Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
legal form	Corporation
ISIN	US0846701086 (A-Share) / US0846707026 (B-Share)
founding	1955
Seat	Omaha , United States
management	Warren Buffett (Chairman) Charles Munger (Vice Chairman)
Number of employees	25 (holding) 367,000 (group of companies)
sales	254.6 billion US dollars
Branch	Holding
Website	www.berkshirehathaway.com
As of December 31, 2019

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. [ bɑːkʃɪə hæθəweɪ ] is an American holding company , whose conglomerate includes more than 80 companies whose activities extend across a variety of business areas, including primary and reinsurance , rail freight, utilities, financial services, manufacturing, wholesale and retail. Chairman ( Chairman ) is the American major investor and multi-billionaire Warren Buffett . The company is headquartered in Omaha , Nebraska, USA and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BRK .

The company generated net income of $ 44.9 billion in 2017. Berkshire is thus one of the 20 largest companies in the USA. Consistently high profitability and large financial reserves made Berkshire one of the world's leading reinsurance companies and, for a long time, one of the few companies with the highest credit rating .

The company goes back to a textile manufacturer from Massachusetts and is closely connected to Buffett. In the 1960s, he had acquired a good third of the shares as an investment. He became chairman and, in view of the poor earnings situation of the company, decided to divert the remaining profits into the acquisition of other companies. The profits and financial reserves of these companies have since been used in the acquisition of larger blocks of shares as well as other companies that have decisive competitive advantages over their competitors and thus promise particularly high returns in the long term. Since then, the company's profit and share price have grown by an average of almost 20% annually, more than twice as fast as the leading S&P 500 index .

Contrary to the practice of many hedge funds or private equity firms , Berkshire typically does not intervene in the operations of any of its subsidiaries, nor does it acquire companies by taking on new debt or issuing new shares. In this context, the company has earned a good reputation as a “friendly” investor.

Berkshire Hathaway's A share was never split and is the world's most expensive stock at $ 302,260 on August 22, 2019. The company's total market cap in mid-2018 was $ 491.9 billion.

history

Berkshire Hathaway was created in 1955 from the merger of the two textile companies Berkshire Fine Spinning and Hathaway Manufacturing. Right from the start, the Massachusetts company had to contend with cheap competition from the south of the USA and the emerging cheap imports from the Far East .

In 1962, Warren Buffett began buying Berkshire Hathaway stock after recognizing a pattern whenever the company sold a textile mill. Over time, however, Buffett realized that the textile economy was declining and the company's financial position was not going to improve. 1964 made him the then managing director Seabury Stanton , the oral offer, the shares of Buffett for 11 ¹ / ₂  to repurchase $ per share. A few weeks later, Buffett received the offer in writing, but for only $ 11 ³ ⁄ ₈  . Buffett later stated that breaking the promise made him angry. Instead of selling the shares, Buffett chose to take over Berkshire Hathaway and subsequently fire Stanton. In 1965 he finally took over the majority of the shares in his investment pool founded in 1956 and became the company's chairman. After a short time it became clear to him that the takeover was a mistake due to the poor economic situation of the company. Therefore, he began to divert the remaining capital through investments in non-textile investments. In 1967 he bought insurance (National Indemnity - Buffett was to call this insurance in 1983 the most important force in the growth of Berkshire Hathaway) and in 1969 a bank (Illinois National).

Little by little the textile activities were stopped, the last factory was closed in 1985. In 1982 Berkshire Hathaway was merged with the private equity and discount brand company Blue Chip Stamps; Buffett's friend and previous President of Blue Chip Stamps, Charles Munger , became vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

Berkshire Hathaway has acquired companies in the past few decades, either completely (Nebraska Furniture Mart, Scott-Fetzer, Shaw Industries ) or significant holdings ( Coca-Cola , Gillette , The Washington Post ).

Other business areas include furniture (RC Wiley et al.), Shoes (HH Brown et al.), Clothing ( Fruit of the Loom et al.), Jet sharing ( NetJets ), jewelers (Borsheims et al.), Newspapers (The Buffalo News et al.), News distribution ( Business Wire ), wholesale grocery (McLane), and confectionery (See's Candies).

