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Warren Buffett, the 95-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, said on Monday that “becoming old” is “not to be denied” as he prepares to end his tenure as CEO of the legendary investment company. The billionaire, dubbed the Oracle of Omaha for his long run of money-spinning stock picks, also gave a rare update on his health before his hand-picked successor, Greg Abel, takes over at the end of this year. “To my surprise, I generally feel good. Though I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am at the office five days a week, where I work with wonderful people,” Buffet wrote. “I was late in becoming old … but once it appears, it is not to be denied.” In the Thanksgiving letter, which will now become an annual tradition as Buffett continues his regular missives to shareholders, the top investor said he would step up his lifetime donations to his children so they can give away his vast wealth. Buffett said Monday that he would pledge some $1.3 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to four family foundations. But he warned his children — Susie, Howard, and Peter, who are in their 60s and 70s that it would be a “mistake” to wager that they all might enjoy his “exceptional luck” in aging. “All three children now have the maturity, brains, energy, and instincts to disburse a large fortune,” Buffett, who is worth an estimated $149 billion, wrote. “The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children’s foundations in no way reflects any change in my views about Berkshire’s prospects.” He said in May that he will hand over the reins as CEO at the end of this year to Greg Abel, his handpicked successor. Abel will also take over the writing of the yearly message that accompanies the firm’s annual report each February. “I can’t think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government — you name it — that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine,” Buffet wrote of Abel, the vice chairman of non-insurance operations. He added that the 63-year-old Canadian businessman, who also heads up Berkshire Hathaway Energy, was “a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator.” The death of his longtime friend and business partner, Charlie Munger, more than two years ago had led to increasing speculation about when Buffett might finally call it a day as CEO. Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery-maker Duracell, and restaurant chain Dairy Queen. Buffett bought the firm as a failing textiles manufacturer before transforming it into the global financial juggernaut that it is today. The company also has major stakes in some of this country’s biggest corporate titans: its recent quarterly report said its five largest investments are in American Express, Apple, Bank of America Corporation, Coca-Cola, and energy giant Chevron. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1930, Buffett has shunned the trappings of his vast wealth for his entire life and still lives in the same modest house he purchased in 1958 for $31,500. He has been in the process of offloading his fortune since 2006 as part of his pledge to transfer 99% of his estate to philanthropic causes before his death.
