In an announcement that many investors knew was coming but didn’t believe would actually happen, famed investor Warren Buffett said Saturday at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting that he would step down as CEO at the end of the year. Greg Abel would take over at that point, pending board approval, and Buffett said he would not sell one share of Berkshire stock. Abel, the vice chairman of non-insurance operations of Berkshire, was designated as Buffett’s successor in 2021. Buffett will remain as chairman before turning that role over to his son, Howard Buffett, upon his death. “Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year-end, and I want to spring that on the directors effectively,” Buffett said at CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett said only his children knew he would be stepping down. The thousands in attendance gave Buffett a standing ovation. Buffett, 94, was expected to discuss his succession plans at the event. He has been with Berkshire Hathaway since it was formed in 1965. Born in Omaha in 1930, Buffett first became an investor when he was only 11 years old. He purchased his first stock in 1942 — three shares of Cities Service, an oil company, each worth about US$38. He eventually sold the stock at US$40, a mere profit of US$2 per share, although he could have later sold for US$200 per share. When he was 6, Buffett sold popular chewing gum brands and bottles of Coca-Cola, which Berkshire now has a massive stake in. At 13, Buffett’s family moved to Washington, D.C., when his father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Buffett would work as a newspaper delivery boy for The Washington Post. After earning US$2,000 by the age of 15, he invested US$1,200 in a 40-acre Nebraska farm. Behind his savvy investing, Buffett had US$5,000 in savings before he turned 20. After graduating from the University of Nebraska in 1950, he pursued a master’s in economics at the Columbia Business School in New York, paving the path to use US$100 of his own money in 1956 to launch his investment company, Buffett Partnership. In 1965, Buffett took control of a struggling textile mill in New Bedford, Massachusetts, called Berkshire Hathaway, which he helped grow into a giant conglomerate with close partner Charlie Munger. Berkshire would acquire See’s Candies, and buy stakes in Coca-Cola and television network ABC, among other investments. By 2025, Berkshire had a market capitalization of US$1.1 trillion. Buffett is the fifth richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$169 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index. Buffett also finally shared what he thinks about tariffs. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway called America’s trade wars a “big mistake.” “Trade should not be a weapon,” Buffett said. Buffett drew applause when he added: “America should do what we do best and other countries should do what they do best.” Berkshire’s quarterly report said tariffs could have a negative impact on its growth. (SD-Agencies) 周六，投資界傳奇沃倫?巴菲特在伯克希爾哈撒韋公司的年度股東大會上表示將在今年年底辭去CEO一職，這一消息雖在投資者預期之中，但真正宣布時仍引發全場轟動。 董事會批準后將由伯克希爾非保險業務副董事長格雷格?阿貝爾接任CEO，巴菲特表示他不會減持任何伯克希爾股票。阿貝爾于 2021年被任命為巴菲特的接班人。巴菲特將繼續擔任董事長直至去世，其后這一職位將交給他的兒子霍華德?巴菲特。 巴菲特在內布拉斯加州奧馬哈的CHI健康中心說：“格雷格會在年底成為公司CEO，這個決定我還沒和董事們充分溝通。” 94歲的巴菲特說，只有他的孩子們知道他準備卸任。數千名與會者起立向這位執掌伯克希爾59年的“奧馬哈先知”致敬。 伯克希爾哈撒韋公司成立于1965年。巴菲特 1930 年出生于奧馬哈， 11歲時首次投資股票。他在 1942 年購買了他的第一只股票——城市服務公司的三股股票，每股價值約 38 美元。他最終以 40 美元的價格出售了股票，每股僅獲利2美元，盡管后來每股股價漲到200美元。6歲時，巴菲特在街頭兜售口香糖和可口可樂，伯克希爾現在擁有這些公司的大量股份。 13歲時，巴菲特的父親當選為美國眾議院議員，全家搬到了華盛頓特區。巴菲特給《華盛頓郵報》送報。在15歲時賺到2,000美元后，他花1,200美元購買了內布拉斯加州一個40英畝的農場。他是個精明的投資者， 20歲之前已經有5,000美元。1950年從內布拉斯加大學畢業后，他在紐約哥倫比亞大學商學院攻讀經濟學碩士學位， 1956年用100美元注冊了自己的投資公司巴菲特合伙公司。1965年，巴菲特投資了馬薩諸塞州新貝德福德一家名為伯克希爾哈撒韋、陷入困境的紡織廠，之后多年間與親密的合伙人查理?芒格一起將該公司發展成為一家投資巨頭。伯克希爾的經典投資包括收購時思糖果，重倉可口可樂、入股美國廣播公司。 到2025年，伯克希爾的市值達到1.1萬億美元。巴菲特以1690億美元身家位列彭博億萬富豪榜第五。 在股東大會上巴菲特也分享了他對關稅的看法。他說美國的貿易戰是個“重大錯誤”。“貿易不應該成為一種武器，”他還補充說：“美國應專注自身優勢領域，其他國家也是如此。” 伯克希爾季報顯示，關稅政策已對公司增長前景構成不確定性。 (Translated by DeepSeek) | 