Berkshire Hathaway facts for kids
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Blackstone Plaza, the location of Berkshire's corporate offices in Omaha, Nebraska
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| ISIN | US0846707026 |
| Industry | Holding company Conglomerate |
| Predecessor |
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| Founded | 1839 |
| Founder | Oliver Chace |
| Headquarters | Blackstone Plaza,
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U.S.
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| 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 & services Aviation services |
| Revenue |  US$371.4 billion (2024) |
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Operating income
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 US$110.4 billion (2024) |
| US$88.99 billion (2024) |
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| Total assets | US$1.154 trillion (2024) |
| Total equity | US$651.7 billion (2024) |
| Owner | Warren Buffett: 38.4% of the Class A voting shares, representing a 15.1% overall economic interest in the company Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: 1.85% interest, shares were donated by Buffett |
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Number of employees
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392,400 (2024) |
| Subsidiaries | See List of subsidiaries |
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a huge American company based in Omaha, Nebraska. It's a conglomerate and a holding company. This means it owns many different types of businesses, rather than just one.
The company started as a textile (fabric) factory in 1839. But in 1965, a famous investor named Warren Buffett took over. He changed it into the giant company it is today. For many years, he worked with Charlie Munger, who was the vice chairman until 2023. Now, Greg Abel helps manage many of the company's investments.
Berkshire Hathaway is often compared to an investment fund. From 1965 to 2023, the company's investments grew much faster than the average stock market. In August 2024, Berkshire Hathaway became one of the few U.S. companies to be worth over $1 trillion. It was the first non-technology company to reach this value.
The company is ranked among the largest in the United States by total money earned. It's also one of the biggest employers. Berkshire Hathaway's Class A shares are the most expensive shares of any public company in the world. In August 2024, one share was worth $700,000! This is because the company has chosen not to split its stock into smaller, cheaper pieces. Warren Buffett plans to retire by the end of 2025, and Greg Abel will take over as CEO.
Contents
How Berkshire Hathaway Started
Berkshire Hathaway began as a textile company in 1955. It was formed when two older fabric companies, Hathaway Manufacturing Company and Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, merged. After the merger, the company had 15 factories and over 12,000 workers. However, many of these factories closed down by the end of the 1950s.
In 1962, Warren Buffett started buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway. He hoped to sell them for a profit when the company closed its textile mills. By 1963, Buffett's investment fund owned 7% of the company.
In 1964, Buffett offered to sell his shares back to the company. The manager, Seabury Stanton, agreed to a price. But when the written offer came, it was for a slightly lower price. This made Buffett angry. Instead of selling, he bought even more shares to take control of the company. He then fired Stanton in 1965.
Buffett later said that buying the textile company was his biggest investment mistake. He felt it cost him billions of dollars in missed opportunities. The company's last textile operations finally closed in 1985.
Growing the Company: Major Purchases
Berkshire Hathaway started buying other companies in 1967. This was when Warren Buffett began to lead the company into new areas beyond textiles.
Entering the Insurance Business
In 1967, Berkshire bought National Indemnity Company for $8.6 million. This was its first step into the insurance business. Insurance became a very important part of Berkshire Hathaway. In 1976, Berkshire also invested in GEICO, a well-known car insurance company. By 1996, Berkshire owned all of GEICO.
Sweet Deals and Other Brands
- See's Candies: In 1972, Berkshire bought See's Candies for $25 million. This chocolate company has made over $2 billion for Berkshire since then!
- Dairy Queen: In 1997, Berkshire bought Dairy Queen, famous for its ice cream and fast food.
- Nebraska Furniture Mart: In 1983, Berkshire acquired this large furniture store.
- Scott Fetzer Company: In 1986, Berkshire bought this group of 32 brands. It included products like Ginsu knives and World Book Encyclopedia.
- Justin Brands: In 2000, the company bought Justin Brands, which makes famous boots like Justin Boots and Tony Lama Boots. It also owns Acme Brick.
- Benjamin Moore & Co.: In 2000, Berkshire acquired this company, which makes paints and coatings.
- Fruit of the Loom: In 2002, Berkshire bought this clothing company.
- The Pampered Chef: Also in 2002, Berkshire acquired The Pampered Chef, which sells kitchen tools through home parties.
- McLane Company: In 2003, Berkshire bought McLane Company from Walmart. McLane delivers goods to stores like convenience stores and restaurants.
- Clayton Homes: In 2003, Berkshire bought Clayton Homes, a big maker of manufactured homes.
- Forest River: In 2005, Berkshire acquired Forest River, the world's largest seller of recreational vehicles (RVs).
- Duracell: In 2016, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Duracell batteries from Procter & Gamble.
Transportation and Energy
- FlightSafety International: In 1997, Berkshire bought this company that trains pilots using flight simulators.
- NetJets: In 1998, Berkshire acquired NetJets, which offers private jet services.
- MidAmerican Energy Holdings (now Berkshire Hathaway Energy): In 1999, Berkshire bought this energy company. It owns power grids and real estate businesses.
- BNSF Railway: In 2010, Berkshire bought the rest of BNSF Railway for $26 billion. This was Berkshire's largest purchase ever!
Other Notable Purchases
- Newspapers: Berkshire Hathaway owned many newspapers, including the Buffalo Evening News and the Omaha World-Herald. Most of these were sold to Lee Enterprises in 2020.
- Lubrizol: In 2011, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Lubrizol, a company that makes chemicals.
- Oriental Trading Company: In 2012, Berkshire bought this company, which sells party supplies and toys.
- Precision Castparts Corp.: In 2016, Berkshire Hathaway acquired this company for $32.1 billion. It makes parts for aircraft and other industries.
