President Donald Trump on Saturday said U.S. oil companies will invest billions of dollars in Venezuela's energy sector after the overthrow of President Nicolas Maduro. "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure," Trump said in a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. "Let's start making money for the country," Trump said. U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a large-scale attack on the South American nation overnight. They have been indicted on drug-trafficking charges in the Southern District of New York. Trump said the U.S. will "run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition." Trump said the embargo he imposed on Venezuelan oil "remains in full effect." The president said oil companies will pay directly for the cost of rebuilding Venezuela's crude infrastructure. "We'll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries, many of whom are using it now, but I would say many more will come," he said. Venezuela, a founding member of OPEC, sits on the largest oil reserves in the world. It nationalized the industry in 1976, seizing assets from Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron, said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. Venezuela's production peaked at 3.5 million barrels per day in the late 1990s, but has declined significantly since then, said Matt Smith, oil analyst at Kpler. The country's current production stands at around 800,000 barrels per day, according to Kpler data. China and Russia have a presence in Venezuela's oil sector, Lipow said. The Maduro regime in November approved a 15-year extension of joint ventures with Russian-linked companies operating fields in Venezuela, the analyst said. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

President Donald Trump said the U.S. is going to temporarily take over governing Venezuela after launching a large-scale surprise attack on the country overnight. "We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump said in a press conference Saturday morning from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. The Venezuela operation "was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military," Trump said. "Not a single American service member was killed, and not a single piece of American equipment was lost, many helicopters, many planes, many people involved in that fight," Trump also said. U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple have been indicted in the Southern District of New York on drug-trafficking charges. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, said the mission involved "more than 150 aircraft launching across the western hemisphere in political coordination, all coming together in time and place to layer effects for a single purpose, to get an interdiction force into downtown Caracas, while maintaining the element of tactical surprise." Trump said the U.S. would be in charge of Venezuela until there is a safe transition of leadership. He also said the U.S. would be running the country "with a group" and "designating various people," without providing details. According to Trump, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as president and had been in contact with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "She's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again," Trump said. Rubio added that Congress was not briefed ahead of the operation. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

President Donald Trump spoke Saturday morning at a press conference along with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, following a stunning, large-scale attack on Venezuela overnight. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, were captured in the operation by U.S. forces and have been indicted in New York on drug-trafficking charges. Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. A Versant Media Company. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by

A federal indictment charging Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his wife and four other people with narco-terrorism conspiracy and other charges was unsealed and posted online by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Saturday morning after the couple's dramatic capture by American forces in their own country. "For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States," the indictment alleges. In addition to Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, the indictment also charges Maduro's son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduoro Guerra, Diosado Cabello Rondon, Ramon Rodriguez Chachin, and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores. "Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking," the indictment said. "That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela's political and military elite, including Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace Diosado Cabello Rondon, the defendant, and former Minister of the Interior and Justice Ramon Rodriguez Chachin, the defendant." In addition to the narco-terrorism conspiracy charge, the indictment alleges four other criminal counts: cocaine importation conspiracy; possession of machine guns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, blasted the attack on Venezuela and its rationale "If this action were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General wouldn't be tweeting that they've arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law," Massie wrote in a post on the social media site X. