Warren Buffett’s Thanksgiving Letter: Leadership, Legacy, And Berkshire’s Future

Warren Buffett shares timeless lessons on leadership, legacy, and Berkshire Hathaway’s future in his latest Thanksgiving letter, marking a pivotal moment for investors and business leaders alike. (Photo by Bonnie Schiffman/Getty Images)

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As the British would say, I’m “going quiet.” — Warren Buffett via his Thanksgiving letter on November 10, 2025

With only a few short weeks until Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO and Chairman, hands over the CEO title to Greg Abel at year-end, it is a fitting time to consider the lessons that can be learned from and the implications of his Thanksgiving letter.

The Annual Letter And Shareholders’ Meeting

When they ask Warren how he wants to be remembered, he wants to be remembered as a teacher. – Charlie Munger

Sadly, Buffett noted that Greg Abel will now be responsible for Berkshire’s annual letter. Investors have widely prized this late-February missive to receive Buffett’s wisdom and an update on Berkshire Hathaway. Shareholders (me included) across the globe await the Saturday morning release of the letter, with eager minds and coffee in hand. Buffett called Abel an “honest communicator,” and it will be interesting to see the style and content of his annual letter next year.

Buffett will continue to write his annual Thanksgiving letter, where he “will continue talking to you and my children about Berkshire.”

The “Woodstock for Capitalists,” that is, the annual Berkshire meeting in Omaha, will see changes next year. Buffett says he will be attending but will not be “talking endlessly at the annual meeting.” It will be Greg Abel’s show, so it will be fascinating to see what changes he makes. As an investor, I am hoping for more insights into Berkshire’s business performance. Perhaps we will get to hear from more Berkshire business leaders. In years past, many questions to Buffett were looking for life advice, which is understandable and sometimes interesting, but took time away from the business side of things.

While I will still attend the annual meeting, attendance should be lower given the expectation of fewer teachings from Buffett. This gathering remains a place to reconnect with old friends with similar investment mindsets and interests, so it should still be a big weekend in Omaha.

Charity & Implications For Berkshire Shareholders

The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children’s foundations in no way reflects any change in my views about Berkshire’s prospects. – Warren Buffett

On the day his Thanksgiving letter was released, Buffett converted 1,800 Berkshire A shares, worth over $1.3 billion, and gifted the resulting B shares to four family foundations. Because Buffett has lived so long, the youngest of his three children is 67. Buffett announced that he is accelerating his charitable gifts so they can direct the charitable gifting from Buffett’s estate while they are able, since all the children are currently in the “prime in respect to experience and wisdom.” As one would expect from someone keenly aware of risks and probabilities, Buffett has named alternate trustees to complete the philanthropy should any of the children be unable to do so.

For Berkshire shareholders, there was a crucial passage about the additional share gifts: “I would like to keep a significant amount of ‘A’ shares until Berkshire shareholders develop the comfort with Greg that Charlie and I long enjoyed. That level of confidence shouldn’t take long. My children are already 100% behind Greg as are the Berkshire directors.” Notably, Berkshire’s B shares are 1/1,500 of an A share’s economic interest but only 1/10,000 of the voting interest. Between Buffett being the largest holder of A shares and his sterling reputation, he should be able to effectively shield Abel from activists or other outside forces until he has the opportunity to build more goodwill and confidence with the shareholder base.

Warren Buffett Plans & Aging

I was late in becoming old – its onset materially varies – but once it appears, it is not to be denied. – Warren Buffett

Buffett indirectly provided additional rationale for his decision to step down as CEO at the end of the year. He noted that “balance, sight, hearing and memory are all on a persistently downward slope” and says, “I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty.”

On a positive note, Buffett says that “I generally feel good.” Not surprisingly, Buffett will be “at the office five days a week.”

He also provided a glimpse into his view of part of how he views where he can add value in his new role: “Occasionally, I get a useful idea or am approached with an offer we might not otherwise have received. Because of Berkshire’s size and because of market levels, ideas are few – but not zero.” Additionally, it is rare for him to say that stocks are generally expensive in his view, though one could have inferred that from Berkshire Hathaway’s 12 straight quarters of net sales of stocks.

Greg Abel, CEO

Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire’s next CEO. – Warren Buffett

Buffett heaped very high praise on Abel: “He understands many of our businesses and personnel far better than I now do, and he is a very fast learner about matters many CEOs don’t even consider. 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.” Given that Berkshire Hathaway is the lifetime work of Buffett and Munger, their incentive to find a proper successor cannot be understated. It is a matter of legacy rather than just money.

One concern about Abel has been the lack of insurance experience, since Berkshire is, at its core, an insurance company. Still, Buffett tackles it straight on: “Greg understands, for example, far more about both the upside potential and the dangers of our P/C insurance business than do a great many long-time P/C executives.”

Outlook For Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire has less chance of a devastating disaster than any business I know. – Warren Buffett

Consistent with my quarterly analysis of the company, Buffett notes that “In aggregate, Berkshire’s businesses have moderately better-than-average prospects, led by a few non-correlated and sizable gems.” Great businesses don’t need exceptional leadership, so, as shareholders, we should hope that Abel turns out to be as good as Buffett thinks he is, but we don’t need miracles to achieve a reasonably good outcome owning Berkshire Hathaway.

Berkshire provides substantial downside protection given its size, diversified business mix, and $381 billion cash hoard. As Buffett notes, there is a drawback to this bounty: “However, a decade or two from now, there will be many companies that have done better than Berkshire; our size takes its toll.”

Buffett remains ever the teacher and optimist when he points out that the markets can be irrational at times, causing great companies, like Berkshire, to plunge, but that has always turned out to be an opportunity: “Our stock price will move capriciously, occasionally falling 50% or so as has happened three times in 60 years under present management. Don’t despair; America will come back and so will Berkshire shares.”