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It was announced over the weekend that Warren Buffett will step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A) at the end of 2025, handing the role to vice chairman Greg Abel. Buffett, 94, has led the company since 1970 and is worth nearly $169 billion, primarily from his 37% stake in Berkshire.
Wealth host Brad Smith breaks down the details.
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Warren Buffett says the time has arrived to begin the CEO succession plan for Berkshire Hathaway. The 94-year-old investing legend plans to hand over the position to Berkshire's vice chairman, Greg Abel, at the end of 2025. Buffett has been CEO since 1970 and has been planning the transition for years. In his 2014 annual letter, Buffett outlined the qualities someone would need to be the next CEO. One of them being the ability to make money in excess, but not get greedy and chase bigger paychecks just to keep up with other executives. Buffett famously makes a salary of $100,000 a year at Berkshire, a figure that hasn't changed in over 35 years according to an SEC filing. He also doesn't take bonuses. To compare, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will make a base salary of one and a half million dollars in fiscal 2025. But don't get the wrong idea. Buffett is worth billions of dollars due to his share ownership in Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett is the fifth richest person alive according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has a net worth of nearly $169 billion, trailing other big tech CEOs like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos. The majority of Buffett's wealth comes from his 37% stake in Berkshire Hathaway worth around $167 billion. In 2025 alone, Buffett's net worth has grown by $26.6 billion. That is a significant gain amid recent market volatility that's hit the net worth of many other billionaires. Berkshire Hathaway has outperformed the S&P 500 so far this year, bolstered by the firm's diversified portfolio of owned businesses and equity investments.