Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
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Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational
conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** Co ...
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
headquartered in
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, United States. Its main business and source of capital is
insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
, from which it invests the float (the retained premiums) in a broad portfolio of subsidiaries, equity positions and other securities. The company has been overseen since 1965 by its chairman and CEO
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 w ...
and (since 1978) vice chairman
Charlie Munger Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mung ...
, who are known for their advocacy of value investing principles. Under their direction, the company's book value has grown at an average rate of 20%, compared to about 10% from the
S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of D ...
index with dividends included over the same period, while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt. The company's insurance brands include auto insurer
GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...
and
reinsurance Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insu ...
firm
General Re General Reinsurance Corporation is an American multinational property/casualty and life/health reinsurance company offering a range of reinsurance products and services. The company is a primarily direct reinsurer and is represented in all major ...
. Its non-insurance subsidiaries operate in diverse sectors such as
confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...
,
retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...
, railroads, home furnishings, machinery,
jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...
, apparel, electrical power and
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
distribution. Among its partially owned businesses are
Pilot Flying J Pilot Travel Centers LLC, doing business as Pilot Flying J, is a North American chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The company ...
(38.6%),
Kraft Heinz Company The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC), commonly known as Kraft Heinz, is an American multinational food company formed by the merger of Kraft Foods and Heinz co-headquartered in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Kraft Heinz is the third-largest food and beverage ...
(26.7%),
American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
(18.8%),
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
(11.9%),
The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...
(9.32%) and
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
(5.57%). Berkshire is the seventh largest component of the S&P 500 index and the top-ranked company in the
Forbes Global 2000 The ''Forbes'' Global 2000 is an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world, published by ''Forbes'' magazine. "The Global 2000" annual ranking is assembled by ''Forbes'' using a weighted assessment of four metrics: sales, profi ...
, which takes into account both market value and fundamental data. Its class A shares have the highest per-share price of any public company in the world, reaching $500,000 in March 2022, because Buffett chooses not to split the stock.


History

Berkshire Hathaway traces its roots to a
textile manufacturing Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
company established by
Oliver Chace Oliver Chace (August 24, 1769 – May 21, 1852) was an American 18th and 19th-century businessman. He was the founder of several New England textile manufacturing companies in the early 19th century, including the Valley Falls Company, the origi ...
in 1839 as the Valley Falls Company in
Valley Falls, Rhode Island Valley Falls is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Cumberland, Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 11,547 at the 2010 census. Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway was founded in 18 ...
. Chace had previously worked for Samuel Slater, the founder of the first successful textile mill in America. Chace founded his first textile mill in 1806. In 1929, the Valley Falls Company merged with the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company established in 1889, in
Adams, Massachusetts Adams is a town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,166 at the 2020 census. History Nathan Jones purchased the township of ...
. The combined company was known as
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates () was an American textile company, founded in 1889 as Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company in Adams, Massachusetts in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. History The first mill built by the company was Berksh ...
. In 1955, Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates merged with the
Hathaway Manufacturing Company The Hathaway Manufacturing Company was a producer of cotton textiles founded in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1888 by Horatio Hathaway, a China trader and whaler in the Pacific. History By 1917, the Hathaway Mills would grow to contain 108,000 ...
which had been founded in 1888 in
New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. Up throug ...
, by
Horatio Hathaway Horatio Hathaway (May 19, 1831 – March 25, 1898) was a New England industrialist, politician, and philanthropist and namesake of Berkshire Hathaway. Early life Hathaway was born on May 19, 1831 to Nathaniel Hathaway and Anna (Shoemaker) Hathaway ...
with profits from
whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...
and the
China Trade The Old China Trade () refers to the early commerce between the Qing Empire and the United States under the Canton System, spanning from shortly after the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783 to the Treaty of Wanghia in 1844. The Old ...
. Hathaway had been successful in its first decades, but it suffered during a general decline in the
textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...
after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. At this time, Hathaway was run by Seabury Stanton, whose investment efforts were rewarded with renewed profitability after the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. After the merger, Berkshire Hathaway had 15 plants employing over 12,000 workers with over $120 million in revenue, and was headquartered in
New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...
. However, seven of those locations were closed by the end of the decade, accompanied by large layoffs. In 1962, Warren Buffett began buying stock in Berkshire Hathaway after noticing a pattern in the price direction of its stock whenever the company closed a mill. Eventually, Buffett acknowledged that the textile business was waning and the company's financial situation was not going to improve. In 1964, Stanton made an oral
tender offer In corporate finance, a tender offer is a type of public takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation (usually announced in a newspaper advertisement) by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded corpo ...
to buy back Buffett's stake in the company for $11 per share. Buffett agreed to the deal. A few weeks later, Warren Buffett received the tender offer in writing, but the tender offer was for only $11. Buffett later admitted that this lower, undercutting offer made him angry. Instead of selling at the slightly lower price, Buffett decided to buy more of the stock to take control of the company and fire Stanton (which he did). However, this made Buffett the majority owner of a failing textile business. Buffett initially maintained Berkshire's core business of textiles, but by 1967, he was expanding into the insurance industry and other investments. Berkshire first ventured into the insurance business with the purchase of
National Indemnity Company National Indemnity Company is an insurance company based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, and founded in 1940 by Jack Dabney Ringwalt. It is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which bought the company in 1967. It is Berkshire's oldest operati ...
. In the late 1970s, Berkshire acquired an equity stake in the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), which forms the core of its insurance operations today (and is a major source of capital for Berkshire Hathaway's other investments). In 1985, the last textile operations (Hathaway's historic core) were shut down. In 2010, Buffett claimed that purchasing Berkshire Hathaway was the biggest investment mistake he had ever made, and claimed that it had denied him compounded investment returns of about $200 billion over the subsequent 45 years. Buffett claimed that had he invested that money directly in insurance businesses instead of buying out Berkshire Hathaway (due to what he perceived as a slight by an individual), those investments would have paid off several hundredfold.


