Howard Buffett has taken over as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, following his father Warren Buffett's retirement from the CEO role in January. Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO on January 1 but remained chairman until recently, when Howard officially assumed the position.
Berkshire Hathaway announced the change on September 18. Warren Buffett became chairman emeritus and remains a member of the board. Howard Buffett, 71, was elected chairman after serving as a Berkshire director since 1993.
Greg Abel remains Berkshire's chief executive officer and continues to run the company's operations. Howard will serve as non-executive chairman rather than taking over day-to-day management of the company. Warren Buffett said Abel will run the company while Howard will protect Berkshire's culture and values.
The company is valued at more than $1 trillion and owns businesses ranging from insurance and railroads to utilities and consumer products. Warren Buffett transformed Berkshire from a struggling textile company into one of the world's largest conglomerates during more than six decades of leadership.
Howard Buffett’s professional background includes work in agriculture, food and business. He has served on the boards of The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola Enterprises and ConAgra Foods. He also held senior executive positions at Archer Daniels Midland and GSI Group.
He also spent time working on property that his father had purchased and leased out in the 1970s.
Howard described farming as a major shift from his comfort zone, something he didn’t expect to do early in life. He admitted to not knowing how to farm when he started but learned through hands-on experience and now considers it central to his life.
Today, Buffett operates a family farm in Illinois and continues to have extensive ties to agriculture. Fortune reported that he also operates farmland in Nebraska. His background is very different from that of his father, who built his career around investing and corporate management.
His commitment to farming is also reflected in the work of the Sequoia Farm Foundation, which operates farms and ranches across several states. The Howard G. Buffett Foundation says Sequoia holds its research farms and ranches in Illinois, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.
The foundation invests in research that improves production practices, water-use efficiency and soil management for small-scale farms in developing countries. Its broader food-security work includes conservation-based farming, agricultural resource management and research aimed at improving conditions for smallholder farmers.
Howard’s approach to learning mirrors his early academic path, which included attending multiple schools but never completing a degree. He attended Augustana College, Chapman College and the University of California at Irvine but did not graduate from any of them.
His career has spanned farming, board leadership, photography and law enforcement. He served as sheriff of Macon County, Illinois, after previously working as an auxiliary deputy. He has also worked as a photographer and author and has traveled extensively through his philanthropic work.
Howard is chairman and CEO of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The foundation focuses primarily on food security, conflict mitigation and efforts to counter human trafficking. It has also supported work in conflict zones including Ukraine.
His appointment as Berkshire chairman had been discussed as part of the company's succession planning for years. The role is not intended to make him Berkshire's chief investor or operating executive.
Warren Buffett said Howard's responsibility is to help preserve the culture that developed during his decades running Berkshire. Greg Abel remains responsible for running the company and making its major operating decisions.
That distinction is important because Howard's rise to the chairman's position does not mean he is replacing his father in every part of the job Warren Buffett once held. Berkshire has divided those responsibilities between Abel and Howard.
The leadership transition marks one of the biggest changes in Berkshire Hathaway's history. Warren Buffett remains on the board and can still offer advice while Howard serves as chairman and Abel leads the business.