Warren Buffett's Son Howard Will Succeed Him

According to a report at

, Warren Buffett will announce that his son Howard will succeed him at Berkshire Hathaway

. He will serve as a "guardian" of the company's values rather than in the CEO role, however. His official role will be as non-executive chairman, a role in which he will not be paid. Howard Buffett will not be responsible for strategy and will keep his day job as a corn and soybean farmer according to Forbes. According to comments made by the Oracle of Omaha, however, his son's role will be very significant in keeping the fabric of Berkshire as Warren would want it. The elder Buffett said that “You worry that somebody will be in charge of Berkshire that uses it as their own sandbox in some way." He then added that “That changes the way that decisions are made in reference to the shareholders. The odds of that happening are very, very, very low, but having Howie there adds just one extra layer of protection.” While Warren Buffett has been moving to comfort shareholders about his plans for succession, he hired hedge fund manager Todd Combs to oversee some investments, for example, it is a very real possibility that this might not be an issue for another decade or even longer. After all, Buffett is 81, but he is in good health and it doesn't seem impossible that he could continue to function at a very high level into his nineties. This is a sentiment that was reflected by Howard, who said that his dad won't be leaving Berkshire "until he's buried in the ground."