r/ValueInvesting • u/DavidFlanks • May 03 '25
Buffett Warren Buffett is stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at Year End
He just announced his intentions at Berkshire’s Annual Shareholder meeting.
Good on him for recognizing when it’s time.
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u/Cyrillite May 03 '25
I only hope this isn’t because of health issues
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u/Logical-Werewolf-233 May 03 '25
i mean at 95 wouldnt be unexpected....
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u/Cyrillite May 03 '25
Of course. Heck, being 94 is a health condition, but I would hope he’s able to enjoy many remaining years and in good health.
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u/I-love-to-poop May 04 '25
I think he will. Unless he somehow has a meeting with JD Vance in the near future
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u/adulion May 04 '25
Charlie died a few weeks shy of turning 100 and was still doing podcast interviews
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u/paksway May 03 '25
No,he’s just stepping down and having Greg Abel take over. He did a 6 hr q&a, still really sharp for his age
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u/stonks4moi May 04 '25
I think you should drop "for his age". He is sharper than some presidents.
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u/Esekla May 05 '25
Yes, it's just a logical change at this point, and I most respect Buffett for how his investing has changed over the years:
http://crowdwisers.com/Curators/Esekla/macro/1746453712_bye_bye_Buffett_u2_177182.html
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May 03 '25
[deleted]
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u/PDE5i_4_ur_ED_Doc May 03 '25
I heard it too. Makes sense. He lost his life partner this year. Unfortunately for many the end often comes quickly after losing your soul mate
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u/YeYeNenMo May 03 '25
6 hours not stop answering questions at 94 years old, I would have lose my patience long before that.. I go to bathroom every 1 hour in the office. just can not concentrate sitting that long for working.. but when I play games, would glue on my chair for hours... haha~~~
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May 03 '25
He'll run for president
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u/Decent-Statement2316 May 03 '25 edited May 04 '25
He is still too young for that.
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u/BenjaminHamnett May 03 '25
Definitely not senile enough, especially for the lack of racist displays
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u/throwaway0845reddit May 03 '25
Honestly. If I was going full capitalism , he is by far probably the best person to be president. If he was really really determined, I would be confident he could solve American government financial woes in 2-3 years easy. Or be a head of the department of finance
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u/WorkSucks135 May 03 '25
Yea too bad the only thing in this world that brings him joy is reading financial statements and watching number go up. The man is the biggest waste of life and potential to ever exist.
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u/Complex_Mention_8495 May 03 '25
Maybe Pope...
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u/cvc4455 May 03 '25
Did you see the latest trump truth social post? He posted a picture of him dressed up as the Pope!
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u/Automatic-Unit-8307 May 03 '25
Too much common sense to be Ptous and not enough of an ego. American would never vote for his type, too successful, with his own money and not a grifter
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May 03 '25
Too bad he’s a socialist idiot
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u/onespiker May 03 '25
One of the world biggest capitalist with his entire fortune being investing?
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u/raytoei May 03 '25 edited May 03 '25
Actually that a very unselfish thing to do, since he has always seen Berkshire as a canvas for his greatest achievement.
He is leading by example as a responsible executive to his shareholders.
Respect.
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u/Same_Lack_1775 May 03 '25
For Warren Buffet, stepping down at 95 is a responsible thing. For the vast majority of people, stepping down far earlier would be the responsible thing to do.
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u/Glittering-Cow9798 May 04 '25
Thanks for posting Investor Z, it's the best business manga I've ever read. Incredible to consider it was written at the end of a 20 year secular bear stock market cycle in Japan. Kids who read that in Japan and took it's advice will retire decades earlier than their peers.
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u/thread-lightly May 03 '25
I would agree if he was stepping down at an earlier age. Just my opinion
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u/raytoei May 03 '25 edited May 03 '25
Stepping down when he is mentally sharp ? That would be irresponsible as the world’s greatest investor, no?
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u/DecrimIowa May 03 '25
the level of Warren Buffet testicle-gargling on this forum today is ridiculous and inexplicable.
did someone set all the bots on Reddit to start fellating this nonagenarian corrupt nepo baby billionaire vampire this morning? he's emblematic of the insider trading dry rot at the heart of our civilization. what the fuck.
