On December 31, 2025, at the age of 95, Warren Buffett (known as the ‘Oracle of Omaha’) completed a remarkable 60 years as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He took control of the company in 1965 when it was a failing textile manufacturer (less than $1 billion in value). Since then, he has built it into an extensive conglomerate valued at over $1 trillion, with interests ranging from insurance to railroads to energy to consumer products to an extensive stock portfolio of companies.
His investing philosophy (finding great companies and investing at fair prices for long-duration holds) produced tremendous success, but it has also attracted some criticism. This article discusses several aspects of Mr. Buffet’s leadership: how he has been able to hold this position for so long, the effectiveness of Mr. Buffet’s overall leadership style regarding criticism and missed opportunities; succession planning by Mr. Buffet with Mr. Greg Abel; and his major acquisitions made during this time frame; and his competition against others in the marketplace.
Did Buffett overstay?
Many investors and analysts wondered if Warren Buffett’s long-term success led him to stay too long as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway compared to other companies. He was already an older CEO at the time of his announcement, making him one of the oldest active CEOs to still be listed on the Fortune 500 list (which ranks the biggest U.S. companies based on revenue). He was also the subject of periodic calls from investors and analysts to retire due to the perceived risk that age could have on his ability to make good decisions.
However, it is clear from the positive reactions by stakeholders associated with Berkshire Hathaway to his plans to retire, revealed during May 2025, that there was a high level of support for Buffett to remain on as CEO. Most of the reactions from Berkshire Hathaway shareholders and business leaders following Buffett’s retirement announcement were mixed. For example, a day before Buffett’s retirement Berkshire’s share hit all-time high $809,350 and lost 14.4% on retirement and finished with some recovery, but overall underperforms by 10.9% compared to S&P 500 17.9% return. This highlights investor anxiety whether new successor can produce performances like Buffett.
Recent social media sentiment supported the legacy of Buffett and did not imply that he should have retired sooner. Although certain people criticized Buffett for being too conservative during his later years and for holding a record amount of cash ($382 billion). The vast majority of stakeholders associated with Berkshire Hathaway wanted Buffett to remain on the company’s board of directors because of the trust they have in him as well as the need for continuity.
Missed Opportunities
The majority of criticisms of Buffett come from the fact that he has stayed away from many technology stocks, including Amazon and Google, saying he has a major regret from the two of them (2025). With the success of these companies turning into trillion-dollar companies he has demonstrated how wrong he was to have passed on each of them.
Buffett has made more mistakes than just not investing in these companies; he overbought a company called Precision Castparts for around $32 billion in 2016. Buffett was forced to take a $10 billion write off on Precision Castparts due to the downturn in the aerospace industry. Additionally, his acquisition of Dexter Shoe back in 1993 was the worst mistake of his career. Buffett exchanged stock in Berkshire (which is now worth billions) for a business that was failing. He has publicly stated that his “dumbest mistake” ever was purchasing Berkshire’s original textile business, which cost Berkshire shareholders roughly $200 billion in lost opportunities.
Buffett’s propensity for protection through value-based approaches ultimately clouded his vision to disruptive growth possibilities. In recent years, critics have declared that Berkshire Hathaway fell behind the high-tech weighted indices (for example, the S&P 500) over the past decade with a poorer relative performance during the tech boom era. Nevertheless, Buffett used lessons from his late partner Charlie Munger to mitigate losses through recognition of “quickly admitting mistakes.” Ironically, Buffett made one of his final major investments by purchasing a $4.3 billion stake in Alphabet in the 3rd quarter of 2025 and marked a move toward technology later in life than before.
Greg Abel’s Succession
Greg Abel was groomed by Buffett for the position of successor since 2021, and Buffett claimed that Mr. Abel was more capable of operations than he was. Mr. Abel has held various positions within Berkshire’s Energy Division and will become the CEO beginning January 1, 2026. Mr. Abel will have a $381.7 billion cash position to invest, which presents the new CEO with significant challenges. Also, Mr. Abel’s annual compensation will exceed $25 million per year compared to Buffett’s annual salary of $100,000 (i.e., 250 times more money than Buffett received).
Abel’s focus on operations may move away from Buffett’s focus on transactions, and thus deploying the company’s cash reserves without paying too much may hinder Abel’s ability to implement his long-term plans. In the early stages of this transition, the market reaction to Abel’s appointment has been weak; Berkshire shares decreased after Buffett retired as a result of confusion about what this change may bring, despite Buffett’s statements that “nothing will change.” Abel’s ability to replicate Buffett’s innovative and risk-taking behavior is yet to be determined.
Did Buffet blow away competition?
Buffett did not “blow away” his competition on a quarterly basis, but rather he was successful in building the company long term. The fact that Buffett is successful cannot be debated. Over the period from 1965-2024 Berkshire’s stock price grew by an astounding 5,502,284%. In comparison the S&P 500 had a total return (with dividends included) of 31,223%. Buffett achieved an annual compound return of approximately 20%, which is more than double the 10.2% compound annual return of the market during that time frame.
There are many candidates for the best-performing company since 1965; although many companies have performed well consistently, it is hard to beat the combination of Berkshire’s size and breadth. Buffett’s major competitive advantage has been the ability to compound money without the drag of dividends, and to invest wisely through different phases of market cycles.
Legacy
Buffett’s successful career showed disciplined investment, but he was always skeptic about tech companies. Buffett managed to create a successful company without any fatal errors and achieved great performances.
