Berkshire Hathaway has formally drawn a line under one of corporate America’s most famous pay traditions, ending the $100,000 annual salary paid to Warren Buffett for more than four decades.
Greg Abel, who took over as chief executive on January 1, will receive an annual pay package of $25 million, a sharp break from the frugal compensation model that long defined the Omaha-based investment giant.
Abel, 63, had already been one of the highest-paid executives at Berkshire before stepping into the top job. In 2024, while serving as vice-chairman overseeing the group’s non-insurance operations, he earned $21 million. His new salary reflects both his expanded responsibilities and a more conventional approach to executive pay at the world’s most closely watched conglomerate.
Buffett, now 95, remains chairman of Berkshire and continues to rank among the world’s wealthiest individuals, with an estimated net worth of around $150 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He built Berkshire over more than 60 years into a sprawling $1 trillion-plus empire spanning insurance, railroads, energy, manufacturing and retail, including brands such as Geico and BNSF Railway.
Unlike most corporate leaders, Buffett’s wealth has overwhelmingly come from his equity stake rather than his salary. Berkshire has delivered a compounded annual gain in market value of nearly 20 per cent since 1965, according to its most recent shareholder letter, and Buffett still owns more than a third of the company’s Class A shares.
Abel is also heavily invested in the business. He owns roughly $171 million worth of Berkshire stock and, in 2022, sold his 1 per cent stake in Berkshire Hathaway Energy back to the group for $870 million, further cementing his long-term alignment with shareholders.
Buffett has long been vocal about executive pay, repeatedly warning against what he described as “irrational” compensation systems. While he has said he has no objection to paying generously for outstanding performance, he has been critical of pay structures that reward mediocrity or encourage executive envy.
Speaking at Berkshire’s annual meeting in 2017, Buffett said he hoped his successor would already be wealthy and motivated by stewardship rather than the pursuit of ever-higher pay. He has also criticised mandatory disclosures comparing chief executive pay with that of average workers, arguing they often fuel upward pressure on salaries rather than restraint.
The move to a $25 million salary for Abel marks a symbolic shift for Berkshire as it enters a new era — one that balances its unique culture with the realities of succession at one of the world’s most valuable companies.