- Pilot Flying J: Berkshire Hathaway has been buying parts of this truck stop chain since 2017. By 2024, it owned the whole company.
- Alleghany Corporation: In 2022, Berkshire Hathaway acquired this insurance company for $11.6 billion.
Major Stock Investments
Besides owning whole companies, Berkshire Hathaway also invests in the stock of other large companies.
- Wells Fargo: Buffett invested in this bank for many years, but sold all shares by 2022.
- Amazon.com: Buffett bought shares in Amazon in 2019, even though he had passed on investing earlier.
- Tesco: Berkshire invested in this UK supermarket chain in 2006 but sold all shares by 2014.
- ConocoPhillips: Berkshire invested in this oil company in 2008 but sold most shares later.
- Goldman Sachs: In 2008, during a financial crisis, Berkshire invested $5 billion in this investment bank. This was a very profitable deal for Berkshire.
- BYD Auto: In 2008, Berkshire invested in this Chinese electric vehicle company.
- Wrigley Company: In 2008, Berkshire helped finance Mars Inc.'s purchase of Wrigley.
- IBM: Berkshire invested in IBM in 2011 but sold all shares by 2018.
- Bank of America: In 2011, Berkshire bought $5 billion in special shares of Bank of America. This investment also made a lot of money for Berkshire.
- Kraft Heinz: In 2013, Berkshire and another company bought H. J. Heinz Company. It later merged with Kraft Foods to form Kraft Heinz.
- Apple Inc.: In 2016, Berkshire started investing in Apple. It became one of Apple's biggest shareholders. Warren Buffett sees Apple as a consumer products company, not just a tech company.
- Airlines: In 2016, Berkshire invested in major US airlines. However, it sold all airline shares in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Occidental Petroleum: Berkshire has been investing in this oil company since 2019.
- Japanese Trading Companies: Since 2019, Berkshire has bought large stakes in five major Japanese trading companies.
- Barrick Gold: Berkshire invested in this gold mining company in 2020 but sold the shares in 2021.
- Paramount Global: Berkshire bought shares in Paramount Global in 2022 but sold them at a loss by 2024.
- HP Inc.: Berkshire bought shares in HP Inc. in 2022 but sold them by 2024.
- TSMC: Berkshire invested in this Taiwanese chipmaker in 2022 but sold shares due to global tensions.
- Chubb Limited: Berkshire started investing in this insurance company in 2023.
- Constellation Brands: In late 2024, Berkshire bought shares in this company, which owns many beer, wine, and spirits brands.
- Ulta Beauty: Berkshire bought shares in Ulta Beauty in 2024 but sold them quickly.
Berkshire Hathaway also keeps a very large amount of cash. This helps the company be ready to buy new businesses or handle unexpected costs.
How Berkshire Hathaway Works
Investment Ideas
Warren Buffett likes to invest in businesses that are easy to understand and that make money steadily over a long time. He usually avoids companies that change very quickly, like many high-tech firms. He also generally avoids investing in real estate directly.
Berkshire Hathaway has two types of shares: Class A and Class B.
- Class A shares are very expensive. The company has never split them to keep them for long-term investors.
- Class B shares were created in 1996. They are much cheaper (about 1/1500th the price of Class A shares) and have fewer voting rights. This allows more people to invest in Berkshire Hathaway.
Stock Price Journey
- In 1980, Class A shares first sold for $290 each.
- By 1983, they were over $1,000.
- In 1992, they passed $10,000.
- In 2006, they went over $100,000.
- In 2014, they topped $200,000.
- In 2022, they reached over $500,000.
Salaries of Leaders
Warren Buffett's salary as CEO is $100,000 per year. This is very low for a CEO of such a big company, and it hasn't changed in 35 years! He also gets money for home security. Other top leaders, Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, earn $20 million per year, plus possible bonuses.
Berkshire Hathaway holds annual shareholder meetings in Omaha, Nebraska. These meetings are nicknamed "Woodstock for Capitalists." Over 40,000 people attend! Warren Buffett, Greg Abel, and Ajit Jain answer questions for hours. The meetings are known for being fun and often start with a special cartoon.
Selected Holdings
Companies Owned by Berkshire Hathaway
| Business Type | Companies |
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| Insurance |
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| Railroad | BNSF Railway |
| Utilities & Energy |
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| Manufacturing |
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| Services & Retail |
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Stock Investments
Berkshire Hathaway also owns parts of many other public companies.
| Category | Company | Value (approx.) |
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| Finance & Insurance | American Express | $45.4 billion |
| Bank of America | $30.7 billion | |
| Moody's Ratings | $12.6 billion | |
| Chubb Limited | $7.1 billion | |
| Manufacturing | The Coca-Cola Company | $27.8 billion |
| Kraft Heinz | $9.7 billion | |
| BYD Auto | $2.6 billion | |
| Computer Technology | Apple Inc. | $73.6 billion |
| Amazon.com | $2.2 billion | |
| Petroleum | Chevron Corporation | $18.7 billion |
| Occidental Petroleum | $13.6 billion | |
| Diversified | Mitsubishi | $5.6 billion |
| Itochu | $4.8 billion | |
| Mitsui | $4.5 billion | |
| Other | Kroger | $3.2 billion |
| Davita | $5.0 billion |
Awards and Recognition
Berkshire Hathaway has often been named one of the most respected companies in the world. In surveys by Barron's magazine, it was ranked first in 2007. It was second only to Apple Inc. in 2014 and 2015, and second behind Johnson & Johnson in 2016.
Images for kids
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A C-17 Globemaster III flight simulator at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam
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A HomeServices of America office in Gillette, Wyoming
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Coca-Cola products are often featured at Berkshire's events, showing one of its oldest investments.
