Warren Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, said he would step down from that position by the end of the year.
Buffett, 94, transformed Berkshire Hathaway, a former textile company, into a powerful business investor, creating billions along the way.
Let's take a look back at some of the defining moments in his life.
August 30, 1930
“Omaha's Oracle”
In August 1930, Mr. Buffett was born in Omaha to Leila and investment banker and future Republican Rep. Howard Buffett.
At the age of nine, he began studying the stock market.
“I was charting all sorts of inventory, and the more numbers the better,” he told the New York Times in 1990.
He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Nebraska, and the Wharton School at Columbia Business School before returning to Omaha.
1959
Meet Charlie T. Munger
In 1959, Buffett met Charles T. Munger after Omaha doctors introduced each other. They quickly started a business together and worked together for over 50 years.
In 2015, Buffett praised Munger, who became Berkshire Hathaway's vice-president in 1978, for creating the structure of the business.
“The blueprint he gave me was easy. Forget what you know about buying a fair business at a great price. Instead, buy a great business at a fair price,” Buffett wrote in a letter looking back at the company's first 50 years.
Munger passed away in 2023.
1963
I'm watching past salad oil scams
The American Express Company stock acquired the Crater in 1963 after the public learned that the company provided warehouse receipts for salad oils that do not exist through its warehouse subsidiary. The inspector was tricked into a tub of water topped with salad oil, and the receipt was forged.
Less well-known at the time, Buffett had strong assets other than those involved in the salad oil scandal, so he discovered the opportunity and put $13 million in the American Express.
This purchase is considered one of his earliest investment successes. Berkshire Hathaway is currently the largest shareholder of American Express.
1965
Trade textiles for businesses
Mr. Buffett first bought the shares in December 1962 at Berkshire Hathaway, a textile company at the time. He continued to buy shares for many years, and in May 1965 he officially controlled the business and converted it to a conglomerate holding company.
In a letter commemorating the company's 50th anniversary, Buffett said he regretted spending a lot of money on Berkshire stocks he acquired in the early 1960s. He closed his textile business in 1985.
1993
“Horrible”
Mr. Buffett has been open about his investment mistakes, and in his 50th anniversary letter he bought the “most frightening” error in 1993 when Berkshire Hathaway bought his company Dexter shoes.
Berkshire Hathaway bought Dexter Shoes, a Maine-based shoemaker, for $433 million, and its value quickly fell to zero.
“As a financial disaster, this deserves a book from the Guinness World Records,” he wrote.
Buffett was one of the richest people in the world when he said in 2006 that he plans to donate much of his fate to the Gates Foundation and four other charities.
Four years later, Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates recruited other wealthy Americans to make similar commitments.
Buffett told the Wall Street Journal in 2024 that the foundation would not receive any more of his money after his death. Instead, the money is sent to a charity trust supervised by his daughter and two sons.
May 3, 2025
Buffett exit
At Berkshire's annual shareholders meeting on Saturday, Buffett announced he had resigned.
Buffett said he hoped Gregory E. Abel, vice-chairman of Berkshire's non-insurance company, would take over as CEO by the end of the year.
Berkshire's biggest shareholder, Buffett continues to be the company's chairman, earning about 14% stake worth around $164 billion.
