Friday
1965
Took control of a failing textile mill
19.7%
Compounded annual return since then
$1.03tn
What Berkshire is worth today
56 years
As chairman, from 1970 until Friday
The recordWhat he builtThe handoverWhat now
The record
Six decades of compounding, and a year of lagging behind.
Berkshire Hathaway, compounded annually since 1965
19.7%
The S&P 500 over a comparable period
about 10%
Close to double the index, sustained for sixty years. It is the number that made him the most closely studied investor alive, and the reason chief executives across corporate America have used him as a sounding board on acquisitions, succession and market panics.
This year has been harder
Berkshire stock is up about 1% in 2026 while the S&P 500 has risen more than 11%. Rising oil prices and investor appetite for faster-growing companies explain part of it; the rest is shareholders waiting to see whether Abel can deploy capital as his predecessor did.
And the cash pile is enormous
Berkshire sat on $365.5 billion in cash. It has begun spending: billions into stocks including Alphabet, and buybacks stepped up to $4.5 billion in the second quarter. Quarterly operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, ahead of forecasts.
What he built
Dozens of businesses, from railroads to plush toys.
Geico
Car insurance
BNSF
Railroad
Berkshire Energy
Utilities
Dairy Queen
Ice cream
Fruit of the Loom
Clothing
Squishmallows
Plush toys
From a Massachusetts textile mill
Berkshire Hathaway was a failing textile manufacturer when Buffett took control in 1965. What he leaves is a roughly $1.03 trillion conglomerate, run from Omaha, Nebraska, on a philosophy of long-term holding, disciplined capital allocation and plain speaking.
The handover
Eight years in the making. Friday was the last step.
2018
Greg Abel is given the non-insurance businesses
Ajit Jain took the insurance side. Buffett kept the investing.
2021
Abel is confirmed as successor
After Charlie Munger let it slip at a shareholder meeting.
May 2025
Buffett tells the annual meeting he is going
The announcement stunned a hall of thousands, despite his age.
January 1, 2026
Abel, 64, becomes chief executive
Buffett stays on as chairman.
September 18, 2026
He gives up the chair too
Howard Buffett, a director since 1993 and chairman of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, takes the chairmanship under a long-standing succession plan. Susan Decker continues as lead independent director. Warren Buffett remains on the board.
What happens now
The part nobody can answer yet.
Unresolved
Can Greg Abel allocate capital the way Buffett did?
That is what $365.5 billion in cash and a share price up 1% in a year of an 11% market are really asking. Abel has started answering — billions into stocks including Alphabet, buybacks stepped up to $4.5 billion in the quarter — but the record he is measured against is 19.7% a year for sixty years.
What the job now is
Abel runs the company. Howard Buffett guards the culture — as Abel put it, the values his father championed will stay at the heart of Berkshire and Howard will be their guardian. Warren Buffett keeps a board seat and, in Berkshire’s words, will go on offering his judgment and perspective.
And he has not left the building
Warren Buffett keeps a seat on the board as chairman emeritus. Berkshire says he will go on offering his judgment and perspective. Susan Decker continues as lead independent director, the governance counterweight to a founder’s son holding the chair.
Sources: Reuters; Associated Press; CNBC; Berkshire Hathaway’s statement and Warren Buffett’s letter to shareholders, September 18, 2026.
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Buffett transformed the company from a struggling textile business into an investment giant worth more than $1 trillion.
Buffett delivered steady gains
Known for his long-term strategy and focus on buying high-quality businesses at reasonable prices, Buffett delivered steady gains that outpaced broader markets, making him a trusted steward of capital.
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Buffett built Berkshire into an approximately $1.03 trillion conglomerate with dozens of businesses, including GEICO car insurance, the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Dairy Queen ice cream, Fruit of the Loom underwear and Squishmallows plush toys.
“The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian,” Abel said in a statement on Friday.
How Buffett shaped generations
Buffett’s influence has extended far beyond Berkshire, shaping generations of corporate leaders and investors with his emphasis on long-term thinking, disciplined capital allocation and straightforward management.
CEOs across Corporate America have looked to him as a sounding board on everything from acquisitions and succession to navigating periods of market turmoil, while his annual shareholder meetings became a gathering point for investors seeking insight into the broader business landscape.
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Buffett first announced plans to step away from the conglomerate in May 2025, surprising shareholders and analysts despite his age. After decades at the helm, he had become synonymous with the company, making his succession one of the most closely watched in corporate America.
In August, Berkshire said it began reducing its enormous stockpile of cash in the second quarter, investing billions of dollars in stocks such as Alphabet and repurchasing billions of its own, as it reported higher-than-expected profit.
Its quarterly operating profit rose 16% to $12.98 billion, topping analyst forecasts, while net income more than doubled to $25.67 billion, including unrealised gains and losses on stocks that Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire still owns.
(With inputs from AP, Reuters)
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