Warren Buffett Bids Farewell as Berkshire CEO in Bittersweet Thanksgiving Letter

There’s really only one word to describe Warren Buffett’s 2025 Thanksgiving letter, issued on Nov.10 — bittersweet.

That’s because he announced he’ll be stepping down as CEO at the end of 2025, officially passing the reins to Greg Abel in 2026. But the letter did much more than reveal Buffett’s plan to reduce his responsibilities at Berkshire as he embraces life at 95.

He reflected on some memorable childhood stories, including one about a time he nearly died, and shared how he’s already started giving away parts of his fortune.

There were even a few down-to-earth life lessons sprinkled in that really hit home. So let’s get into Buffett’s Thanksgiving letter, and what he really meant when he said he’d be “going quiet.”

Warren Buffett unloaded a lot in his 2025 Thanksgiving letter, with the biggest news being that he’s stepping down as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO at the end of the year. “Greg Abel will become the boss at yearend. He is a great manager, a tireless worker, and an honest communicator. Wish him an extended tenure,” Buffett noted, confirming he’s already chosen his successor.

And he couldn’t be more confident in his decision.

“Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire’s next CEO. He understands many of our businesses and personnel far better than I now do, and he is a very fast learner about matters many CEOs don’t even consider,” he wrote.

Buffett added, “I can’t think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government — you name it — that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine.”

While some might be surprised that Buffett didn’t hand the title to one of his three children, he’s long been vocal about his stance on earning over inheritance, once telling Berkshire Hathaway shareholders (per Investopedia), “Leave the children enough so that they can do anything, but not enough that they can do nothing.”

In his letter, Buffett also revealed that he converted 1,800 Class A shares, which are costly shares with high voting power, into 2,700,000 Class B shares, which are cheaper and more accessible to regular investors.

He then distributed those B shares as follows: 1,500,000 shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and 400,000 shares each to the Sherwood Foundation (run by his daughter, Susie), the Howard G. Buffett Foundation (run by his son, Howard), and the NoVo Foundation (co-run by his son, Peter).

Buffett also got more personal, reflecting on a few childhood memories, including how his family doctor, Harley Hotz, sent him in for an emergency appendectomy in 1938 after he complained of a bellyache, and how the first week of recovery was “dicey.”

He recalled his third-grade teacher, Miss Madsen, and his classmates who wrote letters to him while he recovered. He also reminisced about growing up around the people who would one day become his business partners and friends, like Charlie Munger, Stan Lipsey, and Don Keough.

And perhaps the most touching part of all came through the advice he offered at the end: “Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes — learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them.” He also reminded readers that, “Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, great amounts of publicity, or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world.”

It means Buffett’s responsibilities with Berkshire will reduce significantly. While he’ll still be involved with the company (because how could he not?), he’ll no longer serve as CEO or write Berkshire’s annual report.

He also mentioned he won’t be “talking endlessly at the annual meeting” anymore, as he put it in his letter.