Senior leadership (since 1970)

* Chairman and CEO:
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 w ...
(1970– ) * Vice Chairman:
Charlie Munger Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mung ...
(1978– )


Corporate affairs

Berkshire's class A shares sold for $465,725 as of January 5, 2022, making them the highest-priced shares on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
, in part because they have never had a stock split and have only paid a
dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-in ...
once since Warren Buffett took over, retaining corporate earnings on its balance sheet in a manner that is impermissible for
mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV i ...
s. Shares closed over $100,000 for the first time on October 23, 2006. Despite its size, Berkshire had for many years not been included in broad stock market indices such as the
S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices. As of D ...
due to the lack of liquidity in its shares; however, following a 50-to-1 split of Berkshire's
Class B Shares In finance, a Class B share or Class C share is a designation for a share class of a common or preferred stock that typically has strengthened voting rights or other benefits compared to a Class A share that may have been created. The equity stru ...
in January 2010, and Berkshire's announcement that it would acquire the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC is the parent company of the BNSF Railway (formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by investor Warre ...
, parent of
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 ...
, Berkshire replaced BNSF in the S&P 500 on February 16, 2010. Buffett's letters to shareholders are published annually. '' Barron's'' said Berkshire was the most respected company in the world in 2007, based on a survey of American money managers. In 2008, Berkshire invested in preferred stock of
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
as part of a recapitalization of the investment bank. Buffett defended
Lloyd Blankfein Lloyd Craig Blankfein (born September 20, 1954) is an American investment banker who has served as senior chairman of Goldman Sachs since 2019, and chairman and chief executive from 2006 until the end of 2018. Previous to leading Goldman Sachs, ...
's decisions as CEO of Goldman Sachs. , Buffett owned 31.7% aggregate voting power of Berkshire's shares outstanding and 18.0% of the economic value of those shares. Berkshire's vice-chairman,
Charlie Munger Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mung ...
, also holds a stake big enough to make him a billionaire, and early investments in Berkshire by
David Gottesman David Sanford Gottesman (April 26, 1926 – September 28, 2022) was an American businessman and billionaire. He founded First Manhattan Co. (FMC), and was noted for his friendship with Warren Buffett. Early life and education Gottesman was b ...
and Franklin Otis Booth, Jr. resulted in their becoming billionaires as well. The
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was ...
is a large shareholder of Berkshire, owning 4.0% of
Class B Shares In finance, a Class B share or Class C share is a designation for a share class of a common or preferred stock that typically has strengthened voting rights or other benefits compared to a Class A share that may have been created. The equity stru ...
. Berkshire Hathaway has never split its Class A shares because of management's desire to attract long-term investors as opposed to short-term
speculators In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many s ...
. However, Berkshire Hathaway created a Class B stock, with a per-share value originally kept (by specific management rules) close to of that of the original shares (now Class A) and of the per-share voting rights, and after the January 2010 split, at the price and the voting rights of the Class-A shares. Holders of class A stock are allowed to convert their stock to Class B, though not vice versa. Buffett was reluctant to create the class B shares but did so to thwart the creation of unit trusts that would have marketed themselves as Berkshire look-alikes. As Buffett said in his 1995 shareholder letter: "The unit trusts that have recently surfaced fly in the face of these goals. They would be sold by brokers working for big commissions, would impose other burdensome costs on their shareholders, and would be marketed ''en masse'' to unsophisticated buyers, apt to be seduced by our past record and beguiled by the publicity Berkshire and I have received in recent years. The sure outcome: a multitude of investors destined to be disappointed." The salary for Buffett is $100,000 per year with no stock options, which is among the lowest salaries for CEOs of large companies in the United States.


Annual shareholders' meetings

Berkshire's annual shareholders' meetings take place at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Attendance has grown over the years with 2018 numbers totaling over 40,000 people. The 2007 meeting had an attendance of approximately 27,000. The meetings, nicknamed "
Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
for Capitalists", are considered Omaha's largest annual event along with the baseball College World Series. Known for their humor and light-heartedness, the meetings typically start with a movie made for Berkshire shareholders. The 2004 movie featured
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
in the role of "The Warrenator" who travels through time to stop Buffett and Munger's attempt to save the world from a "mega" corporation formed by
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
-
Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
- Wal-Mart. Schwarzenegger is later shown arguing in a gym with Buffett regarding Proposition 13. The 2006 movie depicted actresses Jamie Lee Curtis and Nicollette Sheridan lusting after Munger. The meeting, scheduled to last 6–8 hours, is an opportunity for investors to ask Buffett and Munger questions.


Governance

The current members of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway are
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 w ...
(Chairman),
Charlie Munger Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mung ...
(Vice Chairman), Thomas S. Murphy,
Howard Graham Buffett Howard Graham Buffett (born December 16, 1954) is an American businessman, former politician, philanthropist, photographer, farmer, and conservationist. He is the middle child of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He is named after Howard B ...
(Warren's son),
Ronald Olson Ronald L. Olson (born July 9, 1941) is an American attorney and a partner in the Los Angeles office of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP. He was the lead attorney representing the board of directors of Yahoo! in connection with Microsoft's proposed acq ...
, Charlotte Guyman,
Chris Davis Christopher or Chris Davis may refer to: Sports American football * Chris Davis (running back) (born 1979), American football fullback * Chris Davis (wide receiver, born 1983), American football wide receiver * Chris Davis (wide receiver, born 19 ...
,
Donald Keough Donald Raymond Keough (September 4, 1926 – February 24, 2015) was an Irish-American businessman and Chairman of the Board of Allen & Company LLC, a New York investment banking firm. He was elected to that position in April 1993. Keough retired ...
,
David Gottesman David Sanford Gottesman (April 26, 1926 – September 28, 2022) was an American businessman and billionaire. He founded First Manhattan Co. (FMC), and was noted for his friendship with Warren Buffett. Early life and education Gottesman was b ...
, Kenneth Irvine Chenault, Steve Burke, Susan Decker, Meryl Witmer,
Ajit Jain Ajit Jain (born 1951) is an Indian-American executive who is the Vice Chairman of Insurance Operations for Berkshire Hathaway as of January 10, 2018. Ajit Jain is an older cousin of Anshu Jain, who was the former Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank. Educat ...
, and Greg Abel. On March 13, 2020,
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
announced that he was leaving the board of directors of both
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
and Berkshire Hathaway in order to focus more on his philanthropic efforts.


