Warren Buffett is the CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and the eighth-richest person in the world.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, on Aug. 30, 1930, Buffett demonstrated a flair for business at a remarkably young age. At just 11 years old, he invested in his first stock and later spent his teenage years delivering copies of the Washington Post and selling items such as golf balls, stamps, and calendars. By the time he was 16, he had amassed a sum that would be equivalent to $53,000 today.
Despite these early achievements, Buffett did not reach the pinnacle of his career until much later in life. He first invested in Berkshire Hathaway – a failing textile manufacturer – in 1962 and spent the next 20 years attempting – and failing – to revive the textile industry. Fortunately, he had begun using Berkshire Hathaway as a holding company some years previously, and in the decades that followed, he purchased dozens of businesses and stocks.
Now widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in history, Buffett is often called the “Oracle of Omaha”. He owes the vast majority of his wealth to the shrewd investments he made with Berkshire Hathaway, in which he has a 15.1% stake worth an estimated $135 billion.
Buffett is a philanthropist and teamed with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to launch The Giving Pledge in 2010, encouraging billionaires to donate at least half their net worth to charity. He has donated more than half his Berkshire stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and several charitable foundations run by his family. In a letter to shareholders, Buffet said he will ultimately pledge 99% of his fortune to charitable causes.
Some of the biggest companies owned by Berkshire Hathaway include Precision Castparts Company, Lubrizol, GEICO, McLane, and Duracell.
1. Precision Castparts Corp
Precision Castparts Corp (PCC) is a leading manufacturer of complex metal components and products for the aerospace industry. In this sector, it specializes in investment castings, airfoil castings, forged components, aerostructures, and highly engineered critical fasteners.
The company is also the leading producer of airfoil castings for the industrial gas turbine sector and manufactures extruded seamless pipe fittings, forgings, and clad products for power generation and oil and gas applications.
PCC was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1949 by Ed Cooley, who rapidly expanded the business during his impressive 41-year tenure. One of his most notable achievements occurred in 1967 when he won a contract with General Electric (GE) to design TF39 engine components. The TF39 was the first high-bypass turbofan engine and the forerunner of GE’s commercial CF6 family of jet engines, which were later installed on Airbus and Boeing aircraft.
Berkshire Hathaway acquired PCC in 2016 for $32.1 billion , with Buffett later admitting he had "paid too much” for the manufacturing company.
After experiencing a drop in business due to the pandemic, PCC’s revenues surged to $9.3 billion in 2023 – an increase of $1.7 billion compared to the previous year.
2. Lubrizol
Lubrizol is a leader in specialty chemicals, primarily serving the transportation, industrial, and consumer markets.
The chemicals company operates two branches; Lubrizol Additives , which supplies chemical additive technologies for engine oils, driveline fluids, and other transportation-related fluids, and Lubrizol Advanced Materials , which develops advanced specialty polymers, polymer-based additives, and chemical additives for everyday consumer and industrial applications.
Lubrizol was founded as The Graphite Oil Products Company in 1928 and launched its first product, a graphited lubricant and applicator, a year later.
The company quickly expanded in its first decade. During World War II, the U.S. government credited Lubrizol with producing more than half of all the engine oil additives and around 80% of all the gear lubricant additives required in Allied military operations.
Berkshire Hathaway announced its acquisition of Lubrizol in March 2011 for $135 per share in an all-cash transaction, amounting to a total value of $9.7 billion.
In 2023, Lubrizol reported revenues amounting to $6.4 billion .
3. GEICO
The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) is an insurance company headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The company’s primary business is vehicle insurance, but it also offers property, business, travel, pet, and life insurance.
Married couple Leo and Lillian Goodwin founded the company in 1936 , at the height of the Great Depression. Despite the challenging circumstances, the pair were confident in their ability to create a successful auto insurance business. They focused their attention on a specific customer base: federal employees and specific categories of enlisted military officers. Their vision paid off, and within a year, they had written 3,700 policies and hired 12 employees.
Buffett’s relationship with GEICO goes back as far as his student years. While studying at Columbia University in 1951, Buffett made his first purchase of the insurer’s stock. Some 45 years later – in 1996 – he purchased GEICO’s outstanding stock, officially making the company a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
4. McLane
Robert McLane founded McLane in 1894 as a retail grocery business before quickly pivoting into wholesale trade. In 1976 – after decades of steady growth – the company expanded outside of Texas, and by 1990 it had established a nationwide presence.
Today, McLane provides a wide range of supply chain services to convenience stores, mass merchants, and chain restaurants, helping them improve efficiency, increase productivity, and drive profitability. The company operates 80 distribution centers and one of the nation’s largest private fleets, delivering 10 billion pounds of merchandise across the U.S. each year.
McLane was first acquired by Walmart in 1990 and then acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2003, for an estimated $1.5 billion . The company, headquartered in Temple, Texas, employs more than 25,000 people, and has an annual revenue of more than $50 billion .
5. Duracell
Duracell manufactures high-performance alkaline batteries, specialty cells, and rechargeables. Its founders , Samuel Ruben and Philip Rogers Mallory, began supplying batteries to Kodak in the 1940s and introduced the Duracell brand name in 1965, coinciding with their decision to launch a range of consumer-centric products. In 1969, Duracell was part of the Apollo 11 mission, making it the first battery on the Moon.
Berkshire Hathaway acquired Duracell from Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 2014. Buffett paid for the company with his $4.7 billion of P&G stock plus $1.8 billion in cash, which meant he avoided the capital-gains tax he would have owed if he sold his stock.
Here is the complete list of Berkshire Hathaway companies:
- Acme Brick Company
- Alleghany Corporation
- Ben Bridge Jeweler
- Benjamin Moore & Co.
- Berkshire Hathaway Automotive
- Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company (THREE)
- Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company
- Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
- Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies
- Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
- biBERK Business Insurance
- BoatU.S.
- Borsheims Fine Jewelry
- Brooks
- BNSF
- Business Wire
- Central States Indemnity Company
- Charter Brokerage
- Clayton Homes
- CORT Business Services
- CTB Inc.
- Duracell
- Fechheimer Brothers Company
- FlightSafety
- Forest River
- Fruit of the Loom Companies
- Garan Incorporated
- Gateway Underwriters Agency
- General Re
- Helzberg Diamonds
- H.H. Brown Shoe Group
- HomeServices of America
- International Dairy Queen, Inc.
- IMC International Metalworking Companies
- IPS
- Jazwares
- Johns Manville
- Jordan’s Furniture
- Justin Brands
- Kraft Heinz
- Larson-Juhl
- LiquidPower Specialty Products Inc. (LSPI)
- Louis – Motorcycle & Leisure
- Marmon Holdings, Inc.
- MedPro Group
- MiTek Inc.
- MLMIC Insurance Company
- National Indemnity Company
- NetJets®
- NFM
- Oriental Trading Company
- Pampered Chef®
- Pilot Travel Centers
- RC Willey Home Furnishings
- Richline Group
- Scott Fetzer Companies
- See’s Candies
- Shaw Industries
- Star Furniture
- TTI, Inc.
- United States Liability Insurance Group
- W&W/AFCO Steel
- XTRA Corporation
Berkshire Hathaway also has significant equity holdings, of which Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, and Chevron account for 79%.
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