At ninety-six, Warren Buffett closes the active chapter of a stewardship that transformed a failing textile mill into one of the most valuable enterprises in human commercial history. His departure from the chairmanship of Berkshire Hathaway is less a rupture than a studied handoff — one designed to transmit not merely assets, but a philosophy of patience, integrity, and long-horizon thinking to the generation that follows. In the arc of institutional life, this moment asks the perennial question: can a culture outlast its creator?