Succession plans

In May 2010, three months away from his 80th birthday, Buffett said he would be succeeded at Berkshire Hathaway by a team consisting of a CEO and three or four investment managers, each of the latter would be responsible for a "significant portion of Berkshire's investment portfolio". Five months later, Berkshire announced that
Todd Combs Todd Anthony Combs (born January 27, 1971) is a former hedge fund manager and current investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway, who has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of GEICO since January 2020. Alongside Ted Weschler, he is frequentl ...
, manager of the
hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...
Castle Point Capital, would join them as an
investment manager Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institutio ...
. On September 12, 2011, Berkshire Hathaway announced that 50-year-old
Ted Weschler Ted Weschler (born May 16, 1962) is a former hedge fund manager and current investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway. Alongside Todd Combs, he is frequently cited as a potential future Chief Investment Officer of Berkshire. Early life and educ ...
, founder of Peninsula Capital Advisors, will join Berkshire in early 2012 as a second investment manager. In Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder letter dated February 25, 2012, Buffett said that his successor as CEO had been chosen internally but not named publicly. While the intent of this message was to bolster confidence in the leadership of a "Buffett-less Berkshire", critics have noted that this strategy of choosing a successor without a concrete exit strategy for the sitting CEO often leaves an organization with fewer long term options, while doing little to calm shareholder fear. In June 2014, the firm's cash and cash equivalents rose past $50 billion, the first time it finished a quarter above that level since Buffett became chairman and chief executive officer. At the end of 2017, the firm's cash and cash equivalent holdings rose to $116 billion. On January 10, 2018, Berkshire Hathaway appointed
Ajit Jain Ajit Jain (born 1951) is an Indian-American executive who is the Vice Chairman of Insurance Operations for Berkshire Hathaway as of January 10, 2018. Ajit Jain is an older cousin of Anshu Jain, who was the former Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank. Educat ...
and Greg Abel to vice-chairman roles. Abel was appointed vice chairman for non-insurance business operations, and Jain became vice chairman of insurance-operations. While Buffett has not further elaborated on his succession plans, he praised his two top executives in an annual shareholder letter, fuelling speculation that Jain and Abel are the logical successors. On May 3, 2021, Warren Buffett chose Greg Abel to be his successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.


Finance

For the fiscal year 2019, Berkshire Hathaway reported earnings of 81.4 billion, with an annual revenue of 254.6 billion, an increase of 2.7% over the previous fiscal cycle. Berkshire Hathaway's market capitalization was valued at over 496 billion in September 2018. , Berkshire Hathaway is ranked third on the
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.


Businesses and investments


Insurance group

Insurance and
reinsurance Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the company passes on ("cedes") some part of its own insu ...
business activities are conducted through approximately 70 domestic and foreign-based insurance companies. Berkshire's insurance businesses provide insurance and reinsurance of property and casualty risks primarily in the United States. In addition, as a result of the
General Re General Reinsurance Corporation is an American multinational property/casualty and life/health reinsurance company offering a range of reinsurance products and services. The company is a primarily direct reinsurer and is represented in all major ...
acquisition in December 1998, Berkshire's insurance businesses also includes life, accident, and health reinsurers, as well as internationally based property and casualty reinsurers. Berkshire's insurance companies maintain capital strength at exceptionally high levels. This strength differentiates Berkshire's insurance companies from their competitors. Collectively, the aggregate statutory surplus of Berkshire's U.S.-based insurers was approximately $48 billion . All of Berkshire's major insurance subsidiaries are rated
AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...
by Standard & Poor's Corporation, the highest Financial Strength Rating assigned by Standard & Poor's, and are rated A++ (superior) by A. M. Best with respect to their financial condition and operating performance. *
GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...
– Berkshire acquired GEICO in January 1996. GEICO is headquartered in
Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...
, and its principal insurance subsidiaries include; Government Employees Insurance Company, GEICO General Insurance Company, GEICO Indemnity Company, and GEICO Casualty Company. Over the past five years, these companies have offered primarily private passenger automobile insurance to individuals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. GEICO markets its policies primarily through direct response methods in which applications for insurance are submitted directly to the companies via the Internet or by telephone. *
Gen Re General Reinsurance Corporation is an American multinational property/casualty and life/health reinsurance company offering a range of reinsurance products and services. The company is a primarily direct reinsurer and is represented in all major r ...
– Berkshire acquired General Re in December 1998. General Re held a 91% ownership interest in
Cologne Re Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
. General Re subsidiaries currently conduct global reinsurance business in approximately 72 cities and provide global reinsurance coverage. General Re operates the following reinsurance businesses: North American property/casualty, international property/casualty, which principally consists of Cologne Re and the Faraday operations, and life/health reinsurance. General Re's reinsurance operations are primarily based in
Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...
, and
Cologne, Germany Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...
. General Re is one of the largest reinsurers in the world based on net premiums written and capital. * NRG (Nederlandse Reassurantie Groep) – Berkshire acquired NRG, a Dutch life reinsurance company, from
ING Group The ING Group ( nl, ING Groep) is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Amsterdam. Its primary businesses are retail banking, direct banking, commercial banking, investment banking, wholesale bankin ...
in December 2007. * Berkshire Hathaway Assurance – Berkshire created a government bond insurance company to insure municipal and
state bonds A government bond or sovereign bond is a form of Bond (finance), bond issued by a government to support government spending, public spending. It generally includes a commitment to pay periodic interest, called Coupon (finance), coupon payments' ...
. These types of bonds are issued by local governments to finance public works projects such as schools, hospitals, roads, and sewer systems. Few companies are capable of competing in this area. On June 8, 2017, it was announced that Berkshire Hathaway had settled with California's insurance regulator, allowing its Applied Underwriters unit to sell a revised version of its "controversial" compensation insurance policies for workers in the state. Berkshire Hathaway sold Applied Underwriters in 2019. On March 21, 2022, Berkshire Hathaway announced it was buying insurance company Alleghany for $11.6 billion. This would have expanded its presence in the insurance space and allowed it to own a holding company much like Berkshire itself. There was speculation a bidding war could erupt for the company, with ''Barron's'' citing Markel,
W.R. Berkley William Robert Berkley (born 1946) is the founder and current chairman of W. R. Berkley Corporation and the chairman of the New York University Board of Trustees. With a net worth of $4.4 billion he ranked 326th on the 2023 edition of the Forbe ...
, Chubb, and Loews along with Pershing Square as potential suitors. Barron's also reported on an analysis that suggested the company could be worth $1,000 a share, compared to the offer of $848.02. This move was touted as an example of Warren Buffett's "disdain" for investment bankers.


