Warren Buffett announced Saturday during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting that he will step down as CEO of the $1.1 trillion (€973 billion) conglomerate at the end of the year.

The billionaire investor took over the reins of Berkshire Hathaway back in 1965, when it was a medium-sized textile manufacturer.

Buffett then acquired businesses across a range of industries and built the conglomerate into the economic powerhouse known to investors and market observers today.

In doing so, Buffett also became known for his investing acumen and, at 94 years old, is one of the world's most famous investors. He had previously said he did not intend to retire.

Buffett taps Greg Abel to take over

Buffett said he would convene the board of directors to have 62-year-old Greg Abel, currently the vice chairman for non-insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway, take over as CEO of the conglomerate.

"The time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end," Buffett said.

"I would still hang around and could conceivably be useful in a few cases, but the final word would be what Greg said in operations, in capital deployment, whatever it might be," he added.       

Buffett said that he had not given any prior notice to other board members, catching people by surprise as he made the announcement at the end of the meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.

"I just want to say I couldn't be more humbled and honored to be part of Berkshire as we go forward," Abel said.

Edited by: Zac Crellin