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis on all things Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can sign up here to receive it every Friday evening in your inbox.) Warren Buffett told CNBC's Becky Quick he would rather have new Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel handle his money "than any of the top investment advisers or any of the top CEOs in the United States." Buffett's shares in the company are currently valued at $147.5 billion, so by managing Berkshire, Abel will, in effect, also be managing almost all of Buffett's enormous net worth. Quick interviewed Buffett in May, just a few days after he announced he planned to step down as CEO at year-end. CNBC aired short excerpts on Friday from that conversation to help promote a special program later this month that will feature the entire interview. In the clips, Buffett promised Abel will be "the decider," and will be able to get more done in a week than he himself can accomplish in a month. And while Buffett won't be on stage at this May's annual meeting, he suggested to Becky that "maybe you'll interview me" during CNBC's coverage of the event. Here's video of Becky's report on the interview from Friday's "Squawk Box," along with the text of Buffett's interview excerpts. WARREN BUFFETT: Everything will be the same. [I] can't imagine how much more he can get accomplished in a week than I can [in] a month. And at the same time, he's not a distorted individual. And ... he lives what would look like a normal life. And my guess is if the neighbors didn't know who know who he was, they wouldn't have any idea that — that on — on January 1st, he's going to be the decider on a company that — that employs close to 400 thousand people and has got plans around — to be around fifty or a hundred years from now. But it has a better chance, I think, of being here a hundred years from now than any company I can think of. WARREN BUFFETT: And Greg's operated more than I have when you get right down to it. And it — he knows — there's no secret formula that — that — only CEOs have or anything of the sort. And — and I am going to have him handling the money of the, you know, in effect, I — Later in the day on "Money Matters," a section of the interview was replayed, followed by CNBC's Senior Markets Commentator Michael Santoli's thoughts on Berkshire's well-telegraphed transition to a new CEO. Both classes of Berkshire Hathaway stock moved somewhat lower on the first trading day with Greg Abel as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. The A shares closed Friday with a 1.4% drop while the B shares did slightly better, falling almost 1.2%. The benchmark S&P 500 index, on the other hand, moved higher during 2026's first Wall Street session, but it ended with just a small gain of 0.2%. That gives the S&P an extremely early lead of 1.60 percentage points over BRKA year-to-date. With S&P dividends included, the metric Berkshire uses for comparisons in its annual reports, the lead is 1.62 percentage points. For 2025, the S&P with dividends outperformed Berkshire's A shares by 7.0 percentage points. Berkshire Cash as of September 30: $381.7 billion (Up 10.9% from June 30) Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $354.3 billion (Up 4.3% from June 30) Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly traded stocks in the U.S. and Japan, by market value, based on the latest closing prices. The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker. Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.) Also, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here on Berkshire's website. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Airlines canceled flights throughout the Caribbean on Saturday following U.S. strikes on Venezuela after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered commercial aircraft to avoid airspace in parts of the region. President Donald Trump said Saturday the U.S. strikes resulted in the capture and removal of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro. U.S. airlines canceled hundreds of flights to airports in Puerto Rico and Aruba, according to flight tallies from FlightAware and carriers' sites. The canceled flights included close to 300 flights to and from San Juan, Puerto Rico's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport, more than 40% of the day's schedule, according to FlightAware. "We are making schedule adjustments as necessary with the safety and security of our customers and team members top of mind." Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways also showed cancellations in the Caribbean. JetBlue, which has a large operation in the Caribbean, said it canceled about 215 flights "due to airspace closures across the Caribbean related to military activity." The airline noted that flights to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica were not affected by government restrictions. It wasn't immediately clear how long the disruptions would last, though such broad restrictions are often temporary. Airlines said they would waive change fees and fare differences for customers affected by the airspace closures who could fly later in the month. Major U.S. airlines haven't served Venezuela directly for years. We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

SAN FRANCISCO — Inside Anthropic headquarters, President and co-founder Daniela Amodei keeps coming back to a phrase that's become a sort of governing principle for the artificial intelligence startup's entire strategy: Do more with less. It's a direct challenge to the prevailing mood across Silicon Valley, where the biggest labs and their backers are treating scale as destiny. OpenAI has become the clearest example of that approach. The company has made roughly $1.4 trillion in headline compute and infrastructure commitments as it works with partners to stand up massive data center campuses and secure next-generation chips at a pace the industry has never seen. Anthropic's pitch is that there's another way through the race, one where disciplined spending, algorithmic efficiency, and smarter deployment can keep you at the frontier without trying to outbuild everyone else. "I think what we have always aimed to do at Anthropic is be as judicious with the resources that we have while still operating in this space where it's just a lot of compute," Amodei told CNBC. "Anthropic has always had a fraction of what our competitors have had in terms of compute and capital, and yet, pretty consistently, we've had the most powerful, most performant models for the majority of the past several years." It is the strategy that increasing compute, data, model size, and capabilities tends to improve the model in a predictable way. It underwrites hyperscaler capital spending, justifies towering chip valuations, and keeps private markets willing to assign enormous prices to companies that are still spending heavily to reach profitability. But even as Anthropic has benefited from that logic, the company is trying to prove that