On Monday Eastern Time, Berkshire Hathaway's Thanksgiving public letter revealed that the 95-year-old "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett, is making final arrangements for his retirement as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He plans to accelerate the transfer of his $149 billion inheritance to his children's foundations while retaining enough Berkshire Class A shares to help his successor, Greg Abel, gain shareholder confidence.

This letter marks another step in Buffett's gradual handover of management authority this year. Previously, at the end of the company's annual shareholders meeting, he announced that he would ultimately pass the reins to his longtime deputy, Greg Abel. Buffett left his successor a $382 billion cash reserve, which has grown over the past few years as the billionaire has avoided large-scale acquisitions and share buybacks.

In the letter addressed to his children and shareholders, Buffett announced the donation of Berkshire shares worth over $1.3 billion to four family foundations and outlined the distribution plan for his personal wealth. Buffett will convert 1,800 of his Berkshire Class A shares into 2.7 million Class B shares, of which 1.5 million will be donated to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after his late wife. The remaining shares will be donated to his three children's foundations—the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the NoVo Foundation—each receiving 400,000 shares.

This Thanksgiving letter is Buffett's first significant statement since he announced his retirement as CEO at the shareholders meeting in May this year. The 63-year-old Abel will assume the role of CEO early next year, while Buffett will continue to serve as Chairman of Berkshire but will "remain silent." This marks the end of an era for one of the business world's most closely watched investment masters. He will stop writing Berkshire's annual letters and will no longer speak at the company's shareholders meetings.