Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is a multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BRK.A, BRK.B), with businesses spanning insurance, railroads, energy, manufacturing, and retail. Warren Buffett ran the company for decades after taking control in 1965 and stepped down as CEO at the end of 2025; Charlie Munger served as Vice Chairman (1978–2023). Greg Abel succeeded Buffett as CEO at the start of 2026; on September 18, 2026, Buffett stepped down as Chairman to become Chairman Emeritus, and his son Howard G. Buffett became Chairman. As of 2025, the company had total assets of $1.222 trillion.⁠[1][2][3]

Berkshire Hathaway’s predecessor was Valley Falls Company, a textile manufacturer founded in 1839 in Valley Falls, Rhode Island; in 1888, the Valley Falls companies were merged into Hathaway Manufacturing Company; in 1955, Hathaway merged with Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates to form Berkshire Hathaway, which then had about 12,000 employees and annual revenue of more than $120 million and was one of the most successful textile companies in the United States. As the U.S. textile industry declined in the late 1950s, the company closed 7 of its 15 mills in New England.⁠[4]

In 1962, Warren Buffett began buying Berkshire Hathaway stock at about $7.60 per share; in May 1965, he took control of the company (with a stake worth about $14 million), when it had only 2 mills and just over 2,000 employees left. In his September 18, 2026, letter to shareholders, Buffett wrote that he had served Berkshire since 1965.⁠[4]

In 1967, the company acquired National Indemnity, turning to insurance and beginning to build its insurance business. The CEO letter in the annual report defines insurance float as money held to pay future claims that is invested for Berkshire’s benefit in the meantime; float stood at $176 billion at the end of 2025, up from $171 billion at the end of 2024 and $88 billion at the end of 2015.⁠[5]

Berkshire’s investment in M&T Bank began in 1991. In the second and third quarters of 2020, it sold about 2.5 million shares, and in the fourth quarter it sold the remaining roughly 2.9 million shares, exiting its entire stake (worth a total of about $800 million at the time of the exit; at the end of 2019, it had held more than 5.4 million shares, a stake of more than 4%). In the same period, Berkshire also exited JPMorgan ChaseJPMorgan Chase & Co.JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a financial holding company headquartered in New York that operates investment banking, consumer and small business financial services, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands; its roots trace back to the Manhattan Company of 1799.Open the full entry and PNC Financial and reduced its holdings in Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp.⁠[6]

After the financial crisis, Buffett invested $5 billion in Bank of America preferred stock in 2011. In mid-July 2024, Berkshire began reducing its Bank of America stake (an initial sale of about 33.9 million shares for about $1.48 billion); after selling 9.5 million shares ($382.4 million) in the week of about October 10, 2024, its stake fell below 10%, after which SEC rules no longer required it to disclose each sale; in total, its sales raised more than $10 billion.⁠[7]

On the morning of November 28, 2023, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger died peacefully at a California hospital at the age of 99. The company issued an official press release that day, in which Buffett said: “Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom and participation.” Funeral arrangements were handled by his family in accordance with Munger’s own instructions.⁠[8]

In May 2025, Buffett announced at the annual shareholders meeting that he would step down as CEO at the end of 2025 and be succeeded by Greg Abel.⁠[3]

Fiscal 2025: total revenues of $371.444 billion; operating earnings of $44.5 billion ($47.4 billion in 2024); net earnings attributable to Berkshire shareholders of $66.968 billion (including investment gains of $39.078 billion and impairment losses on equity method investments of $10.681 billion); cash flows from operating activities of $45.969 billion; zero share repurchases in 2025; net sales of equity securities in 2025 (purchases of $16.923 billion and sales of $30.686 billion).⁠[5]

On January 1, 2026, Greg Abel formally took over as CEO; Buffett remained Chairman.⁠[3]

Abel moved to Omaha in 1992 to join CalEnergy (later acquired by Berkshire as MidAmerican Energy); from 2018, he served as Vice Chairman of Non-Insurance Operations. In his first annual letter to shareholders, dated February 28, 2026, he disclosed that in 2025 BNSF reached a settlement with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community over a long-running dispute concerning the transport of crude oil across tribal land (BNSF acknowledged its past mistakes and apologized).⁠[5]

On January 2, 2026, Berkshire acquired OxyChem, the basic chemicals business of Occidental Petroleum, from Occidental for about $9.4 billion in cash (Occidental retained historical environmental liabilities); OxyChem’s assets were preliminarily valued at $10.7 billion, and it had revenues of $1.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026 and $2.6 billion in the first half. On July 24, 2026, Berkshire acquired the U.S. homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home Corporation for about $6.8 billion in cash.⁠[9]

