Warren Buffett gives way to CEO – and other key results from the annual Berkshire meeting

Berkshire Hathaway (Brk.AIN Brk.b) took place on Saturday, an annual shareholder meeting, where Warren Buffett announced plans Get away from your role CEO At the end of the year. Here are some key results from this event.

Buffett says that Greg Abel will take the CEO position at the end of the year

After 60 years, as the general director of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett said on Saturday that he was going to step down, and vice -chairman Greg Abel intends to take over the helm at the end of the year.

“I think that Berkshire prospects will be better under the leadership of Greg than mine,” said Buffett and that there are no plans to sell his shares.

The expectation that Abel will be the successor of Buffett, shareholders carefully watched the tips on how Berkshire could change under his leadership. During the Saturday meeting, Abel suggested that he wanted to continue the values ​​that Berkshire led to Buffett.

“It is really an investment philosophy and the way Warren and the team have assigned capital for the last 60 years,” he said, adding: “This will not change, and this approach that we will take as soon as progresses.”

“Trade should not be a weapon,” says Buffett

Among the economic uncertainty in the face of President Trump quickly Changing tariff rulesMany investors also willingly heard what “Oraca oracle“I had to say about tariffs.

Buffett said at this event that he thinks “there is no doubt that trade can be an act of war, and I think it led to bad things” statements at the beginning of this year.

“Trade should not be a weapon,” he said, adding that the United States “won” as “an extremely important country”, that “they should want to trade with the rest of the world and we should do what we do best and should do what they do best.”

Buffett claims that the fiscal deficit is “unbalanced”

He asked if he believes that Trump’s administration silences the costs Department of Government Buffett said it is positive for the country, “I think bureaucracy is something dangerous, and large corporations – most importantly – look like they could be better.”

“We are now operating on a fiscal deficit, which is unbalanced for some time. We do not know if it means two years or 20 years, because there has never been a country like the United States,” he said, but “it can’t last forever.”

“This is a job that I don’t want, but in my opinion you should do,” said Buffett.

The Berkshire cash pal

Berkshire finished the quarter with a record of USD 347.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short -term investments in tax accounts in the US, because the company maintained its sale.

Buffett said on Saturday that he was always looking for new opportunities and would like to reduce Berkshire cash reserves, but suggested that this could change soon.

“It is very unlikely to be tomorrow,” said Buffett, although he suggested, “it is not unlikely to be in five years.”

Buffett jokes, the general director of Apple Tim Cook “has made Berkshire much more money” than he

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple (Aapl) – one of the Berkshire for many years – also participated in this event, withdrawing Buffett.

“I am a bit embarrassed that Tim Cook forced Berkshire a lot more money than I have ever done Berkshire Hathaway,” Buffett joked.

Berkshire is significantly he cut his participation in Apple Over the past year, but remains one of the company’s largest shares.