Warren Buffett dropped a bombshell on Saturday.

The legendary CEO announced his intention to step down by the end of 2025, with Vice Chairman Greg Abel set to succeed him.

The news capped a 4.5-hour question-and-answer session where Buffett, alongside Abel, tackled topics ranging from tariffs to market volatility.

With Buffett’s departure marking the end of a 60-year era – during which he transformed Berkshire into a $1.16 trillion conglomerate – here’s what you need to know.

Here’s What You Need to Know About Greg Abel

While insiders have long known Abel as the heir apparent, many casual investors are still asking: Who is this man set to fill Warren Buffett’s shoes?

Greg Abel, 62, is a Canadian-born executive with a background in energy and utilities.

He joined the Berkshire ecosystem in 1999 when Buffett acquired a controlling stake in MidAmerican Energy, where Abel was already climbing the ranks.

Over the years, he proved himself a shrewd operator and capital allocator, eventually becoming CEO of what is now known as Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

In 2018, Abel was appointed vice chairman overseeing all non-insurance businesses, putting him in charge of a sprawling empire that includes railroads (BNSF), consumer products (Duracell), and retail (Nebraska Furniture Mart).

More recently, he’s helped spearhead Berkshire’s growing stake in Japan’s top conglomerates – a move Buffett said they plan to hold for “decades.”

Abel isn’t flashy. He’s not a headline-grabber. But in many ways, that’s the point.

Like Buffett, he’s long-term oriented, grounded in fundamentals, and fiercely loyal to Berkshire’s decentralized culture.

If you were designing a Buffett successor in a lab, he might look a lot like Greg Abel.

Market Turbulence: A Buying Opportunity

If there’s one thing Warren Buffett doesn’t do, it’s panic.

Despite the headline-grabbing swings in the stock market following President Trump’s surprise “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, Buffett was unfazed.

During Saturday’s Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, he dismissed the recent volatility as background noise: “This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything of the sort,” he said.

The S&P 500 may have dropped 12% in just four days after the tariffs were announced, but by Friday, it had already clawed back those losses.

Buffett’s message was clear: markets fluctuate, but the fundamentals of long-term investing remain unchanged.

More importantly, he sees downturns like this not as threats – but as opportunities.

“If Berkshire stock dropped 50%, I’d view it as a fantastic opportunity,” Buffett said, emphasizing his timeless mantra of staying greedy when others are fearful.

And while volatility dominated the headlines, it was the deeper implications of trade policy that most concerned the Oracle of Omaha.

He offered some of his most direct criticism yet of tariffs, warning that weaponizing trade could backfire on the very country trying to wield that power.

“We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world, and we should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,” he said. “Trade should not be a weapon.”

He warned against turning global economics into a zero-sum game.

“I don’t think it’s a great idea to design a world where a few countries say ‘ha-ha-ha, we won’ and the rest of the countries are envious,” he said.

Instead, Buffett made the case for mutual prosperity: the richer the world becomes, the more stable and secure the U.S. will be in the long run.

It’s classic Buffett – calm amid chaos, rational when fear takes the wheel.

While others are obsessing over the next CPI print or trying to game the Fed’s next move, Buffett is scanning the horizon for quality businesses at a discount.

For investors looking for clarity in this storm, the message couldn’t be clearer: volatility is part of the game, not a reason to leave the field.

If anything, now may be the time to lean in.

Buffett Is Still Betting on America

Despite concerns about government debt and a volatile market environment, Warren Buffett made one thing clear: he's still all-in on the long-term promise of the United States.

Buffett acknowledged the U.S. is operating at an unsustainable fiscal deficit.

“We don’t know whether that means two years or 20 years,” he said. “But this is something that can’t go on forever.”

While he didn’t outline a solution – and joked that he wouldn’t want the job of fixing it – Buffett stressed the importance of responsible governance and fiscal sustainability.

Still, he’s not retreating. Quite the opposite.

Berkshire Hathaway continues to sit on a mountain of cash, with more than $330 billion ready to deploy.

Buffett revealed the company came close to making a $10 billion acquisition recently and said he wouldn’t hesitate to spend far more if the right opportunity arose.

His takeaway? Short-term turbulence doesn’t change the big picture.

America, for all its imperfections, remains the most fertile ground for long-term investment.

Or, as Buffett put it: “If I were being born today, I would just keep negotiating in the womb until they said you can be in the United States.”

I’m going to miss these classic Buffett gems.