Second quarter of 2026: total revenues of $101.808 billion; net earnings attributable to shareholders of $25.667 billion (including investment gains of $16.077 billion); net earnings attributable to shareholders of $35.773 billion for the first half of 2026; share repurchases of about $4.527 billion in the second quarter (about $4.762 billion in the first half).⁠[9]

On August 14, 2026, Warren E. Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and its subsidiary National Indemnity Company, among others, filed a Schedule 13G: as of June 30, 2026, Buffett, Berkshire, and National Indemnity each beneficially owned 13,111,741 shares of common stock of the homebuilder Lennar CorporationLennarLennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN, LEN.B) is a homebuilder headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States, and one of the largest homebuilders in the United States by deliveries, revenue, and net earnings; it also originates mortgage loans, provides title insurance and closing services, and develops multifamily rental properties.Open the full entry, representing 6.2% of the class, with shared voting and dispositive power; fellow reporting persons Berkshire Hathaway Life Insurance Company of Nebraska and BHG Life Insurance Company each held 745,392 of those shares (0.4%). The reporting persons certified in the Schedule 13G that the securities were acquired and are held in the ordinary course of business and not for the purpose of changing or influencing control of the issuer.⁠[10][10][10][10][10][10]

On September 21, 2026, Berkshire and Buffett filed a Form 3 as more-than-10% owners of Lennar, with a date of event requiring the statement of September 17, 2026; at that time, Berkshire indirectly held 21,050,601 shares of Lennar Class A common stock and 453,196 shares of Class B common stock through subsidiaries including National Indemnity, AZGUARD, BHG Life, Medical Protective, NorGUARD, and WestGUARD. Because Berkshire is in the chain of ownership of these subsidiaries, it may be deemed to beneficially own the shares; Buffett, as the controlling stockholder of Berkshire, may be deemed a beneficial owner, but stated that he acknowledges beneficial ownership only to the extent of his pecuniary interest.⁠[11][11][11][11][11][11][11][11]

Berkshire then made successive purchases of Lennar shares under transaction code P, with each reported price being a weighted average price. A Form 4 filed on September 21 reported purchases on September 17, 18, and 21, after which it held 23,719,109 Class A shares and 528,217 Class B shares.⁠[12][12][12][12][12][12]

A Form 4 filed on September 25 reported 9 purchases over three trading days from September 23 to 25: a total of 1,659,025 Class A shares (at weighted average prices of $80.58 to $81.65 per share) and 20,675 Class B shares ($79.42 to $79.99 per share), for a combined 1,679,700 shares, worth about $136.4 million based on the share counts and weighted average prices reported for each purchase; after these transactions, it held 25,378,134 Class A shares and 548,892 Class B shares.⁠[13][13][13][13][13][13]

A Form 4 filed on September 30 reported purchases from September 28 to 30, after which it held 26,034,436 Class A shares and 553,000 Class B shares; a Form 4 filed on October 5 reported purchases on October 1 and 2, after which it held 28,438,045 Class A shares and 568,028 Class B shares. As of October 2, its Class A holding had increased by 7,387,444 shares from 21,050,601 shares on September 17.⁠[14][14][14][14][15][15][15][15][11]

On September 18, 2026, the leadership transition was completed: Warren Buffett (aged 96) stepped down as Chairman, becoming Chairman Emeritus and remaining a director; the board elected his son Howard G. Buffett (a director since 1993, for 33 years) as Chairman (a non-executive chairman whose role is to guard the company’s culture and values); Greg Abel continued as CEO; and Susan L. Decker became Lead Independent Director. Buffett wrote in his letter to shareholders: “Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet.”⁠[2]

As of June 30, 2026: cash and cash equivalents of $40.609 billion plus short-term U.S. Treasury bills of $324.905 billion, for a total of about $365.5 billion (on a consolidated balance sheet basis; the figure for “cash, cash equivalents and Treasury bills, net of unsettled purchases” in the 10-Q management’s discussion is $359.2 billion, a different basis, and both are recorded here); total assets of $1,263.071 billion; Berkshire shareholders’ equity of $747.910 billion; and equity securities at a fair value of $323.779 billion.⁠[9]

As of September 28, 2026: the Chief Executive Officer is Greg Abel (since January 1, 2026); the Chairman is Howard G. Buffett (since September 18, 2026, as non-executive chairman); Warren E. Buffett serves as Chairman Emeritus and remains a director; and the Lead Independent Director is Susan L. Decker. Ticker symbols: NYSE: BRK.A / BRK.B.⁠[2]