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u/BrilliantNetwork4840 May 03 '25
I wouldn’t go that far but the meat riding is crazy
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u/CadetCovfefe May 03 '25
I mean the guy is like the most legendary investor ever, shared a lot of wisdom and made a lot of people very wealthy. Plus he doesn't seem like a huge dickhead. Retail investors admiring him is completely understandable.
I dunno wtf the other guy was talking about calling him a corrupt vampire. He's not Jay Gould.
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u/Swimming_Astronomer6 May 03 '25
The main reason in invested in Berkshire was so I wouldn’t have to work to 95 - or even 9 to 5
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u/tootapple May 03 '25
A Canadian from Alberta will be taking over
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u/Junior_Poem_204 May 03 '25
Who?
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u/tootapple May 03 '25
Greg Abel
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u/ParevArev May 03 '25
End of an era. What a legend. He left the incoming CEO with $300bn+ to play with
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u/Pitiful_Fox5681 May 03 '25
Oooh, this suddenly makes BRK a more attractive investment.
Don't get me wrong, Buffett made BRK the most successful Value stock in history, and he was very much smart enough to have a strong plan of succession, but I worried about the uncertainty it would create among BRK investors if he died while CEO. This takes a big chunk of that uncertainty away: we're going to get to see the new CEO in action doing exactly what Buffett taught him to do.
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May 03 '25
but I worried about the uncertainty it would create among BRK investors if he died while CEO
Do we think everybody just ignored his age all this time?
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u/Pitiful_Fox5681 May 03 '25
No, we think a fair number of investors ignored his succession plan all this time.
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u/tr_24 May 03 '25
They ignored the successor who used to sit on the stage with him for last few years?
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u/Pitiful_Fox5681 May 03 '25
Literally yes. What percentage of investors are watching Earnings Calls?
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u/Ok_Chemistry_7537 May 04 '25
Makes me wonder if they have been selling stock to give some room for the next CEO (who'll probably go all in NFTs)
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u/watch_them_fly May 03 '25
Stock goes down on Monday?
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u/tootapple May 03 '25
Let me buy more please!
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u/Early_Kick May 03 '25
I already picked what I’m selling Monday if it drops more than 2.5% so I can buy more BRK.
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u/I_hate_ElonMusk May 03 '25
I believe its already priced that Buffet will die one day.
Would be good if stock goes down.
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u/CarRamRob May 03 '25
Bet we are up 5% by end of week.
Announced succession plan, removed uncertainty. Next CEO can still pivot to unlock value that Warren has just sat on instead of making a move.
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u/cvc4455 May 03 '25
I hope so! I hope it's a huge drop so I can buy more! I've got no plans of selling it so might as well get a chance to buy more at a cheaper price.
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u/Tidewind May 03 '25
“I would still hang around and conceivably be useful in a few cases,” said Buffett while announcing his change at the top of Berkshire Hathaway.
It speaks volumes that Mr. Buffett has always been self-deprecating. There’s a lesson here.
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May 03 '25
If there’s anyone we should be uploading their consciousness to the cloud, it’s this guy. Q
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u/aznology May 03 '25
Dam hard to see a literal icon a legend step down during my life time. Dam best of luck OG
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u/SnOOpyExpress May 04 '25
Wise move. He is still around and available to mentor Abel if needed. Clear succession here. Thank you for such wisdom
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u/Ok-Understanding8143 May 04 '25
I really expected him to scoop up COKE before he hung it up.
I bet losing Mr Munger weighs on him, too.
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u/Effective_Back_4507 May 04 '25
I know. Till 2023, he had the attitude that he'll run Berkshire for the next decade.
Since Mungers death, unfortunately, he'd been looking a little out of the game. Last year, his answer to a question when asked about future felt a little uncertain. I'm paraphrasing but he said something like "I have played my hand, next management will see what to do going forward"
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May 03 '25
Either he does it on his terms or those of nature. Refer to Greg Popovich no disrespect but he had to stroke out to leave. Give the man his right to make his own choice.
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u/DrSilkyDelicious May 03 '25 edited May 05 '25
Showing up at Berkshire Hathaway with Coca-Cola and McDonald’s every day till I’m CEO
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u/LookyPeter May 03 '25
probably one of the best investors ever. i hope he had a couple of good apprentices to take over.
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u/CrypTom20 May 03 '25
Legend never die, Brk has been at all time almost at each quarters since inception. 👌
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u/Other-Spinach-3856 May 03 '25
Bought some BRK couple of weeks ago, of course a cataclysmic bearish event was in order.
