W. R. Berkley Corporation is a commercial lines

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 ...

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 ...

holding company organized in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

and based in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

. The company operates commercial insurance businesses in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, South America, Canada, Mexico, Scandinavia, Asia and Australia and reinsurance businesses in the United States, United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Australia, the Asia-Pacific region and South Africa. The company is ranked 397th 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 ...

History

W. R. Berkley Corporation was founded in 1967 by

William 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 Forb ...

, who currently serves as Executive Chairman. In November 1973, the company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. At that time, the founder owned 23.8% of the company. In 1994, the company acquired Key Risk Management Services Inc. In 1995, the company acquired the remaining 40% interest in Signet Star from

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 ...

. The company also acquired MECC for $138 million. In August 2006, the company acquired Garnet Captive Services LLC, a San Francisco insurance brokerage and alternative risk consulting firm. On October 31, 2015, Mr. Berkley's son, W. Robert Berkley, Jr., became President and CEO.

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* {{authority control Insurance companies of the United States Reinsurance companies Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Greenwich, Connecticut Financial services companies established in 1967 American companies established in 1967 1967 establishments in Connecticut 1970s initial public offerings Greenwich, Connecticut