Warren Buffett marks his final day as Berkshire Hathaway CEO — will remain chair - part 1/2
2025-12-31_11-39 • 5m 36s
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
00:00.000
And
as
Joe
mentioned
at
the
top,
today
is
Warren
Buffett's
last
day
as
CEO
of
Berkshire
Hathaway
after
60
years.
Buffett
shocked
Wall
Street
in
May
when
he
announced
that
he
would
ask
Berkshire's
board
to
replace
him
with
Greg
Abel
as
CEO
at
the
end
of
the
year.
Buffett
has
led
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
00:17.560
the
conglomerate
for
six
decades,
but
he
won't
be
stepping
away
completely.
He
is
staying
on
as
chairman
of
the
company
and
he
plans
to
continue
coming
into
the
office
each
day.
In
fact,
he's
there
not
only
five
days
a
week,
but
I
think
he
comes
in
sometimes
six
Days
a
week
too,
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
00:30.840
either
a
Saturday
or
a
Sunday.
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
00:32.800
Amazing.
With
uh
Is
it
Is
it
Cherry
Coke
Zero
or
Cherry
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
00:40.000
No,
no,
no,
no
diet,
Full
on.
no
Zero
full
on
Yeah,
he
likes
the
full
flavor
I
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
00:44.720
like
it
too.
I
like
it
too
but
I
I
I
Coke
or
Cherry
Coke
either
way.
Yeah,
I
just
can't
the
140
calories
if
you
run
on
a
treadmill
for
like
a
half
hour.
It's
like
120
calories.
It's
like
I
can't
it's
not
a
it's
not
a
fair
trade.
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:00.040
recorded
as
an
investor,
what
he's
managed
to
do.
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:02.800
He's
changed
the
Yeah,
I
mean,
one
one
man
can
can
change
the
world
and
he
certainly
did
in
the
in
the
way
that
you
invest
and
he's
I
mean,
how
many
people's
lives
has
he
enriched?
Not
just
I'm
talking
monetarily,
but
I'm
sure
in
in
in
other
ways
as
well
and
and
he's
going
to
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:19.280
leave
a
legacy
of
of
philanthropy
that's
going
to
help
a
lot
of
people
uh
as
well.
He's
done
a
lot
for
the
for
the
NCA
March
Madness.
I
mean,
he's
done
a
lot
lot.
For
a
lot
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:30.680
of
things.
I
mean,
the
He's
giving
me
a
brick
I
have
a
brick.
I
have
a
an
Acme
brick.
He's
given
away
more
than
50
billion
dollars
already.
Uh
his
plan
is
to
give
away
more
than
99.9%
of
all
of
his
wealth.
Give
me
a
lollipop.
Trump
are
going
to
finish
carrying
that
out
for
him.
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:45.680
Yeah,
they
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:46.040
will.
And
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:47.080
Greg
Abel
is
the
person
who
Charlie
Munger
first
kind
of
slipped
at
an
annual
meeting
in
May
2021
to
say
that
Greg
would
be
the
one
who
would
be
taking
He
did
back
that
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:56.800
yeah
So
it
was
2021
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
01:58.040
when
he
first
slipped
but
then
it
was
this
annual
meeting
May
of
this
year
when
Warren
Buffett
surprised
everybody
in
the
auditorium
by
saying
that
he
liked
to
step
down
as
CEO
to
Well,
do
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
02:09.600
you
think
this
last
is
how
much
is
it
more
oversight
for
the
last
since
then
what
is
that
four
years?
Is
it
more
oversight?
Do
you
do
they
you
think
they
took
anyone
took
ideas
to
him
to
to
get
Oh
yeah
his
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
02:23.120
blessing?
They
did
still?
I
think
not
I
think
I
think
for
the
most
part
Greg
has
been
running
a
lot
of
the
non-insurance
companies
for
years
now.
now.
Um,
that
that's
been
the
way
that
they
set
it
up.
Warren
Buffett
has
been
running
the
insurance
companies.
