Berkshire Hathaway Stock Falls Following Buffett's Retirement As CEO

Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRK BRK stock was trading lower on Monday after the company announced that Warren Buffett, 94, will step down as CEO.

On May 4, Berkshire’s board voted to appoint Greg Abel as CEO, effective January 1, 2026, during its 60th annual shareholders meeting. Buffett will remain Chairman of the Board.

Apple Inc AAPL CEO Tim Cook, CNBC’s Jim Cramer, and Microsoft Corp MSFT co-founder Bill Gates expressed their admiration for Buffett.

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Despite accumulating a record $348 billion cash reserve, Buffett said he is ready to deploy $20 billion or even $100 billion given the right opportunity.

This cash position follows Berkshire’s sale of two-thirds of its Apple position last year. Buffett has also signaled conviction in Berkshire’s $20 billion Japanese trading companies.

In the first quarter of 2025, Berkshire Hathaway’s operating earnings fell 14% to $9.64 billion. The result was driven by a 48.6% plunge in insurance-underwriting profit, which came in at $1.34 billion for the first quarter, down from $2.60 billion a year prior. Berkshire attributed this to the Southern California wildfires, which led to a $1.1 billion loss in the first quarter. The company also suffered a ~$713 million loss related to foreign exchange due to the dollar losing value.

Price Action: BRK/A stock was down 4.37% at the last check on Monday.

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