Despite hand-picking his successor in 2021, many had suspected Warren Buffett, 94, would continue running the conglomerate for the rest of his life.

As the two-hour afternoon session of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting wound to a close, the conglomerate’s chief of 60 years declared that he’d just gotten the “five-minute warning, exclamation point,

Warren Buffett’s retirement as CEO overshadowed Berkshire Hathaway’s results. While wildfire losses hurt results, GEICO saw marked improvement, and the cash hoard grew.