Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chair but 8-year-old jab still bites

Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway chair but 8-year-old jab still bites

Anand Sinha

Fri, September 18, 2026 at 8:38 PM GMT+3 2 min read

• BRK-B +0.31%
• BTC-USD +5.75%

Legendary investor Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the $1 trillion conglomerate announced on Sep. 18.

He will become chairman emeritus, effective immediately, while remaining a board director as his son Howard replaces him as chairman.

The "Oracle of Omaha" led Berkshire Hathaway for nearly six decades until March 2025, when he announced his exit as CEO.

During his long tenure, he turned Berkshire from a struggling textile business into a trillion-dollar conglomerate spanning insurance, energy, and technology.

More news:

In 2018, Buffett called Bitcoin 'probably rat poison squared'

Well-known for his disciplined, long-term approach to investment, Buffett has disapproved of alternative instruments like cryptocurrencies.

In fact, he called Bitcoin (BTC) "probably rat poison squared" as far back as 2018. The same year, he warned in an interview,

"In terms of cryptocurrencies, generally, I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending."

Back then, he said he would not even take a short position on Bitcoin futures.

"If I could buy a five-year put on every one of the cryptocurrencies, I'd be glad to do it but I would never short a dime's worth."

In fact, eToro founder and CEO Yoni Assia once disclosed that Buffett asked him to focus more on stocks and less on crypto at his trading exchange.

Though Berkshire Hathaway came to hold a stake in Nubank, a crypto-friendly digital bank based in Brazil, it eventually got rid of its entire stake in the first quarter of 2025. The company never directly invested in crypto.

Though Buffett's jab from 2018 still bites, Bitcoin has since come a long way.

Bitcoin was trading below $10,000 eight years ago when the legendary investor called it "probably rat poison squared." It is currently trading eight times higher at $80,246, as per Decibel.

Related: Kevin O'Leary has a warning on Washington's tax plans

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Sep 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.