Warren Buffett has officially abandoned a performance that buries all the stock indices on the horizon. Since 1964, Berkshire Hathaway has returned 5.5 million percent, with about 39,000 percent of the S&P 500 returns in the same period.
If someone were to fall for $ 10,000 in Berkshire six decades ago, they would currently sit on $ 550 million. The S&P 500 could not keep up even when it grew. Warren beat it 140 times.
This weekend, the numbers were in the Berkshire annual meeting in Nebraska Omaha, where thousands of shareholders gathered without knowing they were walking the bomb.
Warren, now 94, said he was going to step back by the end of the year – the arena is not expected. The man who turned the dying textile company into 1.2 trillion to the beast said he would be his last CEO.
Buffett shocks the crowd after the 60-year-old run with exit plan
“I'm amazed,” said Jim Ross, a shareholder and leader of the bookstore, who lives from Dundee's house in Dundee House – only four doors in the neighborhood of a happy cavity. The shock struck a lot because Warren had informed only two of his children before submitting the announcement, both on the Berkshire board.
Everyone else, including the rest of the board, heard the living. Warren ended the lessons and answers, saying to the crowd that he would ask the board to approve the transition during a Sunday meeting. He confirmed that Greg Abel, who manages the Berkshire energy division, will be taken over by the role of CEO.
“I think the time has come when Greg should become the CEO of the company at the end of the year,” Warren said. He also made it clear that he did not sell any of his Berkshire shares and would in some way contact the company.
If the board gives it a green light, Warren's departure would stop the 60-year-old run. This year's event was already different. There were no introductory video and Warren's questions and answers session was shorter, with faster breaks between segments.
The Berkshire auction had signed copies of a new book from the company's history, and all the revenue goes to the homeless charity organization in the South owners.
Colorado Springs Software Engineer Grant Macklem flew in because he wanted to see Warren as CEO last. He has organized Berkshire shares for 15 years and said, “We could see it never, just, I didn't expect it this year.” Grant said he was thinking of buying more shares before the meeting, but could not reach it. Now he is considering some grabbing when the price falls. The shares had just reached the highest level of all time on Friday.
Others who have watched the company were not so surprised. David Kass, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland, said Warren walked with a cane and his letter of 2024, hinting that Abel could soon write the shareholders' memo. “The announcement remembers some of what we already knew,” said Bill Stone, Cio Gleview Trust Company. “Greg has managed businesses on a daily basis. But now he now takes over the decisions of the capital distribution.”
The company has changed since Warren's longtime friend and business partner Charlie Munger died in 2023. For fund managers, the tradition has been a big question. “Berkshire is no longer a voter with a large cash flow. Now there is a group of well -known companies with cash for reinvesting,” said Smead Capital Management CIO BILL SMEAD. “The loss of Charlie and Age has ended the era for Warren.”
Omaha's crowd made it clear how much it meant to them. Many had just lined up in the early morning to stay in the room. After the Warren announcement, the arena rose on its feet. People wore t-shirts and hoods with his face.
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