Everybody
reports
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
02:36.200
through
to
Warren
Buffett.
But
Greg
has
done
a
phenomenal
job
really
in
the
operations
business
of
trying
to
make
sure
um
that
things
run
smoothly.
And
a
lot
of
the
problems
that
Warren
Buffett
didn't
really
want
to
deal
with
were
the
things
that
Warren
Buffett
has
been
dealing
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
02:49.640
with.
But
they
work
together
very
closely
and
I
I
know
they
still
talk
constantly.
So
there
is
a
lot
of
back
and
forth.
And
I
think
that's
great
for
Warren
Buffett.
As
a
fire
shield.
Uh,
to
anybody
who
wants
to
come
around
and
say
that
you're
not
Warren
Buffett,
this
is
not
your
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
03:05.160
company.
Buffett
still
controls
30%
of
the
vote
in
that
company.
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
03:09.360
But
what
does
this
really
mean
today?
I
think
I
just
wonder
what
what
what
if
he
has
a
strong
feeling
about
something
that's
going
on,
I'm
sure
he
as
a
chairman
is
a
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
03:19.160
I
think
he
is
trying
to
step
back
and
let
Greg
do
more
More
than
step
back
more
than
he
I
think
I
than
he
already
has
people
are
going
to
Greg
with
some
of
the
deals
on
these
things.
I
think
Warren's
phone
is
always
there
if
somebody
wants
to
come
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
03:29.720
and
call
You
own
30%
you
could
still
say
I
don't
want
to
do
that.
Yeah,
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
03:33.040
but
I
I
I
think
he's
you
know
he's
worked
with
Greg
for
a
long
time.
He's
been
his
chosen
person
for
a
long
time
and
I
think
he's
very
happy
to
see
what
Greg
has
done
with
the
company
over
the
last
several
years
too.
And
I
think
what
you
pointed
out
his
legacy
is
going
to
be
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
03:47.080
much
more
than
just
Berkshire
Hathaway
although
that's
a
pretty
phenomenal
legacy
in
itself.
For
anyone
who's
owned
it
36%
yeah
$119
to
you
know
7,500
you're
talking
about
gains
of
3.5
million
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
03:58.840
plus
You
could
probably
with
a
Yeah,
I
figure
out
how
many
millionaires
He's
created.
He's
created
from
But
I
think
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:04.600
it's
also
like
his
Thanksgiving
letter
that
he
wrote
this
year
talking
about
how
you
should
behave
in
life
and
kindness
is
an
easy
choice
and
that's
what
you
should
really
do.
I
think
those
messages
are
pretty
important
too.
He's
got
a
huge
following
of
people
who
admire
not
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:18.720
only
what
he's
done
in
business
and
in
investing
but
what
he
has
chosen
to
do
in
life.
He's
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:23.000
kind
unless
you're
on
the
other
side
of
a
negotiation
because
I
mean
especially
when
he
was
younger
I
heard
he
was
just
a
a
sad
It's
like
a
a
he
was
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:31.800
He
doesn't
make
bad
deals.
No.
I
I
shouldn't
say
he
doesn't.
He
does
occasionally
but
I
mean
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:36.040
ruthless
that's
a
bad
word.
It
has
a
bad
connotation
but
but
he
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:39.000
If
you're
spending
your
partners,
he's
always
looked
at
the
shareholders
as
his
partners
because
it
started
out
as
a
small
group
of
family
and
friends.
He's
not
going
to
overpay
with
I
wouldn't
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:45.640
want
to
be
on
I
wouldn't
want
to
buy
or
sell
anything
to
him.
I
I
Becky Quick (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:49.600
think
I
think
I
I
think
there've
been
a
lot
of
pretty
good
deals
where
people
on
both
sides
No,
Joe Kernen (Co-anchor of Squawk Box)
04:54.880
I'm
sure.
I'm
sure.
But
he
hasn't
No,
and
he
hasn't
uh
been
on
the
short
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