Warren Buffett, the 95-year-old “Oracle of Omaha,” announced he will retire as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of this year, marking the end of an era for one of the most influential investors in history. In his farewell letter to shareholders, Buffett said he is “going quiet,” though he will retain a significant stake in Berkshire and continue writing annual Thanksgiving letters about his philanthropy, according to Amelia Pollard of the Financial Times. He reaffirmed confidence in his successor, Greg Abel, and cautioned against corporate greed and short-termism, contrasting his long-term value investing philosophy with modern speculative trends. Buffett also revealed a new $1.3 billion donation of Berkshire shares to his family foundations, continuing his lifelong commitment to philanthropy and the Giving Pledge. The FT writes:
Warren Buffett has told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that he is “going quiet” as the world’s most famous investor draws a line under a career that has shaped corporate America and Wall Street over the past six decades.
“As the British would say, I’m ‘going quiet’. Sort of,” Buffett wrote in a letter published on Monday. […]
Although Buffett will no longer run the company, he said on Monday that he would keep holding a “significant” portion of Berkshire’s class A shares, which give him significant sway over the insurance to rail conglomerate, until shareholders grow more accustomed to his successor Greg Abel. […]
While Buffett has made many millionaires in the US and globally as a result of compounding returns on Berkshire shares, he has maintained a mantra of corporate good.
“Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that will make its existence an asset to the United States and eschew activities that would lead it to become a supplicant,” he wrote.
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