Warren Buffett Retirement Warning: Investor Alert

KOMPAS.com – Legendary investor Warren Buffett left a message of caution for the stock market ahead of his retirement as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

This signal is reflected in its investment steps in recent years, especially through large-scale stock sell-offs.

Warren Buffett announced his resignation as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway last May and will be effective at the end of 2025. Greg Abel has long been projected as the successor, although the timing of the leadership transition has not been determined with certainty.

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At a shareholder meeting last May, Warren Buffett emphasized that he would not change Berkshire’s management approach until his term of office ends.

This statement covers the management of the company’s share portfolio, whose value currently exceeds 300 billion US dollars.

Even though he remains consistent in his long-term strategy, Warren Buffett has actually sent a signal of caution regarding stock market conditions heading into 2026.

Share Sales Reach 184 Billion US Dollars

Quoted from The Motley FoolSunday (28/12/2025), for more than 60 years leading Berkshire Hathaway since 1965, Warren Buffett built a large stock portfolio by utilizing premium funds from the insurance business.

Currently, the value of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock portfolio reaches around 315 billion US dollars.

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This value is estimated to exceed US $ 500 billion if Buffett had not aggressively sold shares in the last three years.

Berkshire Hathaway is recorded as having sold shares for 12 consecutive quarters. Total net sales of shares in that period reached almost 184 billion US dollars.

Several key holdings were cut significantly. Buffett cut his Apple shareholding by 73 percent, sold 44 percent of Bank of America shares, and sold 26 percent of Chevron shares. In addition, dozens of other stocks were completely removed from the portfolio.

On the other hand, additional shares are relatively limited. The majority is in the form of adding hundreds of millions of US dollars to existing holdings.

The biggest new stocks to enter Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio include Chubb, Alphabet, and Sirius XM. Berkshire also increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 36 percent.

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Market Valuation is Considered Too High

The large difference between the value of selling and buying shares reflects Buffett’s view of market valuations, which are considered increasingly expensive.

Apple shares are currently trading at 33 times estimated forward earnings. That level has been relatively consistent since mid-2024, coinciding with Buffett’s increasing selloff.