Warren Buffett, in his final letter as Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Hathaway, on Monday told shareholders that he will be “going quiet” once he steps down at the end of this year.
After nearly six decades at the helm, Buffett will no longer pen the famed annual letter that has accompanied the company’s report since 1965. His successor, Greg Abel, will take over as CEO and continue the tradition of writing to shareholders. However, Buffett said he will still send his personal Thanksgiving message each year to his children and shareholders.
Over the decades, Buffett’s annual letters became legendary, offering far more than corporate updates. They wove together business insights, market wisdom, leadership lessons and anecdotes, becoming essential reading for investors worldwide.
In his parting note, released on Monday, Buffett reflected on business, philanthropy and ageing with the trademark candour and wit that have defined his writing. He confirmed plans to “step up” his charitable giving, pledging to donate the remaining $149 billion in Berkshire Hathaway stock he still holds.
He also provided a brief update on his health. “To my surprise, I generally feel good,” he wrote. “Though I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am at the office five days a week where I work with wonderful people.”
Acknowledging the urgency of time, Buffett disclosed that he had converted 1,800 Class A shares, worth about $1.35 billion, into the company’s lower-priced B shares and donated them to four of his family foundations.
“To improve the probability that they will dispose of what will essentially be my entire estate before alternate trustees replace them, I need to step up the pace of lifetime gifts to their three foundations,” he explained.
Despite accelerating his philanthropy, Buffett said his optimism for Berkshire Hathaway remains undimmed. He will retain a “significant amount” of Class A shares until shareholders grow comfortable with the transition in leadership. “That level of confidence shouldn’t take long,” he wrote.
Buffett, 94, announced earlier this year that he would hand over leadership of Berkshire Hathaway to Gregory Abel, 63, who has been with the company since it acquired his energy business in 2000.
“He understands many of our businesses and personnel far better than I now do,” Buffett noted, describing Abel as “a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator.”
“Wish him an extended tenure,” he added. “My hope is that his health remains good for several decades. With a little luck, Berkshire should require only five or six CEOs over the next century.”
Abel will take charge of a vast multinational conglomerate spanning railways, energy, retail and insurance, among other businesses. Berkshire’s Class A shares closed Friday at $748,320 apiece, a fitting symbol of the empire built under Buffett’s steady hand.
With his final words as CEO, Buffett signed off not with fanfare, but with characteristic humility: an enduring reminder that his greatest legacy lies not only in wealth creation, but in wisdom shared — and the quiet confidence of a life well invested.
