Washington: Influential billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he will retire by the end of the year to lead his Berkshire Hathaway Business Group, and he suggested his chosen successor Greg Abel take over.
Buffett's success, coupled with his ability to interpret his thoughts in a clear voice, gave him a great influence in the business and financial community and earned his nickname “Omaha's Oracle.”
Buffett said a few years ago, Abel, 62, would become the successor.
“The time is here, and Greg should be the company's CEO by the end of the year,” Buffett, 94, said at the annual shareholders' meeting in Omaha, the Midwest city where Berkshire is located.
Buffett said he believes the board will “unanimously agree” with his suggestion.
He added: “In a few cases, I'll still hang out, imagine, but the final word is what Greg said in operation, capital deployment.”
Buffett transformed from a medium-sized textile company (Berkshire Hathaway) into a huge business in the 1960s, now worth more than $1 trillion and liquid assets of $300 billion.
“Wall Street Guide”
Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities described Buffett as “the wizard of Wall Street” and said his announcement could ease those who fear inheritance.
“This helps alleviate concerns about who will replace him and will likely be well received by his followers,” Cardillo told AFP.
The company reported first-quarter profit of $9.6 billion on Saturday, down 14%. The fee per share was $4.47, which also fell sharply.
According to Forbes’s rich real-time list, Buffett has a net worth of $168.2 billion.
“I have no intention of selling a part of Berkshire Hathaway. I will eventually give up,” Buffett told shareholders.
“The decision to retain every share is an economic decision because I think Berkshire’s prospects will be better than mine under Greg’s management.”
Buffett quipped, “This is the news hook of the day.”
Abel, a long-time central figure at Berkshire, joined the Department of Energy’s group in 1992 and has served on the board since 2018.
“Greg Abel and the rest of the team have huge shoes to fill, and if they want, they have a lot of cash to go to work.”
“It's really the end of an era,” he added.
Trade “should not be a weapon”
Buffett used the stage earlier to announce that “trade should not be a weapon” is clearly targeting US President Donald Trump’s active use of tariffs on countries around the world.
“There is no doubt that trade could be a war,” he said, without mentioning Trump's name.
The comments posted in the U.S. and abroad expressed concern that tariffs could severely slow global growth.
Two months ago, Buffett told CBS interviewers that tariffs were “a tax on goods”, not as Trump suggested, not a relatively painless income prompter – adding: “I mean, I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay!”
Buffett urged Washington on Saturday to continue trading with the rest of the world, saying: “We should do what we do best, and they should do their best.”
He said that achieving prosperity is not a zero-sum game, and the success of one country means the loss of another. Both can prosper.
“I do think the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it won't come at our expense. The more prosperous we become, the safer we feel,” Buffett said.
He added that it can be dangerous for a country to offend the rest of the world while claiming superiority.
“When I think it's a big mistake when you have seven billion people who don't like you very much, and $300 million is somehow crowding their performance,” Buffett told shareholders.
Compared to this dynamic, the recent tide of financial markets “really no”.
