Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, after more than 60 years guiding the firm that turned him into a household name for millions of investors worldwide.
Buffett was named chairman emeritus effective immediately, with his son Howard G. Buffett taking over as chairman, Berkshire said in a statement Friday.
“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.
The announcement comes just eight months after Buffett stepped down as CEO of the conglomerate he built into a trillion-dollar company. He was replaced as CEO by Greg Abel, his longtime lieutenant. At the time, the company had said that Buffett planned to hold onto the chairman title.
“Father Time always wins,” Buffett wrote Friday in a letter to Berkshire’s shareholders. “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.”
Now 96, Buffett had still appeared in interviews with CNBC as recently as July. However, his voice sounded weak of late.
Buffett noted in the letter that he has “served Berkshire since 1965.” He became chairman in 1970.
Since Buffett started to use Berkshire Hathaway as his primary investment vehicle in the 1960s, the company’s share price had risen more than 5,500,000% by the time he retired as CEO. By comparison, the return for the S&P 500 over the same period is a mere 39,000%.
Under Buffett’s leadership, Nebraska-based Berkshire thrived at the intersection of Wall Street and Main Street, with investments in industries ranging from railroads and insurance to candy and ice cream.
Berkshire currently owns the BNSF railroad, insurer Geico, and many other household brands such as Fruit of the Loom, Benjamin Moore, Duracell, and Dairy Queen.
Even in the last two months, Buffett was still a highly active investors. In July, Buffett told CNBC that he initiated an investment in Alphabet by Berkshire.
Buffett said he “made a mistake” by not investing in the tech giant earlier. The investment is now worth more than $27 billion and ranks as Berkshire’s fifth largest holding.
The admission closely mirrored another investment Buffett was late to: Apple.
Having often touted an invest-in-what-you-know strategy, Buffett said in 2012 that he wished he had bought shares of the iPhone maker.
Still, just as he advised Main Street investors, Buffett took his advice to the boardroom of Apple and to legendary former CEO Steve Jobs, who asked him: “We’ve got all this cash, Warren, what should we do with it?”
Buffett said he advised Jobs to start buying back shares. Not long after, Apple started its first-ever share buyback. After first buying shares in 2016, Apple has consistently ranked as Berkshire’s largest single holding, worth almost $80 billion as of Thursday.
Ranked as the world’s 10th richest person, with a net worth of more than $145 billion, Buffett is also a major force in the world of philanthropy.
Over the course of a decade, he donated almost $50 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett also helped to create “The Giving Pledge,” and signed up likeminded billionaires to give away nearly all of their wealth to charity.
“More than 99% of my wealth will go to philanthropy during my lifetime or at death,” Buffett pledged.
