In April 2002, Berkshire acquired Fruit of the Loom for $835 million in cash. In February 2002, Berkshire acquired Albecca, headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, operating under the Larson-Juhl name. On April 23, 2010, Mitek acquired the assets of Dur-O-Wal from Dayton Superior. In May 2008, Mitek acquired Hohmann & Barnard, a fabricator of anchors and reinforcement systems for masonry.
Buffett seeks to alleviate this issue by trading stocks based on intrinsic value rather than market value.
You can find most of the letters for free on Berkshire’s website, but this compiles them into a well-designed, easily readable format. Browse the world’s largest eBookstore and start reading today on the web, tablet, phone, or ereader. Berkshire Hathaway’s success is largely due to Buffett’s value investing strategy, and its annual shareholder meetings have become a mecca for value investing proponents. Warren Buffett is one example of an investor whose focus on value investing has led to incredible success. Value investing refers to investing in a security with an intrinsic value that’s greater than its market value.
For example, a stock that has dropped very sharply compared to the market-as had the Washington Post when we bought it in 1973-becomes ‘riskier’ at the lower price than it was at a higher price.” Over the years, Buffett goes on to explain that as a net buyer of stocks, the best thing that can happen is for stock prices to drop, as articulated in his 1977 letter when he states that “we ordinarily make no attempt to buy equities for anticipated favorable stock price behavior in the short term. In this chapter, Graham characterizes the market as a manic-depressive who comes each day to offer prices at which he will buy from and sell to the investor, whichever one the investor chooses. Following this discussion, Buffett spends the majority of each letter detailing the operations of Berkshire’s subsidiary companies as well as the results of its major non-controlling investments. As of 2012, Berkshire carried investments per share of $113,786 and non-insurance subsidiary earnings per share of $8,085.
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Inherently, the risk that the investor runs is that by forgoing consumption now, he may not have the ability to consume more later. Buffett simply defines investing as “forgoing consumption now to have the ability to consume more later.” Rather, Buffett feels that real risk is not volatility, but the potential that after-tax receipts from an investment will not result in a gain in purchasing power. As discussed, Buffett does not view volatility as an adequate measure of investment risk.
As of June 30, 2025, the company had $344 billion in Treasury bills, which together with its reported cash of $44 billion made up the largest cash position of any U.S.-based public company. The purchase made Berkshire Hathaway the sixth-largest shareholder of Constellation Brands. Berkshire Hathaway bought 5.62 million shares of Constellation Brands in the fourth quarter of 2024, worth $1.24 billion.
- The company later acquired Professional Datasolutions and Salado Sales.
- In his 2012 letter, Buffett reaffirms these sentiments by saying, “Indeed, disciplined repurchases are the surest way to use funds intelligently.
- The insurance company Prudential has an administration centre in the town.
- Berkshire Hathaway’s success is largely due to Buffett’s value investing strategy, and its annual shareholder meetings have become a mecca for value investing proponents.
- In the first quarter of 2022, Berkshire acquired a $2.6 billion stake in Paramount Global.
- In May 2000, Berkshire acquired Ben Bridge Jeweler, a chain of jewelry stores established in 1912 with locations primarily in the western United States.
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- Berkshire Hathaway has never undergone a stock split of its Class A shares because of management’s desire to attract long-term investors as opposed to short-term speculation.
- In fact, being a major, long-term shareholder is one of the primary qualities that Buffett takes into account when searching for directors.
- He goes on to state that, as opposed to Adam Smith’s “invisible hand,” hyperactive markets act like an “invisible foot,” tripping up and slowing down a progressing economy.
- As of 2025, Berkshire Hathaway had a market capitalization of over $1.05 trillion, making it one of the largest publicly traded companies worldwide.
- By 2017, this position had yielded a profit of about $12 billion excluding the annual interest earned from the preferred stock.
The historic county included the parts of Oxfordshire south of the River Thames, which formed its northern border, but excluded Caversham and Slough. The county has an area of 1,263 km2 (488 sq mi) and a population of 911,403. Berkshire (/ˈbɑːrkʃɪər, -ʃər/ ⓘ BARK-sheer, -shər; abbreviated Berks.), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a ceremonial county in South East England. In January 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit against Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, alleging the company steered borrowers into unaffordable loans. In 2007, the company was named by Barron’s as the most respected company in the world based on a survey of American money managers.
These companies have been swallowed by other groups, but their descendants, Fujitsu and Hewlett-Packard respectively, still have local operations. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Berkshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling. Reading has experienced significant growth due to its reputation as a technology and business hub. The open upland areas vie with Newmarket, Suffolk for horse racing training and breeding centres and have good fields of barley, wheat, and other cereal crops. In the heart of the county Reading’s northern suburb Caversham is also on that bank, but rises steeply into the Chiltern Hills. A flag for the historic county of Berkshire was registered with the Flag Institute in 2017.
Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company run by Warren Buffett that owns a diverse range of businesses and minority stakes in public companies like Apple. Buffett is also celebrated for his winning approach to investing, which has created great wealth for many shareholders. Berkshire’s stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange in two classes—A shares and B shares. As of 2025, Berkshire Hathaway had a market capitalization of over $1.05 trillion, making it one of the largest publicly traded companies worldwide. The company owns a variety of well-known businesses, such as GEICO and Fruit of the Loom, and has significant minority interests in public companies such as Apple.
In his mind, the best directors are those who have their interests best aligned with shareholders. Additionally, when able but greedy managers begin to “dip too deeply into shareholders’ pockets, directors must slap their hands.” If board members lack either integrity or the ability to think independently, the directors can actually do a great deal of harm to shareholders. At this point, Buffett has seen many CEO’s taking various actions that hurt their shareholders, including reckless acquisition and employing questionable accounting practices. Over this period, an average market return would have grown a $1,000 investment to $405,000 if all income had been reinvested.