The focus of business activity has long been (as early as 1978 Buffett described this business as the greatest profit maker) in the area of ​​primary insurance ( GEICO ) and reinsurance ( General Re ). Furthermore, Berkshire Hathaway is the world's leading company through its own company, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, managed by Ajit Jain , which insures insurers and reinsurers against mega-catastrophes through so-called "super cats". In 2003, the insurance division generated 64% of pre-tax profit. Buffett values ​​the high freely available "float" (premiums that are already taken in but only later have to be used for claims) in insurance, which can be used for investments, a quality that made him invest in this early in his career Stamp company Blue Chip Stamps moved (Buffett once referred to blue chip as unregulated insurance).

The company has not paid a dividend since 1967 ; The share was never split and is therefore the most expensive no-par share in the world with a value of over 200,000 euros (May 17, 2019). As a concession to old investors, however, a new share category ("Baby Berkshires") was introduced in 1996. Since then, A-shares can be exchanged for 1,500 B-shares (e.g. for a gift or inheritance) . A redemption is not possible, and the B shares only have 1/10 000 voting rights .

Data

Kiewit Plaza - Berkshire Hathaway headquarters

General

Today Berkshire Hathaway is one of the top 10 largest companies in the United States and one of the largest taxpayers. As of February 24, 2017, over 367,000 people were employed in the 89 fully controlled companies. The company's headquarters are in Kiewit Plaza .

Warren Buffett, the third richest man in the world with a net worth of roughly $ 87.3 billion, earns $ 100,000 a year at Berkshire Hathaway. In addition to Warren Buffett himself and the long-time Vice President Charles Munger, the holding company only has 22 other employees, as Berkshire Hathaway consistently leaves the business activities of the acquired investments to the company's internal managers and only has the use of the profits.

year	Sales (billion US $)	Profit (billion US $) EBIT	Earnings per share (US $) net earnings
2004	074.4	07.3	04753
2005	081.7	08.3	05538
2006	098.5	11	07144
2007	118.3	13.2	08548
2008	107.8	05.0	03224
2009	112.5	11.6	05193
2010	136.2	19.1	07928
2011	143.7	15.3	06215
2012	162.5	22.2	08977
2013	182.2	28.8	11850
2014	194.7	28.1	12092
2015	210.9	34.9	14656
2016	223.6	33.7	14645
2017	242.1	44.9
2018	270.3	04th

As of year-end 2016, Berkshire Hathaway had just over 776,000 A-shares and 1.3 billion B-shares outstanding. The largest single shareholder is Warren Buffett with around 31% . With a share price of approximately $ 307,300 for the A share (January 10, 2018) , the market capitalization is just over $ 500 billion. The book value per share was $ 172,108 as of December 31, 2016, but the intrinsic value is higher, according to Buffett.

The company's annual general meeting is now known as " Woodstock " for capitalists. In 2006 around 24,000 shareholders took part. In 2008 there were around 31,000 and in 2013 35,000 shareholders.

Takeovers and Other Trading Activities

In early 2006, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Business Wire, the world's leading company for corporate and mandatory disclosure distribution. In March and April, the purchases of utility company PacifiCorp (through subsidiary MidAmericanEnergy) for $ 5.1 billion and sporting goods company Russell ($ 600 million) followed. In May 2006, Berkshire Hathaway acquired 80 percent of the Israeli metal tool manufacturer Iscar and the associated IMC Group (International Metalworking Companies) for USD 4 billion. Berkshire Hathaway began building a stake in General Electric with the purchase of 7.8 million shares in the first quarter of 2006 .

At the end of 2006, Berkshire Hathaway had over $ 40 billion in cash that Buffett said could not be invested due to a lack of attractively valued investment targets.

In April 2007, according to US media reports, Berkshire Hathaway paid $ 3.2 billion for a stake of more than ten percent in the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Corporation (BNSF). The Buffett Corporation acquired 39 million Burlington shares.

At the end of the first quarter of 2007, Berkshire Hathaway took over the specialty distributor TTI, Inc. from Fort Worth, Texas. TTI, Inc. is a distributor for passive components, connectors and relays and also has a subsidiary in Europe.

In a mandatory notification to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it was announced in August 2007 that Berkshire Hathaway had sold shares in Bank of America worth around US $ 425 million and shares in the media company Dow Jones worth almost 160 million US dollars by the end of June 2007. Dollars before being sold to Rupert Murdoch .

On January 23, 2008, Berkshire Hathaway acquired a 3 percent stake in reinsurance company Swiss Re .

Berkshire Hathaway announced the largest investment of 44 billion USD in the company's history on November 3, 2009 with the acquisition of the railway company Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF). The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether the company has met legal disclosure requirements in this transaction.

