On May 3, 2025, Warren Buffett carried out a procedure for the annual meeting of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in Omaha, Nebraska.
David A. Groge | CNBC
Age is not just a number for Warren Buffett.
The 94-year-old investment legend recently surprised the shareholders by announcing his intention to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after an epic 60-year run. The reason for the decision was the physical effect of the aging that he experienced, Buffett said in a new interview with Wall Street Journal.
“For some strange reason, I didn't really grow old until I was about 90 years old,” he said in a telephone interview. “But when you get old, it gets – it is irreversible.”
The oracle of Omaha, who became 95 in August 95, revealed the newspaper that it occasionally lost its balance and sometimes remembered problems. His vision also became less clear when reading newspapers.
It was an end to an era in Berkshire that was a failing textile mill in New England six decades ago and was transformed into a unique conglomerate with Geico insurance companies and BNSF railways. Buffett hands over his reins with a high grade, since the Berkshire shares are near a record high and gives the conglomerate a market capitalization of almost 1.2 trillion dollars.
The board of Berkshire unanimously voted to stay as chairman, Greg Abel, now deputy chairman of non -insurance operations, president and CEO on January 1, 2026.
Nevertheless, Buffett said that he was still mentally sharp to make investment decisions when there were opportunities. It is known that the value investment -icon uses market turbulence and depressive prices to make large purchases.
“I have no problems making decisions about something that I made decisions 20 years or 40 years ago or 60 years ago,” he told the journal. “I will be useful here if there is a panic on the market because I am not afraid if things sink in price or everyone else is afraid … and that is really not a function of age.”
Click here to read the original WSJ history.