Buffett officially stepped down as CEO on Thursday, ending a six-decade tenure in which he transformed Berkshire from a struggling textile company into a trillion-dollar conglomerate that includes businesses from insurance to railroads, with more than $300 billion in cash on its balance sheet.
“Greg will be the decision maker,” Buffett said, adding that he “can’t imagine how much more he can do in a week than I can do in a month.” He went on to say that he would “rather have Greg managing my money than one of the best investment advisors or one of the best CEOs in the United States.”
Berkshire shares have lagged the broader market since Buffett announced his retirement in May, as some investors questioned whether Abel could oversee the conglomerate’s wide range of operating businesses in addition to his stock portfolio while maintaining a premium valuation.
The 95-year-old investor also signaled that his public presence would diminish and said he would not take the stage at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting this year — a departure from a longstanding tradition that has drawn tens of thousands of shareholders to Omaha in recent decades.
“Everything will be the same,” Buffett said. “I’m coming in. I won’t be there to speak at the annual meeting, but I will be in the directors’ section.” On Friday, Berkshire Hathaway’s post-Warren Buffett era got off to a quiet start, with the conglomerate’s shares trading lower after the “Oracle of Omaha” handed the top spot to Greg Abel, ending his six-decade stint at the helm.
The company now faces the task of maintaining its track record without its chief architect — the man who reshaped modern investing and turned Berkshire from a struggling textile maker into an investment giant worth more than $1 trillion.
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