Influential billionaire investor Warren Buffett said on Saturday he would retire from leading his Berkshire Hathaway business group by the end of the year and that he would recommend his chosen successor Greg Abel take over.

Buffett's success, coupled with his ability to explain his thinking in clear soundbites, has made him highly influential in the business and financial communities, earning him the nickname "The Oracle of Omaha."

Several years ago, Buffett had already indicated that the 62-year-old Abel would be his pick for successor in an interview with CNBC.

"The time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end," Buffett, 94, told an annual shareholder meeting in Omaha.

Buffett added that he believed the board of directors would be "unanimously in favour of" his recommendation.

"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 transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a medium-sized textile company when he bought it in the 1960s into a giant conglomerate, now valued at more than US$1 trillion and with liquid assets of US$300 billion.

The company on Saturday reported first-quarter profits of US$9.6 billion, down 14 percent. That works out to US$4.47 per share, also down sharply.

Buffett's net worth as of Saturday is US$168.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine's real-time rich list. (AFP)