On Sept. 18, 2026, Warren Buffett said he will step down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, ending a run of more than 50 years in the job. He will stay on the board as chairman emeritus. So yes, Berkshire is entering what the report called the last stage of a succession plan that has been years in the making.
Howard Buffett takes the non-executive chairman role
Under Berkshire’s current succession plan, Buffett’s son Howard Buffett is set to become non-executive chairman. Greg Abel, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, will keep running day-to-day operations and continue making capital allocation calls.
In his shareholder letter, Buffett said Abel had performed above even the highest bar he originally set for him. He added that recent big operating and investment decisions were led by Abel and moved ahead without problems.
Howard Buffett has been a Berkshire director since 1993. That means 33 years on the board, which the report said has given him a strong grasp of the company’s culture. Buffett laid out the future governance setup pretty plainly: Abel will run operations, and Howard Buffett will concentrate on safeguarding Berkshire’s culture and core values. Susan Decker will stay on as lead independent director, with the goal of keeping governance aligned with the long-term interests of most shareholders.
Buffett says he is more confident than ever about Berkshire’s future
Buffett wrote in the letter: "Time spares no one. But it has been generous to me. It gave me the chance to watch Berkshire grow into what it is today, and it has left me more confident than ever about its future."
$365.5 billion cash pile supports the transition
Berkshire Hathaway owns businesses in insurance, railroads, energy, and manufacturing. Last year, it reported $44.5 billion in operating earnings and employed nearly 400,000 people around the world.
As of the second quarter of 2026, Berkshire held $365.5 billion in cash and short-term equivalent investments on its balance sheet. The report said that gives the incoming leadership team a lot of defensive firepower, plus plenty of room to deploy liquidity.
During the second quarter, Berkshire also increased share repurchases to $4.5 billion. The report said that showed management was still returning capital while keeping its eye on asset safety and intrinsic value per share.
Market focus shifts to Berkshire after the Buffett era
CNBC said Buffett led Berkshire — a company that started as a textile mill and became a multinational conglomerate — to an annualized compound return of about 19.7% during his tenure. That was almost twice the return of the S&P 500 over the same stretch.
The day the announcement came out, Berkshire shares moved only modestly, and the broader market stayed fairly calm. The report said that mostly reflected what investors had already come to expect after years of slow, deliberate succession planning.
Now the market’s next question is simple. Can this new governance team keep the same disciplined balance between safety and capital returns once Berkshire no longer enjoys the holding-company premium tied to Buffett’s personal reputation? That matters even more because of the company’s huge capital base and the swings in market valuation.