LONDON — Warren E. Buffett, who built one of the most successful investment firms in history and became the sage of American capitalism, is stepping down as chair of Berkshire Hathaway, the company said Friday.

Buffett, who turned 96 on Aug. 30, will become chair emeritus, effective immediately, and remain on Berkshire’s board. His son, Howard G. Buffett, will become chair.

“Serving as your Chairman has been the privilege of a lifetime, and I have never taken your trust for granted,” Warren Buffett wrote in a letter to Berkshire shareholders.

The move by Berkshire is the latest step in a long-planned leadership transition. Buffett stepped down as CEO of the company at the end of last year, and a longtime lieutenant, Greg Abel, took over.

“Father Time always wins,” Buffett wrote Friday. “He has, however, been generous with me.”

Over some six decades at the conglomerate, Buffett grew Berkshire into a trillion-dollar powerhouse, running businesses like the insurance giant GEICO and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, in addition to an enormous investment portfolio with stakes in blue-chip companies like Apple and Coca-Cola.

Buffett became known as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his long record of investing prowess. He built Berkshire’s fortune by adhering to what’s known as value investing: ignoring fads and seeking undervalued companies to invest in for the long term. Buffett broke it down in what has become a much-repeated quote: “We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”

Berkshire has amassed a cash hoard of more than $360 billion, and each move it makes with its money is closely scrutinized by investors, especially since Abel took charge.

“Warren is obviously a hard act to follow,” Abel wrote in his first letter to shareholders this year. Buffett’s annual letters, which mixed investment advice with folksy Midwestern aphorisms, observations about the world and sometimes politics, were widely influential across Wall Street and Main Street. Tens of thousands of people flock to Nebraska every year to ask him questions at Berkshire’s annual meeting, dubbed “Woodstock for capitalists.”

“Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business,” Abel said in a statement Friday. “The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian.” Howard Buffett, 71, has been a director at Berkshire for more than 30 years.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Michael J. de la Merced/Ruth Fremson
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