On February 14, 2013 it was announced that the HJ Heinz Company would be taken over by Berkshire Hathaway and the financial investor 3G Capital . The purchase price was $ 28 billion.

On January 29, 2016, Berkshire acquired all of the outstanding shares in Precision Castparts , a manufacturer of metal components and products for u. a. the aerospace industry and energy companies. The purchase price was approximately $ 32.7 billion.

On February 29, 2016, Berkshire bought the battery manufacturer Duracell from Procter & Gamble . The payment was made in P&G shares valued at $ 4.2 billion.

On July 5, 2020 Berkshire Hathaway took over from Dominion Energy gas activities Dominion gas for 10 billion dollars (5.7 billion US dollars including debt).

Consolidated companies and holdings

As of December 31, 2012, Berkshire Hathaway had the following consolidated interests:

society	Branch	Products	Purchase date	comment
Acme Building Brands	Building materials	Bricks & bricks a.	2000
Adalet	Building materials	Control cabinets	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Altaquip	Services	Garden tool repair service	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Applied underwriters	Financial services	Employee accident insurance and payroll	2006
Ben Bridge Jeweler	retail trade	Jewelry stores	2000
Benjamin Moore	Building materials	Paints and varnishes	2000
BH Media Group	media	Newspaper publisher	2012	several daily and weekly newspapers from the southeast USA, which belonged to Media General Inc. and the Omaha World Herald
Borsheims	retail trade	Jewelry store	1989
Brooks Sports	Consumer goods	Running shoes	2006
Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC	Railway company	Rail freight transport	2010
The Buffalo News	media	Buffalo New York newspaper	1977
Business Wire	media	Intelligence service	2006
CalEnergy Philippines	Supplier	international energy supplier	2000	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Campbell Hausfeld	Consumer goods	Compressors and accessories	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Carefree of Colorado	Consumer goods	Awnings and accessories for caravans	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Clayton Homes	Construction industry	Prefabricated Homes and Construction Financing	2003
CWP Technologies	Consumer goods	Vacuum cleaner brushes	1986	via Scott Fetzer, originally Cleveland Wood Products
CORT Business Services	Services	Furniture rental (office furniture)	2000	via Wesco Financial
CTB International	mechanical engineering	Equipment for industrial grain and livestock farming	2002
Dairy Queen	gastronomy	Fast food chain, soft ice cream	1998
Douglas / Quikut	Consumer goods	Cordless vacuum cleaner / knife	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Duracell	Consumer goods	Battery manufacturer	2014	previously owned by Procter & Gamble
Fechheimer	textiles	Uniforms	1986
FlightSafety	Services	Pilot training on flight simulators	1996
Forest River	vehicle construction	RVs	2005
France	Electrical engineering	Small transformers, chargers and gas lighters	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Fruit of the Loom	textiles	Underwear and Ä.	2002
Guarantee	textiles	(Children's) clothing	2002
HH Brown Shoe Group	textiles	Shoes	1991	fused with Dexter Shoe
Halex	Building materials	Sanitary engineering and installation	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Helzberg Diamond	retail trade	Jewelry stores	1995
HomeServices of America	Services	Real estate brokerage and service	2000	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings
IMC International Metalworking Companies	mechanical engineering	Cutting tools	2006
John's Manville	Building materials	Insulation materials, roofing felt and wall coverings	2001
Jordan's Furniture	retail trade	Furniture stores in Massachusetts	1999
Justin Brands	textiles	Leather shoes and cowboy boots	2000
Kern River Gas	Supplier	Wyoming to California gas pipeline	2002	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Kingston	Electrical engineering	Body dryers , servomotors, control consoles	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Kirby Company	Consumer goods	Vacuum cleaners, detergents	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Larson-Juhl	Consumer goods	Picture Frame	2002
