Marc Hamburg, Berkshire Hathaway’s finance chief since the early ‘90s, is set to retire in June 2027, just about two years after Warren Buffett steps down from his job as CEO of the conglomerate.
The move is part of a flurry of executive shuffles the company announced Monday. The company has tapped Charles Chang, currently the CFO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, to serve as CFO of the company at large starting June 2026, a full year before Hamburg formally steps down. As is typical in such high-ranking executive changes, the pair will “work together to ensure a smooth and seamless transition period,” according to a press release issued Monday.
Hamburg has been with the holding company since 1987, taking on the title of CFO in 1992, according to SEC records. That means he’s held the top financial job at Berkshire Hathaway when the company made some of its most prominent acquisitions over the years, including Geico in 1996, paint company Benjamin Moore in 2001 and BNSF Railway in 2009.
In the release, Buffett said Hamburg “has done more for this company than many of our shareholders will ever know.”
“His impact has been extraordinary,” Buffett said of Hamburg. “Marc has been indispensable to Berkshire and to me. His integrity and judgment are priceless.”
It will be a new era at Berkshire Hathaway starting in 2026. Buffett, often heralded as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his investment decisions over the years, is set to step down as the company’s chief executive at the end of this year. Greg Abel, long identified as Buffett’s successor, will formally take over as CEO starting Jan. 1, 2026, though Buffett will stay on as chairman.
“I would like to keep a significant amount of ‘A’ shares until Berkshire shareholders develop the comfort with Greg that (former Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charlie Munson) and I long enjoyed,” Buffett wrote in a farewell letter to shareholders last month. “That level of confidence shouldn’t take long. My children are already 100% behind Greg, as are the Berkshire directors.”
Chang, Hamburg’s replacement, joined Berkshire Hathaway Energy in October 2024, according to a biography page on the company’s website. He previously was a partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ energy practice and has over three decades of “extensive expertise in accounting, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reporting, mergers and acquisitions, and sustainability,” according to the biography.
Among the other changes at Berkshire Hathaway, the company announced that Todd Combs, CEO of Geico, is set to leave that job for a role with JPMorgan Chase. Nancy Pierce, Geico’s current chief operating officer, will take over as the insurance company’s CEO.
