What's next for Berkshire Hathaway as longtime CEO Warren Buffett retires

Warren Buffett has officially retired. The legendary investor stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year after building it into one of the world's largest and most powerful companies. NPR financial correspondent Maria Aspan has been covering Buffett and joins us. Happy New Year.

MARIA ASPAN, BYLINE: Happy New Year.

DETROW: So Buffett announced this retirement months ago. What exactly changes for Berkshire Hathaway today?

ASPAN: Well, the hope is not a whole lot. I mean, Buffett is 95 years old, and he has spent a long time planning for this day. He named his successor years ago. That's Greg Abel, who's been one of his top deputies at Berkshire Hathaway. Abel ran all of Berkshire's noninsurance businesses, and he was sitting next to Buffett in May when Buffett surprised everyone by saying that the time had finally come for him to step back as CEO. And more recently, Berkshire also announced some internal changes, like promoting some executives, as Abel got closer to taking over.

DETROW: OK, so what exactly will he be taking over, though? What is Berkshire Hathaway in 2026?

ASPAN: Scott, it's a good question because while Berkshire Hathaway is huge, it can be kind of hard to describe. When Buffett bought it 60 years ago, it was a failing textile business. Now he's turned it into this massive conglomerate that's behind all kinds of household names. On the one side, Berkshire owns and operates some companies outright, like GEICO insurance and Dairy Queen and Duracell batteries. But Berkshire is probably even more famous as an investor in other companies. It owns stakes in Apple and Coca-Cola and Bank of America, among many others.

Buffett really became famous as an investor. He has this kind of common-sense approach called value investing, which basically means he looks for fundamentally good companies that will get stronger over time, and he stays invested for the long term. He's now one of the wealthiest men in the world, so he's obviously been pretty successful at it.

DETROW: Right, and he's become this business icon in so many different ways. And you were in the room in Omaha in May when he announced his retirement. What was that like?

ASPAN: You know, it's weird to say it's a shock when someone in his 90s steps down, but it was. I mean, there were tens of thousands of people in the room. They come from around the world to Omaha every year for Berkshire Hathaway's annual investor meeting. And when I joined them in May, Buffett, as usual, spoke for hours in his typical folksy style. He loves to give advice about all kinds of topics from investing to life and even sometimes politics. For example, this was his reaction in May to the then-new tariffs that President Trump had just announced on almost all U.S. imports. This was as broadcast by CNBC.

WARREN BUFFETT: Trade should not be a weapon. And the United States, we've won. I mean, we have become an incredibly important country starting from nothing 250 years ago. There's nothing been anything like it.

ASPAN: This is another thing that made Buffett successful on and off Wall Street. He's very comfortable in the spotlight.

DETROW: And he's also very comfortable just being like a regular person. You know? That's such a big...

DETROW: ...Part of his image and makes me wonder, what's he going to do in his retirement?

ASPAN: Well, he's going to continue giving away his money, which he's been doing publicly for decades. And he's now trusting his kids and their foundations to decide where it goes. And also, he's not completely leaving Berkshire Hathaway. He will still be chairman, and he said in a public letter to shareholders in November that he plans to continue giving out the public advice that has helped make him famous. So for all of his fans around the world, this year is definitely going to be an adjustment.

DETROW: That is NPR's Maria Aspan. Thank you so much.

Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.