Warren Buffett said he would resign as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway after 55 years, causing tributes to investors and business leaders.
Buffett, 94, made this announcement on Saturday at the annual meeting of the company shareholders in Omaha, Nebraska. The crowd gave Buffett Two standing ovationsRecognizing his career as the oldest managing director of a company S&P 500.
He said he intended to resign at the end of 2025 and recommended that the Board of Directors Greg AbelNow vice-president of the company, take over as CEO.
Buffett remained a lasting force as a investor and businessman since the purchase of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, then a textile factory from New England, and transforming it into a conglomerate of $ 1 Billion of dollars which extends over several industries.
After the announcement of Buffett, business leaders around the world shared tributes.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates called Warren Buffett “One of the biggest CEOs of all time”. BI
In a statement to Business Insider, the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, described Buffett as “one of the biggest CEOs of all time” and “Det-Down the most prosperous investor of all time”.
Buffett and Gates have been friends for 30 years, meeting in the 1990s. They have been working together on philanthropic efforts for decades, however Their friendship has cooled in recent years.
“He built an extraordinary company in Berkshire Hathaway, and he did it with wisdom, integrity and a sense of phenomenal humor. But Warren was not satisfied to give an example as a businessman. When he decided to return his wealth to society, he gave an example as a philanthropist, too.
Tim Cook
Berkshire Hathaway began investing in Apple in 2016. Nic COURY / AFP via Getty Images
The CEO of Apple congratulated Buffett in an X post on Saturday.
“There has never been someone like Warren,” wrote Cook. “This is one of the great privileges of my life to know him. And there is no doubt that Warren leaves Berkshire in big hands with Greg.”
Jamie Dimon
Dimon, the director general of JPMorgan Chase and an element of Wall Street, congratulated Buffett in a message after the big announcement of the investor.
“Warren Buffett represents everything that is good in American capitalism and America itself-investing in the growth of our nation and its companies with integrity, optimism and common sense,” he said, by Reuters. “I have learned from him so much to date, and I am honored to call him a friend.”
Brian Moynihan
Bank of America’s president and CEO Brian Moynihan told Business Insider that Buffett “was an unrivaled success during a seven decades’ career”.
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Bank of America was one of the greatest assets of Berkshire Hathaway before starting to sell shares last year.
“Beyond its commercial success, its unprecedented philanthropic gifts continues to be an example to follow,” Moynihan told BI by e-mail. “His life lessons delivered to young people and the elderly are as precious as his business sense. I have personally learned from him and I can’t wait to continue to benefit from his ideas. He was a huge supporter and investor in Bank of America and the economy of our country and in innovative spirit of the United States.”
Bill Gross
The billionaire investor and co-founder of Pimco, Bill Gross, told Business Insider by e-mail that the vision of Buffett distinguished him from other investors.
“His vision was not limited to an optimistic vision of the future,” Gross to Bi told Gross. “Thanks to his insurance assets, by their structure, allowed the investment of premiums at an almost zero cost in higher return assets such as Coke, Amex and Apple and, in so doing, he has created a spread that has led to billions and recognition not only as a stock selector but as a stock pue, but as a financial structural assistant. “”
Gross also congratulated Buffett and recalled for X the first time that his business granted Berkshire one of his first loans in the mid -1970s.
“I didn’t know anything about insurance and candy stores, but I was sold by its long -term vision of the economy and markets,” wrote Gross. “Congratulations my friend – not only for figures – but for philanthropy and years. Having a coke cherry with you was a highlight of my career.”
Mark Cuban
Cuban told Business Insider in an email that Buffett was his “investment hero” and shared a photo of him with the legend of investment in a dairy queen in Omaha.
“We used to go to DQ to Omaha,” wrote Cuban. “It was the highest point of my year.”
After the announcement, Cuban also republished on X a video showing Buffett receiving a standing ovation during the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway.
Spencer Hakimian
Hakimian, the founder of Tolou Capital Management, shared a video on X of Buffett receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway.
“The curtain calls the captain,” wrote Hakimian.
Ron Olson
Olson, a member of the Berkshire board of directors, told CNBC that Buffett had “lived a life full of surprises.
Olson also thought that “is ready” for the role.
“I have no doubt about it. We have known it for a long time,” Olson said at the point of sale.
French hill
The member of the Congress and the former Business Man of the Arkansas Gop told CNBC that Buffett, Abel and Berkshire Hathaway “have done a magnificent job in the last decade to prepare shareholders for today”.
Hill added that he admired Buffett since his college days.
“When I got out of the government in 1993 and returned to the private sector in investment management, it was Warren Buffett who was my model – a man I have never met personally, but I admired all these years,” said Hill at the point of sale.
Stephen Sueri
The President and CEO of American Express told Business Insider by E-mail that Buffett “had one of the most corrected careers in the history of American affairs”.
Sueri added that “the vision and the deep sense of Buffett towards the shareholders are unequaled, and that its humility and its humor are rare qualities in a leader who has done work with Warren”.
He added that American Express, in which Berkshire Hathaway holds a minority stake, is anxious to “continue working with Greg while he relies on the heritage of Warren”.
Seth Klarman
The CEO of Baupost Group Hedge Fund told Bi by e-mail that Buffett led an “investment marathon” for decades and excelled in all conditions.
“But he is more than an investor – he is a visionary business manager, a teacher, a model and a philanthropic. I have always seen him as a mentor, and I suspect that he will continue to contribute in all these spheres far in the future. There will be no other like him!”