Utilities and energy group

In 2008, Berkshire owned 85 million shares of
ConocoPhillips ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational corporation engaged in hydrocarbon exploration and production. It is based in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas. The company has operations in 15 countries and has production in ...
. Later, in one of Buffett's interviews, he described this as "a major mistake" as the price of oil collapsed. Berkshire offloaded most of its shares but held 472 thousand shares until 2012. In that year, ConocoPhillips spun off a subsidiary,
Phillips 66 The Phillips 66 Company is an American Multinational corporation, multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Westchase, Houston, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Compan ...
, of which Berkshire owned 27 million shares. Berkshire later sold back $1.4 billion worth of shares to Phillips 66 in exchange for Phillips Specialty Products. Buffett frequently referred to Phillips 66 as one of the best businesses Berkshire invested in because of its consistent dividends and share buyback programs. Despite this, Berkshire sold its entire holdings in 2020. Berkshire currently holds 92% of Berkshire Hathaway Energy. At the time of purchase, Berkshire's
voting interest Voting interest (or voting power) in business and accounting means the total number, or percent, of votes entitled to be cast on the issue at the time the determination of voting power is made, excluding a vote which is contingent upon the happeni ...
was limited to 10% of the company's shares, but this restriction ended when the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 was repealed in 2005. A major subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy is Northern Powergrid, which operates in the UK. Until a name change on April 30, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway Energy was known as MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.


Manufacturing, service and retailing


Recreational vehicles

On June 21, 2005, Berkshire Hathaway agreed to purchase Forest River Inc., the world's largest seller of
recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper ...
s, from Pete Liegl.


Clothing

Berkshire's clothing businesses include manufacturers and distributors of a variety of clothing and footwear. Businesses engaged in the manufacture and distribution of clothing include Union Underwear Corp. – Fruit of the Loom, Garan,
Russell Corporation Russell Brands, LLC was an American corporation that manufactured sports equipment, marketing its products under many brands and subsidiaries, such as Russell Athletic (its flagship brand) and Spalding. Formerly a publicly traded company, Russ ...
and Fechheimer Brothers. Fechheimer Brothers is made up of two brands Flying Cross and Vertx. Flying Cross manufacturers public safety uniforms and Vertx is a civilian tactical clothing company. Berkshire's footwear businesses include H.H. Brown Shoe Group, Acme Boots,
Brooks Sports Brooks Sports, Inc., also known as Brooks Running, is an American sports equipment company that designs and markets high-performance men's and women's sneakers, clothing, and accessories. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Brooks products are ...
and
Justin Brands Justin Boots is an American western and equestrian footwear brand. It is a division of Justin Brands, Inc., itself owned by Berkshire Hathaway. History H.J. "Daddy Joe" Justin started repairing boots in Spanish Fort, Texas. After receiving a l ...
. Justin Brands is made up of
Chippewa Boots Chippewa Boots, originally known as Chippewa Shoe Manufacturing Company, is an American manufacturer of footwear, principally men's work and recreational boots. It also manufactures a limited line of heavy and casual shoes, and some women's ...
, Justin Boots, Justin Original Workboots,
Nocona Boots Nocona Boots is a Western United States, western boot brand and a division of Justin Brands, a Berkshire Hathaway corporation (NYSE: BRKa). Justin Brands is the world's largest manufacturer of western footwear. In addition to Nocona Boots, it own ...
, and
Tony Lama Boots Tony Lama Boots is a western boot brand and a division of Justin Brands, a Berkshire Hathaway corporation. History Tony Lama was born to Italian immigrant parents in 1887. He first learned the leather and boot trade as an 11-year-old shoemaker's ...
. Berkshire acquired
Fruit of the Loom Fruit of the Loom is an American company that manufactures clothing, particularly casual wear and underwear. The company's world headquarters is in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Since 2002 it has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. Products manu ...
on April 29, 2002, for $835 million in cash. Fruit of the Loom, headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is a vertically integrated manufacturer of basic clothing. Berkshire acquired
Russell Corporation Russell Brands, LLC was an American corporation that manufactured sports equipment, marketing its products under many brands and subsidiaries, such as Russell Athletic (its flagship brand) and Spalding. Formerly a publicly traded company, Russ ...
on August 2, 2006, for $600 million.


Building products

In August 2000, Berkshire Hathaway entered the building products business with the acquisition of Acme Building Brands. Headquartered in
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
, Acme manufactures and distributes clay bricks (Acme Brick), concrete block (Featherlite), and cut limestone (Texas Quarries). It expanded its building products business in December 2000, when it acquired Benjamin Moore & Co. of Montvale, New Jersey. Moore formulates, manufactures, and sells
architectural coatings Architectural coatings or paints are paints and other coatings used to paint the exteriors and interiors of buildings, often calleexterior wall coatingsor external masonry coatings. Clear varnishes and lacquers are generally excluded. Such produ ...
that are available primarily in the United States and Canada. In 2001, Berkshire acquired three additional building products companies. In February, it purchased
Johns Manville Johns Manville is an American company based in Denver, Colorado, that manufactures insulation, roofing materials and engineered products. For much of the 20th century, the then-titled Johns-Manville Corporation was the global leader in the ma ...
which was established in 1858 and manufactures fiberglass wool insulation products for homes and commercial buildings, as well as pipe, duct, and equipment insulation products. In July, Berkshire acquired a 90% equity interest in MiTek Inc., which makes engineered connector products, engineering software and services, and manufacturing machinery for the truss fabrication segment of the building components industry and is headquartered in Chesterfield, Missouri. Finally in 2001, Berkshire acquired 87 percent of Dalton, Georgia-based
Shaw Industries Shaw Industries Group, Inc. is one of the world's largest carpet manufacturers with more tha$6 billion in annual revenueand approximately 22,000 employees worldwide.Prem C. Jain, ''Buffett Beyond Value: Why Warren Buffett Looks to Growth and Mana ...
, Inc. Shaw is the world's largest carpet manufacturer based on both revenue and volume of production and designs and manufactures over 3,000 styles of tufted and woven carpet and laminate flooring for residential and commercial use under approximately 30 brand and trade names and under certain private labels. In 2002, Berkshire acquired the remaining 12.7 percent of Shaw. On August 7, 2003, Berkshire acquired
Clayton Homes Clayton Homes (or Clayton) is the largest builder of manufactured housing and modular homes in the United States. It is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Clayton Homes' corporate headquarters are in Maryville, Tennessee. Its subs ...
, Inc. Clayton, headquartered near
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...
, is a vertically integrated manufactured housing company. At year-end 2004, Clayton operated 32 manufacturing plants in 12 states. Clayton's homes are marketed in 48 states through a network of 1,540 retailers, 391 of which are company-owned sales centers. On May 1, 2008, Mitek acquired Hohmann & Barnard, a fabricator of anchors and reinforcement systems for masonry and on October 3 of that year, Mitek acquired Blok-Lok, Ltd. of
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Canada. On April 23, 2010, Mitek acquired the assets of Dur-O-Wal from
Dayton Superior Dayton Superior Corporation is a global company serving the nonresidential concrete construction industry. Dayton Superior has four main product lines of Concrete Accessories, Chemicals, Forming, and Paving with 117 patents for such products. The h ...
.


