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Shares of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A-0.82%) fell Monday morning, two days after Buffett announced that he will retire as CEO at the end of the year.
Berkshire Hathaway stock was off almost 6% shortly after the market opened. The shares are still up almost 13% so far this year, well ahead of the S&P 500's drop of about 4% on the year.
Buffett said Saturday that he will step down as the head of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2025, ending a storied investing career that saw him beat the market year after year and earned him the nickname “Oracle of Omaha.” The Berkshire board voted unanimously on Sunday to make Greg Abel, long Buffett’s heir apparent, the company’s new CEO next year. Buffett, 94, will remain Berkshire’s chairman.
Abel is currently the chairman and CEO of the company’s energy business and the vice chairman of Berkshire’s non-insurance operations.
“I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at the end of the year,” Buffett said Saturday during Berkshire Hathaway’s closely watched annual meeting in Omaha.
In Berkshire’s first-quarter earnings, the conglomerate reported a record $348 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and U.S. Treasury bills on hand as of March 31. That mountain of dry powder is striking — unlike some retail investors, Buffett didn’t buy the dip.
Instead, Berkshire stayed bearish. The firm unloaded $4.7 billion in equities while buying just $3.2 billion, marking the 10th straight quarter it’s been a net seller of stocks. The takeaway? Even Buffett, famous for buying when others are fearful, sees few bargains.
“I think the prospects of Berkshire will be better under Greg’s management than mine,” Buffett said during the weekend meeting. Earlier on Saturday, Buffett said he hoped Abel was “still running things” 50 years from now.
Speaking during the meeting, Abel said he has a hands-on managerial style. He said he wants to make sure managers are talking to each other and sharing knowledge and experience. Abel emphasized reinvesting in existing businesses, acquiring businesses outright, and buying stakes in public companies.
“We will continue to move forward with a very similar or identical philosophy to what we’ve had for the past 60 years,” Abel said.
Buffett sounded on board: “It’s working way better with Greg than it did with me,” he said. “I just didn’t want to work as hard as he does.”
—Shannon Carroll and Catherine Baab contributed to this article.