The key to the value of Berkshire’s insurance subsidiaries is their ability to underwrite profitably.
Buffett strongly opposes the idea that stock prices always reflect all publicly available information. Some argue that share repurchases serve as a means for managers to artificially boost per share earnings, but the fact of the matter is that as long as Buffett’s conditions are met, repurchases provide shareholders with a very real economic benefit with little to no downside. Buffett has two criteria that must be met for share repurchases to become advisable for a business. Making Berkshire stock more tradable would inevitably lead to more trading, and more trading would lead to fewer long-term investors.
94 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Signal Squadron still keep the Uffington White Horse in their insignia, even though the White Horse is now within the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire. The northern part of the county came under governance of Oxfordshire, with Faringdon, Wantage and Abingdon and their hinterland becoming the Vale of White Horse district, and Didcot and Wallingford added to South Oxfordshire district. The administrative county’s full legal name was “Berks” rather than “Berkshire” until 1967, when the government changed the name to Berkshire at the county council’s request.
In January 1986, Berkshire acquired Fechheimer Brothers, owner of Flying Cross, which manufactures public safety uniforms, and Vertx, a civilian tactical clothing company. In 2014, Graham Holdings Company sold its Miami television station, ABC affiliate WPLG to BH Media in a cash and stock deal. In 1976, Berkshire first invested in GEICO, at a time when it was facing financial difficulty and had a very low stock price. He has estimated that had he invested the same money directly in insurance businesses instead of indirectly via Berkshire Hathaway (due to what he perceived as a slight by an individual), it would have paid off several hundredfold.
Annual letters and shareholders’ meetings
As long as Berkshire’s managers continue to think like owners and manage their companies as if the companies are the only assets that they own, Berkshire shareholders can be confident that these outstanding results are likely to continue. His views on the tone and content of his correspondence are summarized in his 1979 letter, when he explains to his shareholders that he does not “expect a public relations document when our operating managers tell us what is going on, and we don’t feel you should receive such a document.” When he presents financial statements on a pro forma basis, he does so to reveal truth to his shareholders, rather berkshire hathaway letters to shareholders than display the statements as if nothing bad had happened to the company. Additionally, in Buffett’s early letters, readers are able to see firsthand how he operates as a manager of a small company himself. In fact, for a number of years, at the end of each letter he would place an advertisement for possible acquisition candidates from his shareholders.
The use of beta as a measure of risk can cause an investor to miss out on great opportunities in the market.
The proximity of the east of the county to London led to development from the nineteenth century, when Slough became an industrial centre and Bracknell was designated a new town. The county has been the site of several battles, particularly during the First English Civil War, when Reading and Wallingford were besieged two battles took place at Newbury, in 1643 and 1644. The south-east of the county contains Swinley Forest, a remnant of Windsor Forest now used as a forestry plantation. The Thames then forms Berkshire’s northern border, flowing past Maidenhead, before entering the county and flowing past Slough and Windsor. The Berkshire Downs, a chalk downland and area of outstanding natural beauty, occupy the west of the county.
Also in December 2007, when stresses that led to the 2008 financial crisis were forming, Berkshire created a government bond insurance company to insure municipal bonds, starting with New York State bonds. In July 2005, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Forest River, the world’s largest seller of recreational vehicles, from Pete Liegl for $800 million. The company later acquired Professional Datasolutions and Salado Sales. In October 2002, Berkshire acquired The Pampered Chef, the largest direct seller of kitchen tools in the United States. In June 2000, the company acquired Justin Brands, the parent company of Justin Boots, Acme Boots, and Acme Brick for $600 million in cash.
A few weeks later, Warren Buffett received the tender offer in writing, but the tender offer was for only $11.375 per share. Berkshire is one of the ten largest components of the S&P 500 and is on the list of largest employers in the United States. Berkshire Hathaway is ranked 5th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue and 9th on the Fortune Global 500. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger (from 1978 to 2023). Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (/ˈbɜːrkʃər/) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.
In this case, if stocks are traded based on market price, shareholders of the company with the more overvalued stock will ultimately benefit at the expense of shareholders of the other company (similar to the benefits of trading with an overvalued currency). In his letters, Buffett often speaks of how investors should respond to fluctuations in market prices. The knowledge that he lends in his letters, while perhaps not as monetarily beneficial as investing in a few shares of Berkshire back in 1965, is incredibly valuable to any person who wishes to learn the art of investing. Readers of these letters are provided with an invaluable understanding of how to view markets and companies, which is exceedingly beneficial for passive investors and professionals alike. Fifty letters to shareholders later, the same share traded for $226,000, compounding investor capital at just under 21% per year-a multiplier of 12,556 times. Its class A shares have the highest per-share price of any public company in the world, reaching $700,000 in August 2024, because the board of directors has historically been opposed to stock splits.
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In February 2001, Berkshire acquired Johns Manville, established in 1858 and a manufacturer of fiberglass wool insulation products for homes and commercial buildings, as well as pipe, duct, and equipment insulation products. In January 2001, Berkshire acquired 87% of Dalton, Georgia-based Shaw Industries. In December 2000, Berkshire acquired Benjamin Moore & Co., headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey. Helzberg Diamonds, a chain of jewelry stores based in Kansas City that began in 1915, was acquired by Berkshire in 1995 after a chance run in between Buffett and Barnett Helzberg on a street in New York City. In May 2000, Berkshire acquired Ben Bridge Jeweler, a chain of jewelry stores established in 1912 with locations primarily in the western United States.