Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett to Step Down After 60 Years

During the good times, investors like to think they’re Warren Buffett. But when the going gets tough, we’re reminded why there’s only ever been one Oracle of Omaha. Now, Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.B) shareholders will have to hope there can be a second. At the company’s annual shareholders meeting, Buffett announced he would resign from his role atop the conglomerate at the end of the year, capping a 60-year run.

• Buffett said he would recommend that the board move to make his longtime successor, Greg Abel, as CEO at year-end — adding that he won’t sell any of his $160B+ in shares and plans to “hang around” to help.
• The announcement overshadowed earnings, which showed a 14% drop in operating earnings on insurance and industrial losses. The company also warned about “considerable uncertainty” in the economy.

What happens next? In what will now be telegraphed as Buffett’s final shareholder meeting, he advised investors that the recent market volatility is really “nothing” in the grand scheme of things. He also warned that “trade should not be a weapon” and emphasized that “we should be looking to trade with the rest of the world” because the United States has won. Incoming CEO Abel added that Berkshire will “start from a great place” when he takes over — courtesy of the Oracle’s handiwork building up a record $347.7B cash pile.