the next phase of competition won't be decided only by who can afford the largest pre-training runs. Its strategy leans into higher-quality training data, post-training techniques that improve reasoning, and product choices designed to make models cheaper to run and easier to adopt at scale — the part of the AI business where the compute bill never stops. To be clear, Anthropic isn't operating on a shoestring. The company has roughly $100 billion in compute commitments, and expects those requirements to keep rising if it wants to stay at the frontier. "So our expectation is, yes, we will need more compute to be able to just stay at the frontier as we get bigger." The bigger truth, she added, is that even insiders who helped shape the scaling thesis have been surprised by how consistently performance and business growth have compounded. "We have continued to be surprised, even as the people who pioneered this belief in scaling laws," Daniela Amodei said. "Something that I hear from my colleagues a lot is, the exponential continues until it doesn't. And every year we've been like, 'Well, this can't possibly be the case that things will continue on the exponential' — and then every year it has." If the exponential keeps holding, then the companies that lock up power, chips and sites early may look prescient. If it breaks — or if adoption lags behind the pace of capability — then the players that overcommitted could be left carrying years of fixed costs and long-lead-time infrastructure built for demand that never arrives. From a technological perspective, she said Anthropic doesn't see progress slowing down, based on what the company has observed so far. The more complicated question is how quickly businesses and consumers can integrate those capabilities into real workflows where procurement, change management, and human friction can slow even the best tool. "Regardless of how good the technology is, it takes time for that to be used in a business or sort of personal context," she said. "The real question to me is: How quickly can businesses in particular, but also individuals, leverage the technology?" That enterprise emphasis is central to why Anthropic has become such a closely watched bellwether for the broader generative AI trade. The company has positioned itself as an enterprise-first model provider, with much of its revenue tied to other companies paying to plug Claude into workflows, products, and internal systems — usage that can be stickier than a consumer app, where churn can rise once the novelty fades. The Claude model is available across the major cloud platforms, including through partners that are also building and selling competing models. Daniela Amodei framed that presence less as détente and more as a reflection of customer pull, with large enterprises wanting optionality across clouds, and cloud providers wanting to offer what their biggest customers are asking to buy. If OpenAI is attempting to anchor a vast buildout around bespoke campuses and dedicated capacity, Anthropic is trying to remain flexible, shifting where it runs based on cost, availability, and customer demand, while focusing internal energy on improving model efficiency and performance per unit of compute. As 2026 begins, the divide matters for another reason: Both companies are being pushed toward the discipline of public-market readiness while still operating in a private-market world where compute needs are growing faster than certainty. Anthropic and OpenAI have not announced IPO timelines, but both are making moves that look like preparation, adding finance, governance, forecasting, and an operating cadence that can withstand public scrutiny. At the same time, both are still raising fresh capital and striking ever-larger compute arrangements to fund the next leg of model development. That sets up a real test of strategy rather than rhetoric. If investors start demanding greater efficiency, Anthropic's "do more with less" posture could put them at an advantage. "The exponential continues until it doesn't," Daniela Amodei said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Russia and Iran broadly condemned the U.S. attack on Venezuela early Saturday, while elsewhere, world leaders called for an immediate meeting of the UN Security Council. The Russian foreign ministry called Saturday's strikes on Venezuela "an act of armed aggression" that is "deeply concerning and condemnable." "The pretexts used to justify such actions are unfounded ...In the current situation, it is important, first and foremost, to prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a way out of the situation through dialogue." "Latin America must remain a zone of peace, as it declared itself to be in 2014. And Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive, let alone military, interference from outside." The ministry said it was joining Venezuelan authorities and leaders of Latin American countries in calling for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the U.S. military attack on its neighbor, Venezuela, and said the capture of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, crossed "an unacceptable line." "These acts represent a grave affront to Venezuela's sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community," Lula said in a post on X. Lula also called for a "vigorous" response from the United Nations, adding that Brazil remains open to promoting dialogue and cooperation. "We will not yield to the enemy," he said. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in a social media post on X, called for a meeting of the UN Security Council, saying the U.S. attack is an "aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America." Petro said Colombia also said it is deploying forces to the border "in case of a massive influx of refugees." Kaja Kallas, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a post on X that the European Union is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela. "I have spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and our Ambassador in Caracas... The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition," she said. The United States' military operation runs counter to the principles of international law, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. France reiterates that no lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside and that only sovereign people themselves can decide their future," wrote Barrot on X. