Warren Buffett Leadership

Buffett Steps Down as Chairman, Ending 56-Year Run

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) named Warren Buffett chairman emeritus effective immediately on Friday, September 18, 2026, and appointed his son, Howard Buffett, as chairman. The company announced the change in a press release before the US market opened, and Buffett explained the decision in a letter to shareholders: “Father Time always wins.”

This move completes the leadership transition that started in 2025. Buffett stepped down as chief executive at the end of that year, and Greg Abel, who previously led Berkshire Hathaway Energy, became CEO on January 1, 2026. Friday’s announcement removes Buffett from the chairman role as well. He remains on the board, while Abel continues to manage the operating company.

Key Takeaways

• Berkshire Hathaway named Warren Buffett chairman emeritus effective September 18, 2026; Howard Buffett becomes chairman.
• Buffett retired as CEO at the end of 2025, with Greg Abel taking over January 1, 2026.
• Berkshire Class B shares trade near $509, within a 52-week range of $464.01 to $537.74.
• Under Buffett, Berkshire’s per-share value compounded at about 19.7% annually from 1965 to 2025, compared to 10.5% for the S&P 500.

The announcement came during a quiet trading session. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) closed at 7,650.50 on Friday, up 0.17%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.18% to 51,682.64. Berkshire’s shares showed little reaction to the succession news. The more significant figure for shareholders is the valuation gap between the stock price and the underlying businesses.

What Berkshire Hathaway Actually Owns

Berkshire is an operating conglomerate that also holds a large securities portfolio, not primarily an investment company. Its insurance operations, led by GEICO, generate float that Berkshire invests. The rest of the company includes BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and a manufacturing and retail group with businesses such as Duracell, Dairy Queen, and Clayton Homes.

This structure is important when interpreting the financials. Reported net income fluctuates with mark-to-market changes in the equity portfolio, while operating earnings reflect the cash-generating businesses. In the second quarter of 2026, operating earnings increased to $12.983 billion from $11.160 billion a year earlier, a rise of about 16%, according to the Q2 2026 Form 10-Q. Net earnings attributable to shareholders reached $25.667 billion, boosted by investment gains.

The equity portfolio had a total fair value of about $323.8 billion at June 30, 2026. Apple, American Express, Bank of America, and Coca-Cola have long been the core holdings. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) joined the top five during the year after Berkshire added roughly $10 billion to that position, as The Associated Press reported. These five largest holdings made up 66% of the portfolio by fair value, so concentration remains a key characteristic of the equity book.

The Return Record Buffett Leaves Behind

Berkshire’s per-share market value grew at an average annual rate of 19.7% from 1965 to 2025, compared to 10.5% for the S&P 500 including dividends, according to a Motley Fool review of Berkshire’s own data. The cumulative difference is striking: a total gain of 6,099,294% for Berkshire versus 46,061% for the index over the same period.

That performance looks backward, and recent results have been less impressive. Berkshire returned 10.9% in 2025 while the S&P 500 gained 17.9%, and through August 31, 2026, Berkshire’s stock rose 0.47% compared to a 13.5% gain for the index. An investor who put $1,000 into Berkshire on the day Abel became CEO would now hold about $1,005.

Berkshire Class B shares traded near $509, within a 52-week range of $464.01 to $537.74, and the company’s market capitalization is around $1.1 trillion. Class A shares, which do not have the same split-adjusted history, trade above $763,000 each. Both classes have identical economic rights, and the price difference results from the share structure rather than company fundamentals.

Berkshire by the Numbers

The Cash Pile and Abel’s Capital Allocation

The main open question under Abel is how Berkshire will use its cash, which reached a record $397.4 billion at the end of March 2026 before declining to about $365.5 billion at June 30. That drop reflects the first significant deployment in years, and it was the focus of our earlier analysis of Berkshire’s return to net buying, which covered the end of a 14-quarter net-selling streak.

In the second quarter, Berkshire made about $23.5 billion in equity purchases against $3.7 billion in sales, resulting in roughly $19.8 billion of net buying. The company also repurchased $4.527 billion of its own shares, up from $235 million in the first quarter. About half of the net equity buying went to Alphabet, so the quarter reflects concentrated conviction rather than a broad market bet.

Abel has also used the balance sheet to acquire whole businesses. Berkshire completed its purchase of Occidental Petroleum’s OxyChem unit in January 2026 for about $9.4 billion and finalized its roughly $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison in July. These operating acquisitions are separate from the equity purchases and carry integration risks that stock purchases do not.

The bearish view on Berkshire’s stock depends on whether this deployment becomes a pattern. One quarter of net buying followed by a return to selling would suggest opportunistic moves rather than a strategic shift. The remaining $365.5 billion in cash is still large enough that no single deal can significantly affect the company’s overall value, which limits returns as the conglomerate grows.

Risks and the Succession Question

The main risk is that Berkshire has grown too large to maintain its historical growth rate. A $1.1 trillion market capitalization means a $10 billion acquisition barely moves the needle, and the reported figures show that even a $23.5 billion purchase quarter reduced cash by only about 5.4% of the quarter-end balance. Buffett’s advantage partly came from managing a smaller capital base, which Abel does not have.

Governance is another issue. Howard Buffett’s appointment as chairman, with Warren Buffett remaining on the board, concentrates family influence at the top of a company where Buffett’s personal reputation has often substituted for formal oversight. Abel’s letter to shareholders emphasized a long-term perspective, stating that “our owners’ time horizon extends beyond the tenure of any individual CEO.”

Key items to watch in Berkshire’s next filing include equity purchases and sales, the size of any new buybacks, and the cash and Treasury balances. A second consecutive quarter of net buying would indicate that Abel is managing the balance sheet more actively than Buffett did late in his tenure. A return to net selling would suggest the second quarter was a one-time opportunity rather than a policy change.

Friday’s announcement changes the chairman but not the earnings of the businesses. Berkshire continues to operate insurance, rail, energy, and consumer businesses generating about $21.7 billion of operating cash flow in the first half of the year, alongside a securities portfolio valued at over $320 billion. The leadership transition is complete, but the company’s future performance remains uncertain.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice. Verify figures against Berkshire Hathaway’s SEC filings before acting.

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Sources and References

Sources cited while researching and writing this article:

• Berkshire Hathaway Inc. News Release (2026-09-18)
• Q2 2026 Form 10-Q
• Here’s What $1,000 Invested in Berkshire Hathaway the Day Greg Abel Became CEO Is Worth Now