Flight services

In 1996, Berkshire acquired FlightSafety International Inc. (or FSI), founded in 1951 by
Albert Lee Ueltschi Albert Lee Ueltschi (May 15, 1917 – October 18, 2012) is considered the father of modern flight training and was the founder of FlightSafety International. Ueltschi was once personal pilot to Juan Trippe and an associate to Charles Lindbergh. ...
. FSI's corporate headquarters is located at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, New York. It supplies high technology
pilot training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...
to aircraft operators in the fields of military, governmental, corporate, and regional or mainline flying. FlightSafety is the world's leading provider of professional aviation training services. According to its website, the company has 1,800 instructors and offers more than 4,000 individual courses for 135 aircraft types, using more than 320 flight simulators to serve customers from 167 countries. In 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired NetJets Inc., formerly Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets is the world's leading provider of
fractional ownership Fractional ownership is a method in which several unrelated parties can share in, and mitigate the risk of, ownership of a high-value tangible asset, usually a jet, yacht or piece of resort real estate. It can be done for strictly monetary reason ...
programs for
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
aircraft. In 1986, NetJets created the fractional ownership of aircraft concept and introduced its NetJets program in the United States with one aircraft type. In 2019, the NetJets program operated more than 10 aircraft types with a fleet size of greater than 750.


Retail

The home furnishings businesses are Homemakers Furniture,
Nebraska Furniture Mart Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) is a home furnishing store in North America that sells furniture, flooring, appliances and electronics. It is the largest of its kind in North America. NFM was founded in 1937 by Belarus-born Rose Blumkin, who was k ...
, Jordan's Furniture, Inc., RC Willey Home Furnishings, and Star Furniture Company. CORT Business Services Corporation was acquired in 2000 by an 80.1% owned subsidiary of Berkshire and is the leading national provider of rental furniture, accessories and related services in the "rent-to-rent" segment of the furniture rental industry. In May 2000, Berkshire purchased
Ben Bridge Jeweler Ben Bridge Jeweler is a high-end American jewelry retailer that sells engagement rings, diamonds and watches, including Rolex, among other luxury product and is currently owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. It was established in Seatt ...
, a chain of jewelry stores established in 1912 with locations primarily in the western United States. This joined Berkshire's other jeweler acquisition, Helzberg Diamonds. Helzberg is a chain of jewelry stores based in Kansas City that began in 1915 and became part of Berkshire in 1995. In 2002, Berkshire acquired
The Pampered Chef Pampered Chef is a multinational corporation, multinational multi-level marketing company that offers a line of kitchen tools, food products, and cookbooks for preparing food in the home. They also offer some products to help transport some of t ...
, Ltd., the largest direct seller of kitchen tools in the United States. Products are researched, designed, and tested by The Pampered Chef, and manufactured by third-party suppliers. From its Addison, Illinois, headquarters, The Pampered Chef utilizes a network of more than 65,000 independent sales representatives to sell its products through home-based party demonstrations, principally in the United States. See's Candies produces boxed chocolates and other confectionery products in two large kitchens in California. See's revenues are highly seasonal with approximately 50% of total annual revenues being earned in the months of November and December. Dairy Queen, based in Edina, Minnesota, services a system of approximately 6,000 stores operating under the names Dairy Queen,
Orange Julius Orange Julius is an American chain of fruit drink beverage stores. It has been in business since the late 1920s and is noted for a particular drink, also called an Orange Julius. The beverage is a mixture of ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, p ...
, and
Karmelkorn Karmelkorn was an American popcorn retailer. It was founded in 1928 in Casper, Wyoming, by Mr. and Mrs. William O'Sullivan. The O'Sullivans patented their candy-coated popcorn and trademarked the product's name and logo in 1929. Initially, they l ...
. The stores offer various dairy desserts, beverages, prepared foods, blended fruit drinks, popcorn, and other snack foods. In November 2012, Berkshire announced they would acquire the Oriental Trading Company, a direct marketing company for novelty items, small toys, and party items. On October 3, 2017, it was announced that Berkshire Hathaway will acquire 38.6% of
truck stop A truck stop, known as a service station in the United Kingdom, and a travel center by major chains in the United States, is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made food and other services to motori ...
chain
Pilot Flying J Pilot Travel Centers LLC, doing business as Pilot Flying J, is a North American chain of truck stops in the United States and Canada. The company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Pilot Corporation, the majority owner, is based. The company ...
, with plans to increase its stake to 80% in 2023. The Haslam family and
FJ Management :''This is about the legacy Flying J Inc., which remains in operation as FJ Management Inc. For the current truck stop chain, see Pilot Flying J.'' FJ Management Inc.,http://www.flyingj.com/flyingjPortalWebProject/flyingjPortal.portal?_nfpb=true&_ ...
will retain ownership stakes until then, upon which the Haslam family will retain the remaining 20% and FJ Management will withdraw altogether. The Haslam family will retain control of day-to-day operations of the company.


