Warren Buffett’s witty annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders will reach an audience of millions when released on Saturday morning. The 80-year-old loves the limelight, and still epitomises the role of charismatic chief executive. But this year’s report will be examined for what it says about who will run Berkshire after he is gone. And as with Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, Mr Buffett seems to be struggling with the fact that his moment in the limelight is ending.

Mr Buffett’s money-making skills have long engendered a “trust me” approach to his succession. It is understood that no one can match his mix of charisma and prowess as an investor. Back in the 1990s, he told his shareholders only that his job would eventually be split: with a chief executive overseeing operations, and a chief investment officer handling Berkshire’s portfolio. The names of those secretly anointed were memorialised in a letter that began “Yesterday I died”, meant to be read only on that occasion. Mr Buffett said he would keep his family – not the board – posted with any other succession thoughts.

In 2003, regulators forced Mr Buffett to partially show his hand, by giving Berkshire’s directors a list of three internal candidates for the chief executive role. But recently the number of candidates has expanded, from three to four. In a well-run succession race the choices should become fewer, and the reasoning clearer as time passes. At Berkshire, the process has grown murkier.