Warren Buffett Steps Aside at 96: Howard Buffett Takes the Chair at Berkshire Hathaway 🌳
After Six Decades at Berkshire, the Oracle of Omaha Hands Over the Chairmanship—but Not the Wisdom
Howard Guards the Culture, Greg Abel Runs the Company—and 11 Buffett Quotes Worth Keeping Forever
🌳 Warren Buffett Steps Aside. The Tree He Planted Keeps Growing.
“Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.”
— Warren Buffett
At 96, Warren Buffett is finally relinquishing the chairmanship of Berkshire Hathaway—the company he transformed over six decades from a struggling textile business into a roughly $1.1 trillion conglomerate. Bloomberg confirmed his eldest son, Howard Buffett, 71, succeeds him as non-executive chairman, while Greg Abel, who became CEO at the beginning of 2026, continues to run the company. Warren isn't disappearing: he becomes chairman emeritus, remains on Berkshire's board and will continue to offer his judgment and perspective.
It's a very Berkshire succession. Greg runs the businesses; Howard protects the culture. As Buffett put it, Howard will guard Berkshire's culture and values—things Warren considers more valuable than anything sitting on the balance sheet. And naturally, Buffett couldn't announce his own transition without a joke: one of his great-grandchildren recently turned one and is apparently “moving a bit faster than I am these days.” At 96, the Oracle of Omaha can still deliver a punchline.
What an extraordinary run. But perhaps Buffett's greatest legacy isn't Berkshire's size, his fortune or even his investment record. It's an unusually simple philosophy applied with unusual discipline: understand what you own, don't overpay, think independently, avoid permanent losses, give compounding time to work—and don't confuse activity with intelligence.
Which seems like the perfect occasion to revisit some of our favorite Warren Buffett wisdom:
“Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1.”
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”
“It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
“Our favorite holding period is forever.”
“Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.”
“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
“Never invest in a business you cannot understand.”
“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.”
“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”
“Games are won by players who focus on the playing field –- not by those whose eyes are glued to the scoreboard.”
🎯 Gotta love Warren Buffett.
He's still around at 96. Still thinking. Still joking. Still investing. Still teaching—whether he intends to or not. And after more than six decades at Berkshire, he's doing something else great leaders eventually have to do: letting the institution outlive the individual.
Great investor? Absolutely. But we've always admired something else about Buffett too: behind all those annual reports, multiples and billions is a man with a wonderful sense of humor who somehow made patience entertaining.
And maybe one of his own lines provides the best epitaph for this particular moment:
“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
Warren planted quite a tree. 🌳
Carpe diem!
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