Warren Buffett to retire: Here's who will replace him as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO?
Warren Buffett shocked an arena full of his shareholders Saturday by announcing that he wants to retire at the end of the year.
Warren Buffett announced on Saturday that he wants to retire at the end of 2025. The 94-year-old was speaking to an arena full of his shareholders at the company's annual meeting. Buffett said he will recommend to the board that Greg Abel become CEO at the end of the year.
"I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the Chief Executive office of the company at year's end,” Buffett said. The billionaire had previously said that he had no plans to retire, making his Saturday announcement a shocker for most shareholders.
Read More: Who is Greg Abel, Warren Buffet's likely replacement as Berkshire Hathway CEO?
Before making the big announcement, Buffett spoke about President Donald Trump's tariffs. He warned that the policy would have global consequences and “trade should not be a weapon” but "there's no question that trade can be an act of war.”
“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,” Buffett said.
“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 said.
Who is Greg Abel?
Gregory Edward Abel is a Canadian businessman. He is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy and has served as vice-chairman of non-insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway since January 2018. Abel is designated to succeed Warren Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, with Buffett confirming this in 2021 and stating in May 2025 that Abel should assume the role by year-end.
Abel played hockey and football as a child and worked odd jobs like distributing flyers and laboring for a forest product company. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Alberta in 1984 and is an AICPA-certified public accountant.
His career began as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in San Francisco. In 1992, he joined CalEnergy, a geothermal electricity producer. After CalEnergy acquired MidAmerican Energy in 1999, Berkshire Hathaway took a controlling interest, and Abel rose to become CEO of MidAmerican (later renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy) in 2008.
