Warren Buffett tells Berkshire Hathaway shareholders the company is 100% prepared for his death

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• Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, released his annual letter to shareholders on Saturday.
• In the letter, Buffett discussed the company’s plans for the deaths of himself, 89, and vice chair Charlie Munger, 96. 
• “Your company is 100% prepared for our departure,” Buffett wrote. 
• The “Oracle of Omaha” also said that investors at the annual shareholder meeting can ask Ajit Jain and Greg Abel —two key executives in the running to succeed Buffett— questions alongside him and Munger. 
• Read more on Business Insider.

On Saturday, Warren Buffett released his annual letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, the company he’s led for 50 years. 

Investors around the world anxiously await the letter’s arrival each year as it gives a glimpse into the mind of Buffett, the famed value-investor and “Oracle of Omaha.” 

In this year’s letter, Buffett, the longest tenured CEO in the S&P 500, took time to discuss the plans for Berkshire Hathaway upon the deaths of himself, 89, and Charlie Munger, the vice chair of the company, 96. 

“Three decades ago, my Midwestern friend, Joe Rosenfield, then in his 80s, received an irritating letter from his local newspaper. In blunt words, the paper asked for biographical data it planned to use in Joe’s obituary. Joe didn’t respond. So? A month later, he got a second letter from the paper, this one labeled ‘URGENT’,” Buffett wrote. 

He continued: “Charlie and I long ago entered the urgent zone. That’s not exactly great news for us. But Berkshire shareholders need not worry: Your company is 100% prepared for our departure.”

Buffett pointed to Berkshire Hathaway’s structure, it’s skilled and devoted top managers, and nurturing culture as reasons that he and Munger feel optimistic about the company’s future.

The letter also pointed to the two key Berkshire Hathaway executives that are thought to be in the running to succeed Buffet, Greg Abel and Ajit Jain. At this year’s annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting, which takes place in Omaha, Nebraska, there will be one important change— shareholders will be able to ask Abel and Jain questions in addition to Buffett and Munger. 

“That change makes great sense. They are outstanding individuals, both as managers and as human beings, and you should hear more from them,” Buffett said.