Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC is the parent company of the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

(formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...

, which is controlled by investor

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net ...

History

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation was incorporated in 1993 to facilitate the merger of

Burlington Northern, Incorporated The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

, parent of the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadi ...

, and

Santa Fe Pacific Corporation The Santa Fe Pacific Corporation was formed as the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation on by the merger of Santa Fe Industries, which owned the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, with the Southern Pacific Company, which owned the Southern ...

, which owned the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

(Santa Fe). The corporate merger was consummated on September 22, 1995, at which point shareholders of the previous companies became shareholders of BNSF and the two companies became wholly owned subsidiaries of BNSF. In December 1996, the two holding companies and two railroads were formally merged, and in January 1998 the remaining intermediate holding company was folded into the railroad. Robert D. Krebs of Santa Fe Pacific was president of BNSF from the merger until 1999, chief executive from the merger until 2000, and chairman from 1997 until 2002. He was succeeded in all three positions by

Matthew K. Rose Matthew K. Rose (born 1960 in Salina, Kansas) was the Chairman and CEO of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. from 2002 to December 31, 2013. In December 2013, Rose's role was shifted to that of executive chairman, renewing speculation he might be ...

. On November 3, 2009,

made a $26 billion offer to buy the remaining 77.4% of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation it did not already own, valuing the purchase at $34 billion. The deal, which including Berkshire's previous investment and the assumption of $10 billion in Burlington Northern debt brings the total value to $44 billion. Consummated February 12, 2010, it is the largest acquisition in Berkshire Hathaway's history. The deal was structured so that the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation would merge with and into R Acquisition Company, LLC, an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The deal closed on February 12, 2010, and at the same time, the now merged company changed its name to Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC that remains an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Business

BNSF Railway's primary rail competitor in the Western region of the US is the Union Pacific Railroad Company — the two hold a

duopoly A duopoly (from Greek δύο, ''duo'' "two" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market. It is the most commonly studied form of oligopoly due to its simplicit ...

over west coast rail shipping. Other Class 1 railroads and numerous regional railroads and motor carriers also operate in parts of the same territories served by BNSF Railway. Based on weekly reporting by the Association of American Railroads, BNSF's share of the western US rail traffic in 2008 was approximately 49%.

References

External links

Corporate website
{{Authority control Berkshire Hathaway American companies established in 1993 Companies based in Fort Worth, Texas United States railroad holding companies BNSF Railway 2010 mergers and acquisitions