The News
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett announced Saturday he will retire this year, shocking the conglomerate’s other executives and marking the end of a legendary career in investing.
Buffett, 94, has led the firm for six decades, using a wide range of investments and acquisitions to build a trillion-dollar enterprise.
Through his “unparalleled exposure to financial information, combined with his prodigious memory,” Buffett became a “human form of artificial intelligence,” The Wall Street Journal wrote.
His successor, Berkshire vice chairman Greg Abel, faces the challenge of managing the $348 billion in cash that Buffett leaves behind: The company now owns more cash than stock, a position that “reflects a tough environment for the sort of investing” that made Buffett famous, The Economist wrote.