Warren Buffett stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman on Friday and handed the seat to his son, Howard Buffett. The board named him chairman emeritus, a title that keeps him on the board without running it.
Greg Abel remains chief executive. He continues to make the day-to-day calls and decide where Berkshire’s money goes.
Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Chairman After 56 Years
Howard Buffett has sat on the board since 1993, longer than his father spent in business before taking over Berkshire at 34. Susan Decker stays lead independent director. Chairman emeritus is an honorary title. It carries no command over the company.
The elder Buffett, who turned 96 last month, framed the change as a formality in a letter to shareholders.
“He has been making the decisions that matter for some time now, and I have not had to think twice about any of them,” the announcement stated, citing Warren Buffet, now Berkshire Hathaway chairman emeritus.
Class A shares closed Thursday at $763,936, down 2.10%. The Class B shares finished at $509.20, a 2.04% drop. That selling ran ahead of the announcement, and in Friday pre-market trade the B shares sat at $509.24, barely moved.
BeInCrypto flagged the fading Buffett premium last October, well before this year’s slide.
What Howard Buffett Has Said About Bitcoin
Nothing on the record. The new chairman built his public profile around farming, food security, and landmine clearance in Ukraine, not markets.
He has run the Howard G. Buffett Foundation since 1999 and served nearly a decade as a United Nations goodwill ambassador against hunger.
Fortune reported last year that he was on track to send about $1 billion in aid to Ukraine. He has never stated a position on Bitcoin or digital assets.
His father did, repeatedly, calling Bitcoin “rat poison squared” and later a gambling token.
The job Howard inherits is non-executive anyway. He guards culture. Abel writes the checks, and already kept the anti-Bitcoin stance when Berkshire’s cash pile hit a record $397 billion.
Whether Abel ever embraces Bitcoin remains the open question for crypto investors watching that balance sheet.
Friday’s opening bell will show whether shareholders read the handover as closure or as loss.
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