Lubrizol	chemistry	Lubricants	2011
Marmon Group	Services	Tank cars (Union Tank Car) , standard parts , copper cable	2008
McLane Company	logistics	Food warehouse and wholesale	2003
MidAmerican Energy	Supplier	Electric and gas companies in Iowa	2000	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings
MidAmerican Energy Holdings	Supplier	Holdings	2000
MidAmerican Renewables	Supplier	Renewable energy	––	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings; Founded in 2012
MiTek Inc.	Building materials, software	Roof trusses , associated machines and software	2001
Nebraska Furniture Mart	retail trade	Furniture stores in Omaha, Kansas City, Kansas and Des Moines	1983
NetJets	Services	Aircraft rental	1998	originally Executive Jet Aviation
Northern Natural Gas	Supplier	Gas supplier in Iowa	2002	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Northern Powergrid Holdings	Supplier	Electricity provider in North East England	2000	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings, originally Northern and Yorkshire Electric
Northland Motor Technologies	Electrical engineering	Electric motors, pumps and fans	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Oriental Trading	Consumer goods	Party items	2012
PacifiCorp	Supplier	Generators for Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power	2006	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Pacific Power	Supplier	Electricity providers in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California	2006	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings / PacifiCorp
The Pampered Chef	Consumer goods	Kitchen utensils in direct sales	2002
Precision Steel Warehouse	Metal goods	Workpiece	1979	via Wesco Financial
Richline Group	Consumer goods	Jewelry making	2007
Rocky Mountain Power	Supplier	Electricity providers in Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho	2006	via MidAmerican Energy Holdings / PacifiCorp
Russell	Consumer goods	Sporting goods	2006	via Fruit of the Loom
Scott Fetzer (other)	(Various)		1986
See's candies	retail trade	chocolate	1972
Shaw Industries	Building materials	Floor coverings (laminate, carpet)	2001
steel	vehicle construction	Superstructures for small trucks	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Star Furniture	retail trade	Furniture stores in Texas	1997
TTI, Inc.	trade	Sales of electronic components	2006
United Consumer Financial Services	Financial services	Installment payments	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Vanity Fair Brands	Consumer goods	Lingerie	2006	via Fruit of the Loom
Wayne Water Systems	mechanical engineering	pump	1986	via Scott Fetzer
Western Enterprises	Building materials	Connection pieces for industrial and medical gases	1986	via Scott Fetzer
RC Willey Home Furnishings	retail trade	Furniture stores in Utah and Nevada	1995
World Book	media	publishing company	1986	via Scott Fetzer, editor of the World Book Encyclopedia
XTRA	Services	Truck trailer rental	2001
Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies	insurance	predominantly commercial building insurance	––	Merger of six small insurance companies that Berkshire acquired in its early years
Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group	insurance	reinsurance	––
Boat US	insurance	Specialty insurance and other services for boats	2007	via National Indemnity
Central States Indemnity	insurance	Credit insurance for credit card payments	1992
Geico	insurance	Direct car insurance as well as property and liability insurance	1976-1996
General Re	insurance	reinsurance	1998
Guard Insurance Group	insurance	Industrial accident insurance	2012	private providers of what in Germany, the statutory accident insurance equivalent
Kansas Bankers Surety	insurance	Liability insurance	1996
Medical Protective	insurance	Special insurance against medical malpractice	2005
National Indemnity Primary Group	insurance	Direct insurance	1967	via Wesco Financial
United States Liability Insurance Group	insurance	Special insurance for so-called excess and surplus lines	2000

