😢 Bye bye, Buffett

What’s going on here?

Warren Buffett – one of the most successful investors of all time – announced on Saturday that he’ll step down as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO after an exemplary six-decade run.

What does this mean?

Buffett’s retirement will end a remarkable era: sixty years of market-beating returns, gutsy dealmaking (including billion-dollar bets during financial crises), and plain-spoken wisdom. In that time, the Oracle of Omaha transformed Berkshire from a flailing textile company into a trillion-dollar-plus behemoth spanning everything from railroads and insurance to Dairy Queen and Apple stock. Wall Street will be closely watching Buffett’s soon-to-be successor: Greg Abel, a current Berkshire vice chair. He’ll soon control a cash pile the size of Chile’s economy, after all.

Why should I care?

For markets: Wall Street’s equivalent to the Beatles breaking up.

You can’t blame traders for crying over their Buffett posters: the Oracle had enough clout to make billion-dollar deals with a phone call, calm market fears with a folksy phrase, and hold cash with near-spiritual levels of shareholder trust. That public trust, together with Buffett’s legendary stock-picking instinct, is credited for Berkshire’s success – a run marked by annual returns of nearly 20% since 1965. So even though Buffett plans to stay on as chair, Berkshire’s shares fell 5% on Monday. Because no matter how capable Abel is, he’s no market icon – at least not yet. Which means Berkshire may start looking less like an investment masterclass and more like a “regular” large holding company.

Zooming out: Tortoise, meet hare.

Buffett’s market-beating career was a result of meticulously devouring hundreds of thousands of financial statements and deeply understanding companies and markets – all hard, manual work. But Abel is tasked with leading Berkshire at a time when firms are expected to use technology (namely, AI) to work harder and faster. No one’s expecting him to match Buffett’s investment record, but he could set a new precedent by transforming Berkshire from a stock-picking legend to an empire-scale operator.

What’s going on here?

OpenAI scrapped plans to become a for-profit company, announcing a structure that critics might call an impossible game of “spot the difference”.

What does this mean?

OpenAI is well-known for ChatGPT, but it’s also infamous for power struggles. The company was founded as a nonprofit, with a mission to ensure that AI benefits humanity. CEO Sam Altman has pressed for a for-profit structure instead – but plenty of pushback from cofounder Elon Musk and former employees kept that on ice. Well, it seems OpenAI’s found a compromise. Its for-profit arm will become a "public benefit corporation" – a business type designed to pursue both profit and a social mission – while the overall company will stay not-for-profit. Although, critics say that change is mostly cosmetic.

Why should I care?

For markets: We’re all simply seeking approval.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s biggest investor, hasn’t approved the plan yet. The Big Tech backer has handed the startup nearly $14 billion and provided cloud computing solutions, distribution paths, and monetization routes. In return, it takes a cut of what it earns – so it wouldn’t be surprising if Microsoft would rather see a structure focused on making money. Investors will be hoping the firm gives the thumbs up soon: any holdup could give rivals like Anthropic and xAI the chance to steal a march.

Zooming out: As *NSYNC said, buy buy buy.

OpenAI made another big decision recently, agreeing to buy AI-powered coding assistant Windsurf for $3 billion – its biggest acquisition to date. That’s a sign of the times. Many expect the next wave of AI winners to be product builders, rather than the infrastructure-focused companies that have profited so far. So expect many more deals to come, as well-funded firms build up portfolios of ready-to-use AI products.