American multinational conglomerate holding company
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Blackstone Plaza, the location of Berkshire's corporate offices in Omaha, Nebraska
Company type
Public
Traded as
NYSE: BRK.A (Class A)
NYSE: BRK.B (Class B)
S&P 100 component (BRK.B)
S&P 500 component (BRK.B)
ISIN
US0846707026
Industry
Conglomerate
Predecessor
Valley Falls Company (1839–1929)
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates (1929–1955)
Hathaway Manufacturing Company (1888–1955)
Founded
1839; 185 years ago (1839)
Founder
Oliver Chace
Headquarters
Blackstone Plaza,
Omaha, Nebraska
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Warren Buffett (Chairman & CEO)
Greg Abel (Vice chair, non-insurance)
Ajit Jain (Vice chair, insurance)
Products
List
Property & casualty insurance
Reinsurance
Rail transport
Electric power
Natural gas
Real estate services
Industrial parts & materials
Mobile homes
Building materials
Recreational vehicles
Apparel
Retail stores and services
Aviation services[1]
Revenue
US$364.5 billion (2023)
Operating income
US$120.16 billion (2023)
Net income
US$96.22 billion (2023)
Total assets
US$1.069 trillion (2023)
Total equity
US$567.5 billion (2023)
Owner
Warren Buffett (30.71% of votes, 16.45% of shares)
Number of employees
396,500 (2023)
Subsidiaries
See List of subsidiaries
Website
berkshirehathaway.com
Footnotes / references [2][3]
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (/ˈbɜːrkʃər/) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1839 as a textile manufacturer, it underwent a drastic restructuring into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the leadership of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger. Today, the company's earning power is diversified across a broad portfolio of subsidiaries, equity positions and other securities. Insurance is a major area of operations and the float (the retained premiums) generated serves as an important source of capital. Buffett and Munger are known for their advocacy of value investing principles and 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 index with dividends included over the same period, while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.[4]
The company's insurance brands include auto insurer GEICO and reinsurance firm Gen Re. Its non-insurance subsidiaries operate in diverse sectors such as confectionery, retail, railroads, home furnishings, machinery, jewelry, apparel, electrical power and natural gas distribution. Among its partially owned businesses are Kraft Heinz Company (26.7%), American Express (18.8%), Bank of America (11.9%), The Coca-Cola Company (9.32%) and Apple (5.57%).[5][6]
Berkshire is one of the top ten components of the S&P 500 index[7] and one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States. Its class A shares have the highest per-share price of any public company in the world, reaching $500,000 in March 2022, because the board has historically been opposed to splitting the A shares.[8]
^2023 Annual Report, "Item 1: Business Description"
^"Berkshire Hathaway". Forbes.
^"US SEC: Form 10-K Berkshire Hathaway Inc" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 25, 2024.
^Warren Buffett. "2021 Annual Report" (PDF). Berkshire Hathaway. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 26, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
^"Apple hits record high after Buffett's Berkshire increases stake". Reuters. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
^"Apple (AAPL) Institutional Holdings". Nasdaq. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
^"S&P 500". S&P Down Jones Indices. S&P Global. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
^Vega, Nicolas (March 17, 2022). "Berkshire Hathaway shares topped $500,000 each—here's why Warren Buffett says he'll never split the stock". CNBC. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
and 25 Related for: Berkshire Hathaway information
BerkshireHathaway Inc. (/ˈbɜːrkʃər/) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded...
BerkshireHathaway Energy (previously known as MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company until 2014) is a holding company and subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway...
equivalents owned by multinational holding company BerkshireHathaway. As of December 31, 2022, BerkshireHathaway had $32.260 billion in cash and cash equivalents...
philanthropist who currently serves as the co-founder, chairman and CEO of BerkshireHathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is one of the best-known...
BerkshireHathaway Assurance is a bond insurance company created by BerkshireHathaway, Inc. in December 2007. Berkshire created this government bond insurance...
businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He was vice chairman of BerkshireHathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett. Buffett described...
Indian-American executive who is the Vice Chairman of Insurance Operations for BerkshireHathaway as of January 10, 2018. Ajit Jain is an older cousin of Anshu Jain...
The following is a list of newspapers owned by BerkshireHathaway: The Bryan-College Station Eagle The Buffalo News Culpeper Star-Exponent The Daily Progress...
specialty cells, and rechargeables; it is a wholly owned subsidiary of BerkshireHathaway. The company has its origins in the 1920s, through the work of Samuel...
1955, Hathaway merged with Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates of Adams, Massachusetts, and became known as BerkshireHathaway. By the 1960s, Berkshire Hathaway...
company is based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The company is owned by BerkshireHathaway. The company operates truck stops under the Pilot Travel Centers,...
century, including the Valley Falls Company, the original antecedent of BerkshireHathaway, which as of 2019 is one of the largest and most valuable companies...
businessman, chairman and CEO of BerkshireHathaway Energy, and vice-chairman of non-insurance operations of BerkshireHathaway since January 2018. Gregory...
arranged by BerkshireHathaway and 3G Capital. The resulting Kraft Heinz Company is the fifth largest food company in the world. BerkshireHathaway became...
products. As of 2022, the company is owned by investment holding company BerkshireHathaway. The company is best known for its Squishmallows plush toy line. Jazwares...
Green, Kentucky. Since 2002, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of BerkshireHathaway. Products manufactured by Fruit of the Loom itself and through its...
Buffett became friends with Warren Buffett and a shareholder in BerkshireHathaway, increasing his stake over the years. They called each other "Cousin...
was acquired in 2002 by Warren Buffett's BerkshireHathaway corporation. On October 30, 2014, BerkshireHathaway appointed long time advisor Tracy Britt...
Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022. "BerkshireHathaway". ycharts.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017. Retrieved...
BerkshireHathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) is a North American-based travel insurance company, headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Business lines...
Burger King) holds a 32% stake in Restaurant Brands International. BerkshireHathaway, which partially funded the merger, held a 4.8% stake in the mid to...
if the supply is more than the demand, the bid price will go down. BerkshireHathaway was the first company to introduce 517,500 new Class B shares into...
investment manager at BerkshireHathaway. Alongside Todd Combs, he is frequently cited as a potential future Chief Investment Officer of Berkshire. Ted Weschler...
annually. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (now BerkshireHathaway Energy), a subsidiary of BerkshireHathaway, acquired NV Energy in a transaction completed...
that insurance companies perform effective monitoring of management. BerkshireHathaway, the holding company managed by Warren Buffett, does not purchase...
Global Information
US$364.5 billion (2023)