Who Will Be The Next Warren Buffett? 5 Contenders

Warren Buffett is arguably the best investor of all-time and has created large quantities of wealth for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. Buffett introduced in Could that he would step down as CEO of the conglomerate on the finish of 2025, leaving many traders questioning — who would be the subsequent Warren Buffett of the investing world?

The query has been requested for many years, with among the early contenders failing to reside as much as the lofty expectations. The reality is that it is going to be arduous for anybody to match the file Buffett has achieved. He’s generated excessive returns for greater than six many years, whereas additionally serving because the unofficial trainer and ethical authority of capitalism. 

There are numerous traders who’ve achieved nice outcomes for a time frame, however they’re usually publicity-shy and should even shut their funds to handle their very own cash in some unspecified time in the future. Nonetheless, there are some candidates with spectacular observe data who may fill among the void as soon as Buffett is not round.

Listed below are 5 traders with the potential to be the subsequent Warren Buffett.

1. Greg Abel

In the event you’re searching for the subsequent Warren Buffett, you would possibly as nicely begin with the person who’s changing him as Berkshire Hathaway CEO. Greg Abel was handpicked by Buffett to take over Berkshire on the finish of 2025, so it’s clear that Buffett’s been impressed by his investing and enterprise abilities. 

Abel has served as a vice chairman at Berkshire since 2018, overseeing the corporate’s non-insurance companies resembling BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Vitality and varied retail operations. He labored as a part of the corporate’s power enterprise for a few years and was president of MidAmerican Vitality when Berkshire invested in it in 1999. 

“I feel the prospects of Berkshire might be higher beneath Greg’s administration than mine,” Buffett informed shareholders in Could. 

2. Invoice Ackman

Invoice Ackman is the founding father of Pershing Sq. Capital, an funding fund that holds a concentrated portfolio of shares. Ackman obtained his begin investing in small corporations, simply as Buffett had, and was an in depth watcher of Buffett in his early years, even asking questions on the Berkshire annual assembly within the Nineties. 

Ackman has expressed an curiosity in constructing a Berkshire-like entity with everlasting capital to raised make investments for the long run. He’s been extra outspoken in recent times on political points, backing President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential marketing campaign and providing assist for Israel’s actions in Gaza as a part of the Israel-Hamas battle. 

Ackman was value about $8.2 billion as of July 2025, in keeping with Bloomberg.

3. Seth Klarman

Seth Klarman is the CEO and portfolio supervisor at The Baupost Group, a Boston-based funding supervisor. The agency focuses on worth investing throughout quite a lot of asset lessons, together with shares, bonds and industrial actual property. 

Klarman can be the writer of “Margin of Security,” thought-about by many to be among the finest books on investing ever written. The guide is out of print, however used copies can promote for greater than $1,000. 

Klarman tends to remain out of the limelight, however his annual letters are extremely sought-after within the funding neighborhood. Buffett was reportedly as soon as requested who he’d wish to handle his cash if he couldn’t do it himself, and Klarman was one in all his high selections.

4. Ted Weschler

Ted Weschler was employed by Buffett in 2011 to work as an funding supervisor at Berkshire. Weschler had beforehand managed his personal hedge fund in Charlottesville, Virginia, and met Buffett by way of a charity lunch public sale he bought two years in a row. 

Weschler retains a low profile and has solely carried out a handful of interviews through the years, however his funding abilities are nicely revered. He grew his retirement account from about $70,000 on the finish of 1989 to over $264 million on the finish of 2018, in keeping with ProPublica. Weschler mentioned the account was solely invested in publicly traded securities. 

Berkshire additionally employed Todd Combs to work as an funding supervisor in 2010. Combs has a background in insurance coverage and took over because the CEO of Geico, which Berkshire owns, in 2019. Weschler and Combs every handle a portion of Berkshire’s large inventory portfolio. 

5. Li Lu

Li Lu based Himalaya Capital, a Seattle-based funding fund, in 1997 and at one time was anticipated to hitch Berkshire in an funding function. Li was born in China and was one of many leaders of the coed protests in Tiananmen Sq. in 1989. He fled China and got here to the U.S., the place he earned a bachelor’s diploma, legislation diploma and MBA from Columbia College concurrently. 

Li follows the identical funding philosophy as Buffett and his long-time associate Charlie Munger. He turned shut buddies with Munger and managed cash on his behalf. In 2010, The Wall Avenue Journal reported that Li Lu was prone to be part of Berkshire as an funding officer, however he in the end determined to remain at his personal agency. 

Li is credited with introducing the electric-vehicle firm BYD to Munger and Berkshire, which in the end invested within the Chinese language firm, incomes billions for Berkshire shareholders.