Berkshire Hathaway has named Warren Buffett chairman emeritus and elected his son Howard G. Buffett as chairman of the board, completing a multi-year succession structure.

Buffett, who turned 96 in August, remains a director and will keep offering "his valued judgment and perspective," the company said, while Howard Buffett, a Berkshire director since 1993, steps into the chairman role.

“Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,” Buffett wrote to shareholders. “Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.”

Susan Decker continues as Lead Independent Director. Greg Abel, who formally became president and CEO on January 1 following a unanimous board decision in 2025, called Warren's impact "without parallel in the history of American business" and said Howard would be the guardian of the culture Warren built.

Ajit Jain remains vice chairman of insurance operations, continuing to oversee GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group, a combined float of roughly US$176.9 billion as of the first quarter of 2026 that makes Berkshire one of the most consequential counterparties in global re/insurance markets.

Charlie Shamieh, currently chairman of Gen Re, has already been named as Jain's eventual successor, though no retirement date has been set.

Berkshire’s insurance footprint spans GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, alongside businesses including Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, General Re, MedPro Group, Berkshire Hathaway GUARD and USLI.  

The leadership transition comes as Berkshire’s insurance float stood at approximately US$177.5 billion at June 30, up US$1.1 billion from the end of 2025. Berkshire said its combined insurance operations generated pre-tax underwriting profits during the first half of the year, meaning the average cost of that float remained negative.

In the second quarter alone, GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group generated US$2.18 billion of pre-tax underwriting earnings on US$22.48 billion of earned premiums. BHRG contributed US$913 million of that underwriting profit, while Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group contributed US$273 million.