Warren Buffett, the legendary “Oracle of Omaha,” who at 95 years old and coinciding with the end of 2025 has formally handed over the leadership of Berkshire Hathaway to Greg Abel, has expressed his confidence in the future of the investment firm under his successor’s leadership, stating that “it has a better chance of still being here in 100 years than any other company I can think of.”
In an interview with CNBC, a segment of which the network published this Friday, the nonagenarian investor downplayed the change in leadership at Berkshire Hathaway, emphasizing that “it will be the same,” even though he no longer plans to participate in the annual meeting, although he will remain chairman of the board.
“Greg will be the one making the decisions,” Buffett stressed, highlighting the experience and business acumen of the new president and CEO of the investment firm. “I’d rather have Greg manage my money than any of the best investment advisors or anyone else,” he added.
Greg Abel’s appointment as president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, effective January 1, 2026, was confirmed in early May by the Berkshire Hathaway board of directors following a recommendation from Warren Buffett himself, who had already identified the executive as his successor in 2021.
Buffett began acquiring shares of Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 and gained control of the company, then focused on the textile sector, in 1965, in what he humorously described as “the most absurd investment of his life.”
During these 60 years at the helm of the firm, Berkshire Hathaway has transformed into a holding company with stakes in groups such as American Express, Coca-Cola, Diageo, General Electric, Heinz, Johnson & Johnson, Moody’s, Procter & Gamble, Sanofi-Aventis, UPS, Walmart, and The Washington Post, among others. Likewise, the personal fortune accumulated by Buffett would currently place him in ninth position on the list of billionaires compiled by Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of $148.9 billion (€126.754 billion), after having briefly held the top spot on this ranking in 2008.
