In a personal and reflective letter released Monday, Warren Buffett announced that he will step down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of this year, ending more than six decades at the helm of the $1 trillion conglomerate. The 95-year-old investor-long known as the "Oracle of Omaha"-paired the announcement with a deeply human story from his childhood and a $1.3 billion philanthropic gift that continues his long-standing plan to give away nearly all of his fortune.
The letter, published ahead of Thanksgiving, opens with a story from when Buffett was eight years old and recovering from an appendectomy in Omaha. His Aunt Edie had gifted him a fingerprinting kit, which he used on "all his attending nuns." Buffett wrote, "My theory, totally nutty, of course, was that someday a nun would go bad and the FBI would discover they had neglected to fingerprint nuns." He imagined FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover coming to Omaha to inspect his collection and help him "apprehend the wayward nun."
"Obviously, my fantasy never materialised," Buffett wrote. "But, ironically, some years later it became clear that I should have fingerprinted J. Edgar himself as he became disgraced for misusing his post." The humorous recollection set the tone for what Buffett described as his inaugural Thanksgiving message-an annual tradition he plans to continue as he withdraws from day-to-day corporate leadership.
Greg Abel, 63, will succeed Buffett as CEO on January 1, while Buffett remains chairman. "I will no longer be writing Berkshire's annual report or talking endlessly at the annual meeting," he wrote. "As the British would say, I'm 'going quiet.' Sort of." Abel, who oversees Berkshire's non-insurance operations, will take over the shareholder letters that have become a hallmark of Buffett's plainspoken investing philosophy since 1965.
The investor used the message to detail his latest act of philanthropy. Buffett disclosed that he converted $1.3 billion worth of Berkshire shares and donated them to four family foundations, advancing his long-standing plan to distribute his entire $149 billion fortune. "My children are all above normal retirement age, having reached 72, 70 and 67," he wrote. "It would be a mistake to wager that all three will enjoy my exceptional luck in delayed aging." Buffett explained that accelerating the gifts ensures his heirs can oversee the charitable disbursements themselves.
Even as he shifts his focus toward philanthropy, Buffett reaffirmed his confidence in Berkshire's long-term stability. "I can't think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine," he said.
He tempered that optimism with characteristic realism, acknowledging that Berkshire's vast size will constrain future gains. "A decade or two from now, there will be many companies that have done better than Berkshire," he wrote. Still, Buffett emphasized the conglomerate's resilience, reminding shareholders that its stock "has fallen 50 per cent three times in 60 years" and always rebounded.
"Don't despair; America will come back and so will Berkshire shares," Buffett advised. In closing, he turned from markets to meaning: "Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is costless but also priceless."