Media

In 1977, Berkshire Hathaway purchased the ''
Buffalo Evening News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
'' and resumed publication of a Sunday edition of the paper that had ceased in 1914. After the morning newspaper ''
Buffalo Courier-Express The ''Buffalo Courier-Express'' was a morning newspaper in Buffalo, New York. It ceased publication on September 19, 1982. History The ''Courier-Express'' was created in 1926 by a merger of the ''Buffalo Daily Courier'' and the ''Buffalo Morning ...
'' ceased operation in 1982, the ''Buffalo Evening News'' changed its name to ''The Buffalo News'' and began to print morning and evening editions. It now prints only a morning edition. In 2006, the company bought '' Business Wire'', a U.S. press release agency. The company began its BH Media Group subsidiary with a purchase of the '' Omaha World-Herald'' in December 2011, which included six other daily newspapers and several weeklies across Nebraska and southwest Iowa. In June 2012, Berkshire purchased 63 newspapers from Media General, including the ''
Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...
'' and '' Winston-Salem Journal'', for $142 million in cash. In 2012, Berkshire Hathaway bought Texas dailies '' The Eagle'' in Bryan-College Station and the '' Waco Tribune-Herald''. In 2013, the company purchased the ''
Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. Tulsa World Media Company is part of Lee Enterprises. The new owners announced in January 202 ...
'', the Greensboro, North Carolina-based '' News & Record'', Virginia's ''
Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...
'', and '' Press of Atlantic City''. , BH Media owned 28 daily and 42 non-daily newspapers. On March 12, 2014, it was announced that Graham Holdings Company would divest its Miami television station,
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate WPLG to BH Media in a cash and stock deal. On January 29, 2020,
Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...
announced an agreement with Berkshire Hathaway to acquire BH Media Group's publications and ''
The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...
'' for $140 million in cash.


Real estate

Berkshire Hathaway Energy's
HomeServices of America Berkshire Hathaway Home Services is a residential real estate services company. The company provides real estate brokerage services, mortgage loan origination, franchising, title insurance/escrow and closing services, home warranties, property ...
(see complete list of companies) is a residential
real estate brokerage A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...
firm based in
Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, and founded in 1998. HomeServices has operations in 28 states and over 22,000 sales associates. In addition to brokerage services, these real estate companies provide mortgage loan originations,
title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
and closing services, home warranties,
property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
and
casualty insurance Casualty insurance is a defined term which broadly encompasses insurance not directly concerned with life insurance, health insurance, or property insurance. Casualty insurance is mainly liability coverage of an individual or organization for ne ...
and other related services. By the end of 2013 Berkshire Hathaway entered the residential real estate brokerage sector under the name of
HomeServices of America Berkshire Hathaway Home Services is a residential real estate services company. The company provides real estate brokerage services, mortgage loan origination, franchising, title insurance/escrow and closing services, home warranties, property ...
. In late June 2017, Berkshire Hathaway indirectly acquired Home Capital Group Inc for $400 million giving lifeline to the
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
-based embattled mortgage lender. Also in June 2017, Berkshire's $377 million investment and 10 percent purchase in Store Capital makes it the company's third-largest investor, after
Vanguard Group The Vanguard Group, Inc. is an American registered investment advisor based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, with about $7 trillion in global assets under management, as of January 13, 2021. It is the largest provider of mutual funds and the second-lar ...
and
Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is on ...
. Scottsdale-based Store Capital is a real-estate investment trust, holding more than 1,700 properties across 48 states. Berkshire's other investments tied to real estate include
Clayton Homes Clayton Homes (or Clayton) is the largest builder of manufactured housing and modular homes in the United States. It is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Clayton Homes' corporate headquarters are in Maryville, Tennessee. Its subs ...
, which makes manufactured housing. Despite these numerous investments and
Charlie Munger Charles Thomas Munger (born January 1, 1924) is an American billionaire investor, businessman, and former real estate attorney. He is vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett; Buffett has described Mung ...
's active involvement in the real estate development business, Berkshire Hathaway usually stays away from real estate preferring corporations with dividend based income to real estate investments.


Other non-insurance

In 2002, Berkshire acquired Albecca Inc. Albecca is headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, and primarily does business under the Larson-Juhl name. Albecca designs, manufactures, and distributes custom framing products, including wood and metal molding, matboard, foamboard, glass, equipment, and other framing supplies. Berkshire acquired
CTB International CTB, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is a global designer and manufacturer of systems for preserving grain, producing poultry, pigs and eggs, and processing food. The company is headquartered in Milford, Indiana, U.S.A., and empl ...
Corp. in 2002. CTB, headquartered in Milford, Indiana, is a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of systems used in the grain industry and in the production of poultry, hogs, and eggs. Products are produced in the United States and Europe and are sold primarily through a global network of independent dealers and distributors, with peak sales occurring in the second and third quarters. Berkshire acquired
McLane Company McLane is an American wholesale supply chain services company which distributes grocery and non-food to convenience stores, discount retailers, wholesale clubs, drug stores, military bases, quick service restaurants, and casual dining restaurants ...
, Inc., in May 2003 from
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, which brought on other subsidiaries such as Professional Datasolutions, Inc., and Salado Sales, among others. McLane provides wholesale distribution and logistics services in all 50 states and internationally in Brazil to customers that include discount retailers, convenience stores, quick-service restaurants, drug stores and movie theatre complexes. In 1986, Scott Fetzer Companies, a diversified group of 32 brands that manufactures and distributes a significant number of products for residential, industrial, and institutional use, was acquired. The two most significant of these businesses are Kirby home cleaning systems and Wayne Water Systems and
Campbell Hausfeld Campbell Hausfeld is a manufacturer of consumer, industrial, and commercial grade, low priced air compressors and related products, based in Harrison, Ohio. It is a major subsidiary of the Marmon Group which in turn is part of Berkshire Hathaway.< ...
products. Today, Campbell Hausfeld is no longer held by Scott Fetzer, having been sold to Marmon, also a Berkshire subsidiary in 2015. Scott Fetzer also manufactures
Ginsu Ginsu () is a brand of direct marketed knives, owned by Scott Fetzer Company, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, that was made popular in the United States by being sold on television using infomercials characterized by hawker and hard sell pitch tec ...
knives and World Book Encyclopedia. On March 30, 2007, Berkshire Hathaway announced TTI, Inc., to be part of the Berkshire Hathaway Group. Headquartered in
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
, TTI is the largest distributor specialist of passive, interconnect, and electromechanical components. TTI's extensive product line includes; resistors, capacitors, connectors, potentiometers, trimmers, magnetic and circuit protection components, wire and cable, identification products, application tools, and electromechanical devices. On December 25, 2007, Berkshire Hathaway acquired
Marmon Group Marmon Group is an American industrial holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois; founded by Jay Pritzker and Robert Pritzker in 1953 (as Colson Corporation), it has been held by the Berkshire Hathaway group since 2013. It owns companies ...
. Previously it was a privately held conglomerate owned by the Pritzker family for over fifty years, which owned and operated an assortment of manufacturing companies that produce railroad tank cars, shopping carts, plumbing pipes, metal fasteners, wiring and water treatment products used in residential construction. In September 2020,
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 ...
, among Berkshire Hathaway's largest entities, hired its first female CEO,
Kathryn Farmer Kathryn M. "Katie" Thompson Farmer (born c. 1970) is an American railroad executive. In January 2021, she became the first woman chief executive of a Class I railroad succeeding Carl Ice at BNSF Railway. Biography Kathryn M. Farmer graduated fr ...
. On October 2, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, an auto dealership subsidiary, was created through the acquisition of Van Tuyl Group, the remaining largest auto dealer in the nation and independently owned up to that date. It is the fifth-largest with ownership of 81 dealerships and revenues of $8 billion. On November 14, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway announced that it would acquire
Duracell Duracell Inc. is an American manufacturer of alkaline batteries, specialty cells, rechargeables and smart power systems, owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel Ruben and Philip Mallory, ...
from
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...
for $4.7 billion in an all-stock deal.


