Warren Buffett will step down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway on December 31, closing a six-decade chapter that reshaped American capitalism and transformed a struggling New England textile maker into one of the world’s most valuable conglomerates. The announcement, delivered at Berkshire’s annual shareholders’ meeting this spring, set in motion a carefully choreographed succession that will see vice-chair Greg Abel assume operational control on January 1 and preside over next year’s gathering in Omaha.

The transition ends one of the longest CEO tenures in modern corporate history and cements Buffett’s legacy not just as an investor, but as a philosopher of patience, discipline and restraint. Since 1952, he has lived in the same Omaha home in the Dundee neighborhood, an emblem of a worldview that rejected flash, speed and constant reinvention in favour of endurance and focus.

Over the years, Buffett repeated the same advice in interviews and shareholder letters: find good, undervalued businesses with strong leadership and then stay out of their way.

“I have a lot of fun doing what I do every day. I’ve had fun ever since I started delivering papers when I was 13. You better enjoy it as you go along. The idea that you’re going to have a lot of fun 30 years from now, or if you have $10 million, the trick is to enjoy what you’re doing that day. And I’ve always done that,” Buffett said in 1999.

Early bets, early lessons

Buffett has often insisted that luck played a decisive role in his success, beginning with where and when he was born.

“I was conceived during the crash. I was conceived in November of 1929. My father was a stock salesman. So, you can draw your own conclusions. If the market had stayed strong, he’d be out making calls. No telling what would happen,” Buffett said in 1992.

He bought his first stock at age 11. It did not go well.

“I bought 3 shares of Cities Service Preferred in 1942 at $38 per share. Doris, who is 3 years older, 13 or 14, and she figures that was my entire net worth, so if I’m doing that then she would too. It promptly went down to $27. And Doris and I would walk to Rose Hill and she would remind me that so far I wasn’t setting any records,” Buffett said.

As a teenager, Buffett hustled relentlessly. He sold golf balls, delivered 500 newspapers a day, handicapped horse races and sold tips to bettors at Ak-Sar-Ben. He bought a used Rolls-Royce for $350 and rented it out for $35 a day. But his favourite early venture involved pinball machines placed in Omaha barber shops.

“We did very well in that business. It was called Wilson Coin Operated Machine Company because my partner Don Danley and I went to Woodrow Wilson High,” Buffett said in 1992. “The barbers were always bugging us to put in newer machines… We told them we’d take it up with Mr. Wilson. We said he was a tough guy and we weren’t sure we could persuade him.”

Building Berkshire

Buffett’s ascent was incremental, not meteoric. At 32, he invested in a struggling textile company called Berkshire Hathaway. In the 1960s, he took control and pivoted the business toward insurance, a decision that provided the steady cash flows that would fuel decades of acquisitions.

From GEICO and Central States Indemnity to Borsheims, Nebraska Furniture Mart and dozens of household names, Berkshire became a sprawling collection of companies bound by decentralized management and long-term ownership. Much of the wealth Buffett generated is now being given away.

“I said one time, quoting someone else, I generally believe that if you have a lot of money, leave your kids enough money that they could do anything, but not enough so they could do nothing,” Buffett said in 1992. “I just don’t see any reason from a social standpoint or a personal standpoint that passing on hundreds of millions is advisable.”

Writing the obituary first

Every spring, Berkshire shareholders descend on Omaha in pilgrimage-like numbers, listening as Buffett explains his decisions in marathon sessions that blur business, ethics and humor. His longtime partner Charlie Munger once offered him a piece of advice that Buffett said stayed with him.

“He said to me that what you do is write your obituary early and reverse engineer it,” Buffett said in April 2023.

When a reporter asked whether that meant living up to it, Buffett replied: “Or down to it. Whatever it is. Whatever it is you want to accomplish in your life, just figure it out. That is what your obituary will be about. That if you want to be remembered as kind, you better be kind. It’s going to be there, and you’re not going to be able to change it.”

Last month, Buffett accelerated the dispersal of Berkshire stock to foundations set up by his three children, totaling about $1.3 billion. In his Thanksgiving letter, he reminded readers that success is not measured by money or power.

“Kindness is costless but also priceless,” he wrote. “Keep in mind, the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the chairman.”

Next week, he will hand over the title of chief executive. The office, the routine, and the philosophy remain.

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