Warren Buffett Is Stepping Down as Chairman. Here’s How Much You’d Have If You Invested $1,000 In 1970 When He First Took The Role
Warren Buffett is handing over the Berkshire Hathaway chairmanship at 96, closing a run that began when the stock traded at a price most investors today would barely recognize. The math on what a single early purchase became will make…
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Father Time Wins
Warren Buffett announced, according to CNBC on September 18, 2026, that he is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A | BRK-A Price Prediction), telling CNBC, “Father Time always wins.” The Australian Financial Review reported that he is exiting the chair at 96. The New York Times reported that Buffett named his son to replace him, and Yahoo Finance identified the incoming chairman as Howard Buffett.
That closes a chapter that opened at the end of 1970, when Buffett took the chair of a struggling New England textile maker and began redirecting its capital. What happened afterward is the most cited long-run compounding story in American markets, and it turns on two numbers.
From $39 to $763,935.95
According to the book Warren Buffett on Business, Berkshire Hathaway stock traded at $39 per share at the end of 1970, the point at which Buffett became chairman. That is a historical reference from a published source rather than a split or dividend adjusted quote from a price feed. The comparison here uses the Class A shares because those are the continuation of the stock Buffett took over. Berkshire has never split its Class A stock, which is part of why the number today reads the way it does.
The most recent settled close for Berkshire Hathaway Class A was $763,935.95 on September 17, 2026. A reader can hold those two prices next to each other and draw their own conclusion. The implied figure assumes buying once at that 1970 price and never selling across more than five decades, ignores taxes, and reflects a single purchase rather than money added over time. Today’s Class A price also puts a single share out of reach for most savers.
Legend Versus Recent Performance
The long-run number is extraordinary. The recent record is ordinary. Class A is up 1.21% year to date and up 3.32% over the past year through the most recent close. The stock fell 2.10% in its most recent session, which closed before the succession announcement. Our own price data for Berkshire only reaches back to November 1999, which is why the 1970 anchor above is credited to a book rather than to a data feed.
A Handoff to the Son
A 96-year-old is handing the chair to his son, according to Australian Financial Review. The person who bought at $39 and held has an answer no forecast could have produced. Whether the next chairman produces anything comparable is unknowable, though Buffett already did decades of vetting on the businesses inside the portfolio, and we pulled the seven cheapest dividend payers he owns into a free report here.
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AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
