Warren Buffett has offered an emphatic vote of confidence in his successor Greg Abel, saying he would prefer Abel to manage his own money as Berkshire Hathaway begins life after its legendary leader stepped aside following a six-decade run.
Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway is better positioned than any other company to endure over the long term, crediting years of careful succession planning as the conglomerate transitions to new leadership.
“It has a better chance, I think, of being here 100 years from now than any company I can think of,” Buffett told CNBC.
Praising Abel’s work ethic and decision-making ability, Buffett said the incoming chief executive would now be firmly in charge. “Greg will be the decider,” he said, adding that Abel could achieve more in a week than he could in a month. “I’d rather have Greg handling my money than any of the top investment advisers or any of the top CEOs in the United States.”
Berkshire Hathaway formally entered a new chapter on Friday after Buffett stepped down as CEO on Thursday. Shares of the conglomerate edged lower, reflecting investor caution as the company adjusts to leadership without the man who built it into a global investment powerhouse.
Buffett’s departure brings to a close a remarkable tenure that transformed a struggling textile business into a trillion-dollar conglomerate with operations spanning insurance, energy, railways and consumer brands. Berkshire now holds more than $300 billion in cash, underscoring its scale and financial firepower.
Analysts say the company’s biggest challenge will be sustaining its culture and performance without Buffett’s iconic presence. “It’s hard to imagine that there will be the same cult following,” Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management, told Reuters.
Greg Abel, 63, takes charge at a delicate moment. Berkshire underperformed the S&P 500 in 2025, and Buffett has acknowledged the growing difficulty of finding acquisitions large enough to materially move the needle for a company of its size.
Abel has been with Berkshire since 2000. While uncertainty naturally surrounds leadership transitions, analysts note that Buffett has carefully laid the groundwork for a smooth handover—even as his legacy remains inseparable from the firm.