A SEND-OFF FOR AN INVESTING ICON

As Warren Buffett prepares for retirement, we reflect on what we've learned from his 60 years of leadership at Berkshire Hathaway.

- BY ANNE KATES SMITH

LAST month, we noted Warren Buffett's announcement to retire as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the struggling textile company he took over in 1965 and transformed into a sprawling conglomerate (189 subsidiaries) and a legendary investment vehicle (stock in 40 companies worth nearly $280 billion in the first quarter, according to CNBC, plus some $348 billion in cash). Come year-end, Buffett, who turns 95 in August, hands the reins to Greg Abel, 63, who joined Berkshire in 1999 when it acquired a controlling interest in MidAmerican Energy, an Iowa utility. Buffett isn't disappearing. He'll remain chairman of the board, and he told the Wall Street Journal, "I'm not going to sit at home and watch soap operas." We know Kiplinger readers revere Warren Buffett, so we couldn't let him go without a bit of a sendoff. It's difficult to overstate Buffett's influence on the business and investing worlds, says David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland who recalls how gracious—and funny—the man known as the Oracle of Omaha could be to the occasional groups of students Kass would bring to meet him. "Many portfolio managers will tell you that everyone makes mistakes, and that if you get it right 50% of the time, then you succeed," says Kass. "In the case of Buffett, he's right over 90% of the time. That differentiates him from everyone else.”

TIMELINE: BERKSHIRE THROUGH THE DECADES