"Omaha's Oracle" shocked shareholders but promised to maintain group investment and said he would still "hang around".

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett announced that he will lead his Berkshire Hathaway Business Group from Berkshire Hathaway Business Group by the end of this year.

Buffett said at the organization's annual shareholders' meeting on Saturday that he will resign as CEO at the end of 2025 and hand over the ropes to Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who is already well-known as his anointed successor.

"In a few cases, I still hang out, imagine, but the end of the day is what Greg said in operation, capital deployment," Buffett said at a meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.

He added that the board would “unanimously agree” with his recommendation.

About an hour later, Abel came out to oversee the formal Berkshire business meeting without Buffett. "I just want to say that I can't be a part of Berkshire as we move forward," he said.

Abel, 62, has served as vice chairman of the organization since 2018, in charge of non-insurance operations, was appointed Buffett’s successor as CEO in 2021, but always believed he would wait until Buffett’s death to take over.

Previously, Buffett, 94, was known as "Omaha's Oracle" due to his influence in the business and financial worlds, and has always insisted that he has no retirement plan.

He decided to lower a staggering 60-year period, during which he transformed Berkshire from a failed textile company to a $11.6 trillion group with $30 billion liquid assets.

According to Forbes's live rich list, Buffett's net worth was $168.2 billion as of Saturday. On Saturday, he promised to invest his wealth in the company.

"I have no intention of selling a part of Berkshire Hathaway (zero). In the end, I'll give it up."

"The decision to retain every share is an economic decision because I think Berkshire's prospects will be better than mine under Greg's management," he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Buffett warned that President Donald Trump's tariffs had serious global consequences, saying "trade should not be a weapon" but "it's undoubtedly possible that trade may be an act of war."

Buffett said Trump's trade policy increases the risk of global instability by infuriating the rest of the world.