In addition, as of December 31, 2012, Berkshire held minority interests in at least the following companies (excluding pension funds):

society	proportion of
American Express	13.7%
BYD	09.56%
The Coca-Cola Company	08.9%
ConocoPhillips	02.0%
DirecTV	03.8%
IBM	06.0%
Moody's	12.7%
Munich Re	11.3%
Phillips 66	03.3%
POSCO	05.1%
Procter & Gamble	01.9%
Sanofi	02.0%
Tesco	05.2%
US Bancorp	04.2%
Wal-Mart	01.6%
Washington Post	23%
Wells Fargo	08.7%

In addition, GEICO-Versicherung also holds several blocks of shares in various companies as capital investments. In 2001 these amounted to around two billion US dollars. Since they are not shown separately in the annual report, these blocks of shares often cause rumors.

See also

• The top 10 of the Toxic 100 Index 2018

Web links

 Wikinews: US Congress Hearings on Accounting Scandal at Mortgage Dealer Fannie Mae  - News

• Berkshire Hathaway (English)
• Sublinks

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Annual Report 2019 (PDF) Retrieved May 15, 2020 . 
2. ↑ AAA Rating Is a Rarity in Business. The New York Times, August 2, 2011, accessed March 9, 2013 . 
3. ↑ Log In - New York Times. In: nytimes.com. Retrieved January 30, 2017 (English). 
4. ↑ Berkshire Hathaway A Historical Prices. In: ariva.de. August 23, 2019, accessed August 23, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Which are the most expensive stocks in the world? In: fxssi.com. January 7, 2019, accessed August 23, 2019 . 
6. ^ Berkshire Hathaway on the Forbes Global 2000 List . In: Forbes . (English, forbes.com [accessed November 16, 2017]).
7. ↑ ^{a b} Alex Crippen: CNBC Transcript: Warren Buffett's $ 200B Berkshire Blunder and the Valuable Lesson He Learned. In: CNBC. October 18, 2010, accessed October 23, 2016 . 
8. ↑ Kris Hudson & Anupreeta Das: Mayor Tries to Save Warren Buffett's Old Berkshire Hathaway Headquarters. In: The Wall Street Journal . December 1, 2013, accessed October 23, 2016 . 
9. ↑ welt.de: The most expensive share in the world defies the crisis
10. ↑ Berkshire Hathaway Stock. In: finanzen.net. May 17, 2019, accessed May 17, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Memo: Comparative Rights and Relative prices of Berkshire Class A and Class B Stock (PDF; 10 kB). Please note that in English the comma is not used as a decimal separator , but to group decimal digits.
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} 2016. Annual Report. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Berkshire Hathaway, 2017, formerly in the original ; accessed on June 16, 2017 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
13. ^ Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Bloomberg LLC, accessed January 10, 2018 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b} CEO Pay: Warren E Buffett. In: Forbes. Retrieved January 10, 2018 . 
15. ↑ 2012. Annual Report. (PDF) Berkshire Hathaway, 2013, accessed June 16, 2017 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b} 2014. Annual Report. (PDF) Berkshire Hathaway, 2015, accessed June 16, 2017 . 
17. ↑ Annual report. Retrieved June 11, 2018 (American English). 
18. ↑ 2018 Annual Report. (PDF) Retrieved February 23, 2019 (American English). 
19. ↑ Swiss Re: Berkshire Hathaway to acquire 3% stake. In: finanznachrichten.de. January 23, 2008, accessed October 23, 2018 . 
20. ↑ Berkshire Hathaway press release of November 3, 2009 ( Memento of September 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 45 kB)
21. ↑ Dennis K. Berman: SEC Examines Berkshire's Disclosure on Burlington. In: Wall Street Journal . May 4, 2010, accessed July 14, 2020 . 
22. ↑ Warren Buffett buys Heinz Ketchup. In: sueddeutsche.de. February 14, 2013, accessed July 14, 2020 . 
23. ↑ Clare Duffy: Berkshire Hathaway will buy natural gas assets from Dominion Energy in a $ 10 billion deal. In: edition.cnn.com. July 5, 2020, accessed on July 14, 2020 . 
24. ↑ Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Ed.): 2012 ANNUAL REPORT . Omaha (Nebraska) 2013, pp. 106 (Annual figures of the takeover and the information on the business activities of the companies are partly taken from previous annual reports. "Consolidated" means "controlling interest", ie more than 50% share).
25. ↑ Frequently Asked Questions. (No longer available online.) The Buffalo News, 2011, archived from the original on March 28, 2011 ; Retrieved March 23, 2011 . 
26. ^ Company History - About Us - Precision Steel Warehouse. Precision Steel Warehouse, 2011, accessed March 23, 2011 . 
27. ^ Boat America Corporation sold to Berkshire Hathaway. (No longer available online.) IBI Magazine, July 23, 2007, archived from the original on March 28, 2010 ; Retrieved March 23, 2011 . 
28. ^ COMPANY NEWS; BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY BUYS CENTRAL STATES INDEMNITY. In: NYTimes.com. The New York Times, October 21, 1992, accessed March 23, 2011 . 
29. ↑ Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Ed.): 2012 ANNUAL REPORT . Omaha (Nebraska) 2013, pp. 15 (“Minority interest” means “non-controlling interest”, i.e. less than 50% equity interest.).
30. ↑ ANNUAL REPORT 2012. (PDF; 2.90 MB) (No longer available online.) BYD Company Limited, March 24, 2013, archived from the original on May 12, 2013 ; accessed on March 28, 2013 . 
31. ↑ 2012 ANNUAL REPORT. (PDF; 1.36 MB) The Washington Post Company, March 20, 2013, p. 76 , accessed March 28, 2013 . 
32. ↑ Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Ed.): 2001 ANNUAL REPORT . Omaha (Nebraska) 2001, pp. 16 .