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said international law must be respected. "Dramatic development in Venezuela, which we are following closely. In Germany, Roderich Kiesewetter, a prominent member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, called the U.S. attack a "coup." Kiesewetter added: "Trump is destroying what was left of any trust in the U.S." Maxime Prevot, Belgium's deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, said the safety of its citizens in Venezuels is the European country's top priority. The situation is being closely monitored, in coordination with our European partners." Giuseppe Conte, a former prime minister and current opposition party leader in Italy, said the U.S. operation "has no legal basis." "We are facing a blatant violation of international law, which certifies the dominance of the strongest and best equipped militarily... I hope that the entire international community will make its voice heard and that everyone will understand that if rules only apply to enemies and not to friends, no one can feel safe anymore. Yvonne Mewengkang, spokesperson for Indonesia's foreign ministry, said it is monitoring developments to ensure the safety of its citizens in Venezuela. "Indonesia also calls on all relevant parties to prioritize peaceful resolution through de-escalation and dialogue, while prioritizing the protection of civilians." "Trinidad and Tobago continues to maintain peaceful relations with the people of Venezuela," Persad-Bissessar said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Russia and Iran broadly condemned the U.S. attack on Venezuela early Saturday, while elsewhere, world leaders called for an immediate meeting of the UN Security Council. UN ⁠Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is ‍deeply ‍alarmed ‍by U.S. action in ‌Venezuela that ‌sets "a dangerous ​precedent," his spokesperson said in a statement. He's deeply concerned ‌that ⁠the rules of international law have ‍not been respected," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. The Russian foreign ministry called Saturday's strikes on Venezuela "an act of armed aggression" that is "deeply concerning and condemnable." "The pretexts used to justify such actions are unfounded ...In the current situation, it is important, first and foremost, to prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a way out of the situation through dialogue." "Latin America must remain a zone of peace, as it declared itself to be in 2014. And Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive, let alone military, interference from outside." The ministry said it was joining Venezuelan authorities and leaders of Latin American countries in calling for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned the U.S. military attack on its neighbor, Venezuela, and said the capture of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, crossed "an unacceptable line." "These acts represent a grave affront to Venezuela's sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community," Lula said in a post on X. Lula also called for a "vigorous" response from the United Nations, adding that Brazil remains open to promoting dialogue and cooperation. "We will not yield to the enemy," he said. Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in a social media post on X, called for a meeting of the UN Security Council, saying the U.S. attack is an "aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and Latin America." Petro said Colombia also said it is deploying forces to the border "in case of a massive influx of refugees." Kaja Kallas, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a post on X that the European Union is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela. "I have spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and our Ambassador in Caracas... The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition," she said. The United States' military operation runs counter to the principles of international law, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. France reiterates that no lasting political solution can be imposed from the outside and that only sovereign people themselves can decide their future," wrote Barrot on X. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said international law must be respected. "Dramatic development in Venezuela, which we are following closely. In Germany, Roderich Kiesewetter, a prominent member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, called the U.S. attack a "coup." Kiesewetter added: "Trump is destroying what was left of any trust in the U.S." Maxime Prevot, Belgium's deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, said the safety of its citizens in Venezuels is the European country's top priority. The situation is being closely monitored, in coordination with our European partners." Giuseppe Conte, a former prime minister and current opposition party leader in Italy, said the U.S. operation "has no legal basis." "We are facing a blatant violation of international law, which certifies the dominance of the strongest and best equipped militarily... I hope that the entire international community will make its voice heard and that everyone will understand that if rules only apply to enemies and not to friends, no one can feel safe anymore. Yvonne Mewengkang, spokesperson for Indonesia's foreign ministry, said it is monitoring developments to ensure the safety of its citizens in Venezuela. "Indonesia also calls on all relevant parties to prioritize peaceful resolution through de-escalation and dialogue, while prioritizing the protection of civilians." "Trinidad and Tobago continues to maintain peaceful relations with the people of Venezuela," Persad-Bissessar said. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife during a stunning, large-scale attack on their nation overnight. American authorities said Saturday morning that the couple had been indicted in New York on drug-trafficking charges. The U.S. military operation was conducted in coordination with American law enforcement authorities, U.S. President Donald Trump said in an early morning post on Truth Social. "The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement," Trump said. Trump is expected to discuss the attack on Venezuela in a press conference at 11 a.m. