In a wistful annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Warren Buffett said 'it won't be long' before he's succeeded as CEO by Greg Abel.

Warren Buffett explained why Berkshire Hathaway will always prefer equity investments to cash, why the firm's investments in Japanese conglomerates is likely to increase, and the traditions he expects the company's future leaders to uphold.

In this year’s letter, Buffett addressed the U.S. government while touching upon Berkshire Hathaway’s sizable tax payments. The company paid the IRS a staggering $26.9 billion last year—about 5 percent of what all of corporate America paid, noted the executive.