Finance and financial services

Berkshire Hathaway acquired
Clayton Homes Clayton Homes (or Clayton) is the largest builder of manufactured housing and modular homes in the United States. It is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Clayton Homes' corporate headquarters are in Maryville, Tennessee. Its subs ...
, a maker of modular homes, storage trailers, chassis, intermodal piggyback trailers and domestic containers. Clayton's finance business, (loans to manufactured home owners), earned $206 million down from $526 million in 2007. Loan losses remain 3.6% up from 2.9%.


Investments

As well as owning companies outright, Berkshire maintains a concentrated portfolio of equities and investments which has historically been managed by Warren Buffett. Since 2010,
Todd Combs Todd Anthony Combs (born January 27, 1971) is a former hedge fund manager and current investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway, who has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of GEICO since January 2020. Alongside Ted Weschler, he is frequentl ...
and
Ted Weschler Ted Weschler (born May 16, 1962) is a former hedge fund manager and current investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway. Alongside Todd Combs, he is frequently cited as a potential future Chief Investment Officer of Berkshire. Early life and educ ...
also work alongside Buffett in managing investments. Buffett has spoken very highly of both in public interviews and in the 2015 letter to shareholders he described hiring them both as "one of my best moves". In the 2016 letter to shareholders, Warren revealed that each of them independently manages greater than $10 billion on behalf of Berkshire. , 65% of Berkshire's equity securities were concentrated in five companies:
American Express Company American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...
($12.0 billion),
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
($19.2 billion),
The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...
($17.0 billion), International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) ($11.2 billion), and Wells Fargo & Company ($27.8 billion). After a selloff of IBM stock in February 2018, on May 4, 2018, Buffett announced that Berkshire had completely sold its stake in IBM, and purchased more of Apple. In 2006, Berkshire Hathaway acquired
Russell Corporation Russell Brands, LLC was an American corporation that manufactured sports equipment, marketing its products under many brands and subsidiaries, such as Russell Athletic (its flagship brand) and Spalding. Formerly a publicly traded company, Russ ...
for $600 million, in fact getting most shares and brands in many sports leagues – including Spalding NBA official basketballs,
BIKE Athletic Company Bike Athletic Company is an American sportswear company with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. They invented the jockstrap in 1874 for bicyclists in Boston. The firm sold over 350 million jockstraps. The company later produced additional protecti ...
protections, AAI (American Athletic) Gymnastics' tables, bars, rings, horses or Dudley softball balls and accessories. At the peak of the financial crisis in September 2008, Berkshire invested $5 billion in preferred stock in
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
to provide it with a source of funding when capital markets had become constrained. The preferred stock yielded an annual interest rate of 10% earning Berkshire $500 million in interest income per year. Berkshire also received warrants to purchase 43.5 million shares with a strike price of $115 per share, which were exercisable at any time for a five-year term. Goldman maintained the right to purchase back the preferred stock and in March 2011 exercised this right paying $5.5 billion to Berkshire (the preferred stock could only be purchased back at a 10% premium). The warrants have been exercised and Berkshire holds 3% of the share capital of Goldman Sachs. Profit on the preferred stock was estimated at $1.8 billion and exercising the warrants has yielded a profit of more than $2 billion, although Berkshire's continued ownership of shares in Goldman Sachs means the entire profit cannot be quantified. On August 26, 2011, Berkshire Hathaway purchased $5 billion of preferred shares in
Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...
. The investment has an annual interest cost of 6% earning Berkshire $300 million in annual interest. Alongside the preferred stock investment, Berkshire obtained warrants allowing Berkshire to buy 700 million common shares at $7.14 per share any time before September 2, 2021. Based on the share price in June 2017, this position has yielded a profit of more than $10 billion excluding the annual interest earned from the preferred stock. In 2008, Berkshire purchased preferred stock in Wrigley,
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
, and GE totaling $14.5 billion. In September 2008,
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Berkshire Hathaway Energy (previously known as MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company until 2014) is a holding company that is 92% owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire has owned a controlling stake since 1999. The company also controls power dist ...
, a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...
of
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 w ...
's
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 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 premiums ...
, invested about US$230 million for a 10% (or 9.89%Car Designer Sees China's Wheels Electric-powered
BYD Press Release, 12 May 2009
) share of BYD @ HK$8/share. On November 3, 2009, Berkshire Hathaway announced that using stock and cash totaling $26 billion, it would acquire the remaining 77.4 percent of the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC is the parent company of the BNSF Railway (formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by investor Warre ...
, parent of
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 ...
, that it did not already own. This was the largest acquisition to date in Berkshire's history. On March 14, 2011, Berkshire Hathaway announced that it would acquire the Lubrizol Corporation for $9 billion in cash, a deal that was described as one of the largest deals ever for Berkshire Hathaway. On March 25, 2011, Berkshire Hathaway made its first foray into the Indian insurance sector with its non-direct subsidiary BerkshireInsurance.com. On February 14, 2013, Berkshire Hathaway Inc and
3G Capital 3G Capital is a Brazilian-American multibillion-dollar investment firm, founded in 2004 by Alex Behring, Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira, Marcel Herrmann Telles and Roberto Thompson Motta. The firm is best known for implementing zero ...
announced plans to purchase
H.J. Heinz Co. The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contine ...
for $72.50 per share or $28 billion including debt. The company became a majority owner of Heinz on June 18, 2015, after exercising a warrant to acquire 46.2 million shares of common stock for a total price of $462 million increasing its stake to 52.5%. Berkshire owns 1.74 million shares of
Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Lee Enterprises Lee Enterprises, Inc. is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 77 daily newspapers in 26 states, and more than 350 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by Alfred Wilson Lee and is b ...
after buying some of Lee's debt after its bankruptcy filing. On August 10, 2015, the boards of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and
Precision Castparts Corp. Precision Castparts Corp. is an American industrial goods and metal fabrication company that manufactures investment castings, forged components, and airfoil castings for use in the aerospace, industrial gas turbine, and defense industries. In ...
unanimously approved a definitive agreement for Berkshire Hathaway to acquire, for $235 per share in cash, all outstanding PCC shares. In the second quarter of 2020, Berkshire added a position of more than 20 million shares in mining company
Barrick Gold Barrick Gold Corporation is a mining company that produces gold and copper with 16 operating sites in 13 countries. It is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has mining operations in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Democrati ...
, and in the third quarter the company agreed to buy Dominion Energy's natural gas transmission and storage operations. Between September 2019 and August 2020, Berkshire purchased more than 5% of the outstanding stock of each of the five largest Japanese general trading companies (
Itochu is a Japanese corporation based in Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka and Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo. It is one of the largest Japanese ''sogo shosha'' (general trading companies). Among Japanese trading companies, it is distinguished by not being descend ...
,
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
, Mitsui,
Sumitomo The is one of the largest Japanese ''keiretsu'', or business groups, founded by Masatomo Sumitomo (1585-1652) around 1615 during the early Edo period. History The Sumitomo Group traces its roots to a bookshop in Kyoto founded circa 1615 by Masa ...
, and
Marubeni (, OSE: 8002, NSE: 8002) is a ''sōgō shōsha'' (general trading company) headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chuo, Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the largest ''sogo shosha'' and has leading market shares in cereal and paper pulp trading as well as a st ...
) through its National Indemnity subsidiary. These stakes were worth a total of over $6 billion as of August 2020. On April 6, 2022, Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in its regulatory filing that the company had bought 121 million shares of HP Inc. valued at more than $4.2 billion. In May 2022, Berkshire Hathaway acquired a $2.6 billion stake in
Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...
. In the third quarter of 2022, Berkshire purchased 60 million shares in semiconductor manufacturing company
TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
, acquiring a $4.1 billion stake.


