Buffett Hands Over the Reins: Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel Takes Charge as Oracle of Omaha Exits Stage Left

Wall Street braces for a new era as Warren Buffett—the 94-year-old investing legend—steps down from Berkshire Hathaway by December 31st. Greg Abel, the ’math-whisperer’ successor, inherits a $900B empire... and Buffett’s folksy charm deficit.

Abel’s first mission? Prove he can outperform the S&P 500 without relying on ’old economy’ railroads and insurance cash cows. Meanwhile, hedge funds quietly update their ’Buffett Indicator’ algorithms to account for—gasp—actual tech exposure.

One thing’s certain: Omaha won’t be the same without Cherry Coke-fueled shareholder sermons. But hey, at least Abel won’t waste your time with ’intrinsic value’ lectures when Bitcoin’s pumping 20% this quarter.

Buffett and Abel meet board to decide future roles

Warren and Greg told Becky Quick from CNBC after the meeting that the company’s board will meet on Sunday to figure out what Warren’s formal role will be. Right now, Warren is still both chairman and CEO. Whether Greg gets both titles or just CEO is still up in the air.

Warren made all of this official during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, which drew around 40,000 people. The event also marked his 60th year leading the company. Hillary Clinton was in attendance. Warren didn’t endorse anyone in politics after her. He stopped doing that in recent years to avoid harming Berkshire’s businesses with controversy.

At the same meeting, Warren didn’t hold back when asked about President Donald Trump’s trade policies. He warned the crowd that using trade as a weapon could bring real global consequences. “Trade should not be a weapon,” Warren said. “There’s no question that trade can be an act of war.”

He said Trump’s heavy use of tariffs has made other countries angry, and that could create instability. Warren put it this way: “It’s a big mistake in my view when you have 7.5 billion people who don’t like you very well, and you have 300 million who are crowing about how they have done.”

He said countries should be focused on doing what they’re best at and trading freely. “We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world. We should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,” he told the crowd. He also said the world becomes safer when more countries are prosperous.

Berkshire holds cash as Buffett waits for right price

Warren told shareholders that Berkshire Hathaway is currently sitting on $347.7 billion in cash. He said he doesn’t see many investments he understands or finds attractive right now. So the company is holding the money.

But he believes a time will come when that cash will be needed. He said when that time comes, Berkshire will be “bombarded with opportunities that we will be glad we have the cash for.”

Warren also spoke about the country’s long history of change. He said the United States has gone through many revolutions since its beginning, and while equality didn’t come early, he remains optimistic about the country’s future. “If I were being born today, I would just keep negotiating in the womb until they said, ‘You could be in the United States,’” Warren said.

When it comes to Greg Abel, shareholders didn’t seem worried. Steven Check, who runs Check Capital Management, said Greg is already proven. He said the businesses under Berkshire’s umbrella mostly run on their own and Greg won’t get in their way.

“I think we’ll get a more hands-on manager and that could be a good thing,” Steven said. “But he also knows that those managers enjoy the freedom to run their businesses and Abel isn’t going to do anything to turn them off.”

Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now