Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a renowned American multinational conglomerate holding firm headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Insurance is its main source of revenue, and the company utilizes the float (retained premiums) to invest in various subsidiaries, equity holdings, and securities. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, who have been leading the company since 1965 and 1978, respectively, are the brains behind the success of the company's value investing ideas. Their leadership has enabled the company to grow its book value by an average of 20%, compared to the S&P 500 index's 10% growth when dividends were taken into account while utilizing significant capital and very little debt.
GEICO, a car insurer, and General Re, a reinsurance firm, are some of the company's well-known insurance brands. Other non-insurance businesses in the company's portfolio include confectionery, retail, railroads, home furnishings, machinery, jewelry, apparel, electrical power, and natural gas delivery. Furthermore, Berkshire Hathaway has partial ownership in several big firms such as Pilot Flying J (80%), Kraft Heinz Company (26.7%), American Express (18.8%), Bank of America (11.9%), The Coca-Cola Company (9.32%), and Apple (5.57%).
Berkshire Hathaway is ranked seventh in the S&P 500 index and first in the Forbes Global 2000, which considers market value and fundamentals. Additionally, the company is one of the country's largest privately held American businesses. Since Buffett chose not to split the stock, the class A shares of Berkshire Hathaway have the highest per-share price of any public company in the world, reaching $500,000 in March 2022.
Founded:
- As a textile manufacturing company in 1839; 184 years ago
- As a holding company in 1970; 53 years ago
Headquarters: Omaha, Nebraska
Website: https://berkshirehathaway.com