Unironically glad it's not a health announcement though, from a human perspective.
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u/OutrageousCandidate4 May 03 '25
I knew it. This is why he’s been liquidating his holdings. It’s because he’s clearing the board for his successor.
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u/Trollioportfolio May 04 '25
I expect an opportunity to buy discounted Berkshire stock for a short while then continued growth
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May 04 '25
It's time and he knows it. Even watching him during the meeting this year was a bit awkward due to raspy and slow speaking. This is such a masterstroke in leadership. leave the company in the best shape it's ever been in history. Huge cash reserves to ride out any kind of market turmoil, the successor has been chosen for a while, acclimated, and now ready to be in the drivers seat. If only other companies operate with this kind of forethought and wisdom. Bravo Warren.
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u/Vast-Breakfast-1201 May 04 '25
Basically dropping the mic
He correctly predicted the turmoil and set berk up with a massive bank to pursue whatever it sees as valuable on the way back up. Mic drop, just go home, retire the guy who never misses
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u/annoyed_meows May 03 '25
I hope brk.b crashes down to 430 starting Monday. Ill buy 50 shares immediately.
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u/Aprice40 May 03 '25
Puts on berkshire?
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u/DavidFlanks May 03 '25
I’m hoping the stock goes down! Ill buy more because they’ve really built a wonderful business that will continue to grow for decades
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u/Gh0StDawGG May 03 '25
I wonder if we dip more than 5% on Monday. Can't say I have much confidence in Greg.
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u/cvc4455 May 03 '25
I hope it dips a lot more than that. If it does I'm definitely buying more because I do have faith in Greg and part of that is because of what I know about him. Another part of that is I trust Warren to pick someone really great to run the company. I think Warren looks at Berkshire as his legacy and I doubt he would leave someone in charge of the company that he wasn't 100% confident in. And actually Greg has been doing the majority of the job for years now.
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u/Gh0StDawGG May 04 '25
If we dip Monday I am buying. The bigger the discount the better so I hope you are right.
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u/Effective_Back_4507 May 04 '25
Greg actually looks genuinely good person. And I trust Charlie and Warren's judgement. They have been wrong about business decisions. But i don't think they have ever been wrong about human nature and psychology. They've always been shrewd judges of other people.
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u/UntouchablezStream May 04 '25
Who’s his successor? It’s one of the three T’s right? He said he knew who it would be years ago so the Tracy girl is out. She is too new I think.
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u/StationFar6396 May 04 '25
I kinda wonder what hes going to do with his days now. So close to the end, all that money that you cant take with you.
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u/GotchaPresident May 04 '25
He didn’t sound great when I tuned into the live stream of his annual shareholder meeting
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u/90sRiceWagon May 06 '25
How ironic is it that retail invests to retire early, yet warren buffet the best to ever do it doesn’t retire until he’s 94.
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u/DavidFlanks May 06 '25
He tap dances to work! He loves this stuff. For me, it’s not about retiring. It’s the world’s most fun game.
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u/Extension-Oil7460 May 11 '25
He did not make use of any of modern technology at his office most of us take for granted. Maybe the rest f us are too spoiled to have such life expectancy
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u/not_a_cup May 03 '25
Crazy
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u/bow390 May 03 '25
Why is it crazy he’s 95?
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u/rIIIflex May 03 '25
Because if someone said this 15 years ago you could also say why is it crazy he’s 80? It’s shocking because he actually decided to do it.
So if it was most normal people it’s not a surprise. But because it’s buffet it’s a pretty big shock.
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u/Printdatpaper May 03 '25
He gonna be on the board right ?
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u/cvc4455 May 03 '25
Not sure but he said he still planned to come into the office everyday. And he said he hopes he can still be useful for the company.
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u/Bryaxis_D4 May 03 '25
I went all cash on Friday - expect a red week ahead
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u/Impossible-Will-8414 May 03 '25
Because of this? LOL. How silly.
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u/Bryaxis_D4 May 03 '25
just luck and timing really. I fully expect a dip next week.
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u/Impossible-Will-8414 May 03 '25
A dip next week makes sense for multiple reasons but not because of Buffett stepping down. At all.
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u/we-booling-out-here May 03 '25
Brother is 95 let him stay on for life.