Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1839 as a textile manufacturer, it transitioned into a major conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger.
Currently, the company's earning power is diversified across a broad portfolio of subsidiaries, equity positions and other securities. Insurance is a major area of operations and the float (the retained premiums) generated serves as an important source of capital. Buffett and Munger are known for their advocacy of value investing principles and under their direction, the company's book value has grown at an average rate of 20%, compared to about 10% from the S&P 500 index with dividends included over the same period, while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.
The company's insurance brands include auto insurer GEICO and reinsurance firm Gen Re. Its non-insurance subsidiaries operate in diverse sectors such as confectionery, retail, railroads, home furnishings, machinery, jewelry, apparel, electrical power and natural gas distribution. Among its partially owned businesses are Kraft Heinz (26.7%), American Express (18.8%), Bank of America (11.9%), The Coca-Cola Company (9.32%) and Apple Inc. (5.57%).
Berkshire is one of the top ten components of the S&P 500 index and one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States. Its class A shares have the highest per-share price of any public company in the world, reaching $600,000 in February 2024, because the board has historically been opposed to splitting them.