Legendary Billionaire Investor Who Trashed Trump Tariffs Steps Down
“Father Time always wins,” said the 96-year-old financier.
Scott Morgan/File Photo via Reuters
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of his Berkshire Hathaway firm, to be replaced by his son.
The 96-year-old confirmed his decision in a letter to his trillion-dollar company’s shareholders on Friday.
“Serving as your Chairman has been the privilege of a lifetime, and I have never taken your trust for granted,” Buffett said.
“Father Time always wins. He has, however, been generous with me. He has given me the opportunity to see Berkshire reach a point where I am more confident than ever about what lies ahead. The company is in excellent hands, and I look forward to remaining a shareholder alongside you.”
Howard Buffett, 71, has served as chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation since 1999.
Henry Nicholls/Pool via Reuters
His son Howard Buffett will become chairman of Berkshire Hathaway as part of a long-standing succession plan. The 96-year-old will remain a member of the Board of Directors and has been given the honorary title of chairman emeritus.
Buffett had announced his plans to retire in May 2025 while also taking a thinly veiled swipe at Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariff plans, which the president announced the previous month.
“Trade should not be a weapon,” Buffett said during a shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, adding that “trade and tariffs can be “an act of war.”
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“And I think it’s led to bad things. Just the attitudes it’s brought out. In the United States, we should be looking to trade with the rest of the world and we should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,” he said.
The Supreme Court eventually struck down Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The Wall Street giant also gave a similar dire assessment of Trump’s tariffs after the president announced a 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico in March 2025.
“They’re an act of war, to some degree,” Buffett told CBS News. “Over time, they are a tax on goods.”
“I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ’em,” he added.
Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when it was a struggling textile manufacturer and turned it into a trillion-dollar conglomerate.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
In his letter, Buffett said a big reason for stepping down now was Greg Abel’s performance since he took over from him as Berkshire Hathaway CEO in January.
“My expectations for him were sky high from the start, and he has exceeded them,” Buffett said.
“He has taken hold of the Chief Executive Officer job in every respect. He has been making the decisions that matter for some time now, and I have not had to think twice about any of them. So the timing is right to complete the transition.”
In a statement, Abel said: “Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business.”
Buffett, known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” has an estimated net worth of more than $144 billion, according to Forbes, making him the 10th wealthiest person on the planet.
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