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. The Maduros have been charged with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of weapons and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices against the U.S., according to Bondi's post. In an interview with "Fox and Friends Weekend" on Saturday, Trump said the U.S. suffered a few injuries but no deaths in the operation, and that U.S. forces waited four days to launch the attack due to weather conditions. The White House, which reposted Trump's Truth Social statement on its X account, didn't immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who had earlier questioned whether the U.S. attack was constitutional, said in a X post on Saturday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him the U.S. operation "was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant." "This action likely falls within the president's inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack," Lee added. Rubio, meanwhile, responded to the operation on social media by reposting a statement he made in July 2025, stating: "Maduro is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government. Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States." U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in a post on X that Maduro would "finally face justice for his crimes." There was no immediate confirmation from the Venezuelan government. Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela's vice president, demanded that the U.S. provide proof that Maduro and his wife are alive, in an interview on state television station Venezolana de Televisión. Maduro's official Facebook page posted a video stating that attacks occurred in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to a Google translation of the Spanish-language statement. The statement in the video added that the U.S. would fail in its goal of possessing Venezuela's oil and minerals, and that Maduro had declared a national emergency and mobilized defense forces. Trump told The New York Times that the operation was a result of "a lot of good planning." "It was a brilliant operation, actually," Trump told the Times. Explosions were reported in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, at about 2 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), according to images circulating on social media that could not be independently verified. Venezuelan state-run energy company PDVSA's oil production and refining were normal, and its key facilities had suffered no damage, according to an initial assessment, two sources with knowledge of the company's operations told Reuters. The port of La Guaira near Caracas, one of the country's largest but is not used for oil operations, was reported to have suffered severe damage, Reuters reported. On Dec. 23, 2025, he said it would be "smart" for Maduro to leave power. Trump last month announced a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers moving in and out of Venezuelan waters, saying the country was "completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America." The strategy to pressure Maduro comes as the U.S. and Venezuela's opposition say Maduro rigged an election last year to stay in power. Trump has also accused Maduro of running a "narco-state." Colombian President Gustavo Petro said in a post on X that Caracas was under attack and urged an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States and the United Nations. Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chavez in 2013, has said Washington is seeking control of its oil reserves, the largest in the world. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox

Every time Theron publishes a story, you'll get an alert straight to your inbox! By clicking “Sign up”, you agree to receive emails from Business Insider. In addition, you accept Insider's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Warren Buffett has officially retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO after six decades in charge. Close watchers say Greg Abel, who took the reins on New Year's Day, faces three key challenges. Abel's biggest hurdle will be "finding a way to intelligently allocate" Berkshire's vast and growing cash pile, Alex Morris, the author of "Buffett and Munger Unscripted" and the founder of investment research service TSOH, told Business Insider. Berkshire's trove of cash, Treasury bills, and other liquid assets recently breached $350 billion — a figure that exceeds the market values of Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, and General Electric. Read more about the leadership transition underway at Berkshire Hathaway: Yet Buffett hasn't found any of those to be fruitful avenues in recent years. As a business icon and legendary investor, Buffett was given "more of a pass" by Wall Street and Berkshire shareholders for hoarding cash than Abel is likely to receive, Morris said. Abel is recognized as a world-class operator, but that's "fundamentally different from identifying accretive acquisitions in the public and private markets," Luke Rahbari, the CEO of Equity Armor Investments, told Business Insider. Buffett and his late business partner, Charlie Munger, designed Berkshire as a web of decentralized, autonomous subsidiaries, freeing them to spend much of their days reading corporate filings and searching for compelling investments. Kass said the new boss will have a "full plate" overseeing Berkshire's subsidiaries, including insurers such as Geico for the first time, managing its roughly $300 billion stock portfolio, and making major allocation decisions outside of the company including acquisitions and other deals. Abel is expected to be a more hands-on manager than Buffett. He's already announced several leadership changes, including the appointment of Berkshire's first general counsel and a new divisional president. "Abel will have to navigate complex relationships with subsidiary management teams where the 'loyalty discount' previously given to Buffett may no longer apply," he said.