Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway began as a group of textile mills in New Bedford, Massachusetts, with roots stretching back to 1806 when Oliver Chase founded the original company. The modern entity emerged from a 1955 merger of Berkshire Fine Spinning and Hathaway Manufacturing. Warren Buffett started buying shares in 1962 and took control in 1965, gradually transforming the struggling mill into a holding company. He served as chairman and CEO from 1970 until early 2026, when Greg Abel succeeded him. Vice chairman Charlie Munger, Buffett's longtime partner, died on November 28, 2023. The last textile operations shut down in 1985, by which point Berkshire had already become a vehicle for acquiring other businesses.

Today Berkshire holds a vast portfolio of wholly owned subsidiaries and stock investments. Its insurance operations include GEICO, General Re, and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group. BNSF Railway is one of North America's largest freight railroads. Berkshire Hathaway Energy owns utilities, natural gas pipelines, and renewable projects. Manufacturing arms include Precision Castparts, Lubrizol, Clayton Homes, and Shaw Industries. Consumer brands include See's Candies, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, and Duracell. Major stock holdings as of 2024 include Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express, Bank of America, and Chevron.

Berkshire is the first non-technology company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization, achieved in August 2024. It ranks 5th on the Fortune 500 and 9th on the Fortune Global 500. Its Class A shares (BRK.A) trade above $700,000 each, the most expensive on any U.S. exchange, because the board has never split the stock. From 1965 to 2023, Berkshire's compound annual return was 19.8%, compared to the S&P 500's 10.2%. The company held a record $325.2 billion in cash at the end of 2024.[edit]