Investments in Amazon.com Inc.

On May 2, 2019, Warren Buffett told CNBC that one of Berkshire's investment managers, either Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, have been purchasing
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
shares. "One of the fellows in the office that manage money ..bought some Amazon so it will show up in the 13F," Buffett told CNBC. Buffett continued; "Yeah, I've been a fan, and I've been an idiot for not buying. But I want you to know it's no personality changes taking place."


Investment in Apple Inc.

In May 2016, it was revealed in a regulatory filing that Berkshire had acquired a stake in
Apple Inc Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
. The initial position was for 9.8 million shares (0.2% of Apple) worth $1 billion. By the end of June 2016, this stake had increased to 15.2 million shares (0.3% of Apple). Berkshire then restarted buying Apple stock again between September to December. By December 31, 2016, Berkshire had built up a stake of 57.4 million shares (1.1% of Apple) with an estimated average acquisition price of $110 per share (before the 2020 4:1 split). Aggressive stock purchases continued and by March 31, 2017, Berkshire had amassed a stake of 129 million shares (2.5% of Apple). In the 2017 annual report, Berkshire Hathaway disclosed its total position by December 31, 2017, to be 166 million shares (3.3% of Apple). As of September 30, 2021 Berkshire owns 5.5% of Apple with 907.6 million shares, according to the company's November 15, 2021, 13F filing. In media reports, Buffett says that Apple has developed an ecosystem and level of brand loyalty that provides it with a competitive moat, and that consumers appear to have a degree of price insensitivity when it comes to the iPhone. While Buffett has famously avoided tech stocks, he has said that Apple is a consumer products company and that he understands consumer products businesses.


Prior investments

Berkshire previously held a considerable stake in Tesco Plc, the UK grocery retailer. Berkshire made its first investment in Tesco in 2006 and in 2012 raised this stake to over 5% of the company with a cost for the investment of $2.3 billion. Buffett sold around 30% of this stake in 2013 when he "soured somewhat on the company's then-management" realizing a profit of $43 million. As Tesco's problems mounted through 2014, Berkshire sold all the remaining shares with Buffett saying to shareholders that the delay in selling shares was costly. Berkshire made an after-tax loss of $444 million on the Tesco investment. In 2016, Berkshire surprised investors by making large equity investments in the major US
airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
s. Buffett had previously described airlines as a "deathtrap for investors". Buffett had made an investment in US Airways in 1989 which, although he sold for a profit, almost lost Berkshire a substantial sum of money. In 2017, Berkshire was the largest shareholder in
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
and
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the List of airlines by foundation date, world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atla ...
and a top 3 shareholder in
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
and
American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
. Buffett himself has described this as a "call on the industry" rather than a choice in an individual company. American Airline's CEO
Doug Parker William Douglas Parker (b. October 31, 1961) is an American businessman who was the Chairman of American Airlines Group, Inc., the parent company of American Airlines. Early life and education Parker grew up in Michigan and received a BA in ...
is said to have won over Ted Weschler in arguing that the airline industry had consolidated sufficiently and rationalized supply such that longer-term profitability could be achieved in an industry that has historically been loss-making in aggregate. In April 2020 Berkshire sold all shares in US Airlines in response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. In 2022, Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it has sold its remaining stakes with
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...
during the first quarter.


Subsidiaries and equity holdings


See also

* List of Berkshire Hathaway publications


References


External links


Official website
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