Known for their wit, personal anecdotes, and philosophical asides, Warren Buffett’s letters to shareholders have been required reading for investors for decades. Greg Appel, his successor, wisely did not try to replicate that populist tone in his first message as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Instead, he chose a more direct approach, one of the few early differences between the two leaders. In essence, Appel reassured investors that Berkshire’s culture and values would remain intact.
In his country inaugural shareholders letter, Appel initially praised Buffett as “the greatest investor of all time” and “clearly a hard act to follow.” Buffett, who recently ended his tenure as CEO after 60 years at the helm of the company, will remain the company’s president and will continue to be at its Omaha office five days a week.
Appel, 63, has long been considered Buffett’s heir apparent. The Canadian-born executive joined CalEnergy in 1992, a geothermal company that later became MidAmerican Energy Holdings and was eventually acquired by Berkshire. As he got to know Buffett and his late partner Charlie Munger, Appel said he became an admirer of their partnership. “I admired the way they worked together to build an organization that reflects their beliefs about business and life today,” said Appel, who most recently served as Berkshire’s vice chairman of non-insurance operations.
Appel’s first letter arrived at the same time as a modest decline in Berkshire’s results, driven largely by weakness in its insurance business. Net income for the last three months of 2025 fell 25 percent year-on-year to $19.2 billion, while operating profits fell 30 percent to $10.2 billion.
Stick to the status quo
Shortly after taking the helm, Appel sent a letter to employees pledging that Berkshire’s “culture and values remain unchanged and will endure forever.” He was committed to maintaining the company’s decentralized structure, reducing bureaucracy, matching words with actions, and judging performance by long-term competitiveness rather than short-term results.
He also stressed the importance of protecting Berkshire’s $370 billion cash and U.S. Treasury holdings. “While some of this capital is needed to support our insurance operations and protect Berkshire from extreme scenarios, it also constitutes our dry powder,” said the new CEO, who described the balance sheet as “a strategic asset that must be deployed at the right time.”
Appel confirmed that he will oversee Berkshire’s stock portfolio, whose largest positions include Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody’s. Although he did not directly address any potential sale of Berkshire’s 27.5% stake in Kraft Heinz, he echoed Buffett’s criticism of the company’s performance. “Our investment in Kraft Heinz was disappointing,” Appel said, adding that Berkshire’s “returns were far less than adequate.”
He also acknowledged a fundamental truth: that his tenure would not rival Buffett’s six-decade tenure. “I’m not going to be your CEO for the next 60 years,” Appel said. “Simple arithmetic makes that an ambitious plan, so to speak.” His leadership structure will also be different. He noted that other executives will take on prominent roles, singling out Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations, for praise.
This collaborative approach will be on display at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in May, which Buffett has long chaired. Instead of asking questions alone, Appel said the program will include two question-and-answer sessions: one with Jane, and one with Katie Farmer, CEO of BNSF Railway, and Adam Johnson, head of Berkshire’s Products, Services and Retail group.
