GEICO, headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, primarily offers private passenger automobile insurance marketed directly to individual consumers in the United States. It included Kirby Company, which was sold in 2021, Wayne berkshire hathaway letters to shareholders Water Systems, and Campbell Hausfeld products. In 1986, Berkshire acquired Scott Fetzer Company, a diversified group of 32 brands that manufactures and distributes products for residential, industrial, and institutional use, including Ginsu knives and World Book Encyclopedia. In 2020, Lee Enterprises acquired BH Media Group’s publications and The Buffalo News for $140 million in cash, retaining WPLG. In 1976, Berkshire first invested in GEICO, at a time when it was facing financial difficulty and had a very low stock price. In 2012, National Indemnity acquired workers’ compensation insurer GUARD for $221 million.

He focused on selecting stocks that would be held for the long term. Early in his career, Buffett came across the novel idea of using the float from his insurance subsidiaries to invest elsewhere. However, the company also manages hundreds of diverse businesses all over the world. Class A shares have never split and closed above $734,000 per share on October 10th of 2025 (its Class B shares traded at about $489 on the same date). Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company for a multitude of businesses, including GEICO and Fruit of the Loom, that is led by Warren Buffett. Other hockey teams in the county include Tadley, Yateley, Maidenhead, Windsor, and Newbury & Thatcham Hockey Clubs.

Towns and villages

The insurance company Prudential has an administration centre in the town. 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 south-east of the county contains Swinley Forest, a remnant of Windsor Forest now used as a forestry plantation. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London to the east, Surrey to the south-east, Hampshire to the south, and Wiltshire to the west. The salary for Buffett is $100,000 per year with no stock options, which is among the lowest salaries for CEOs of large companies in the United States. 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.

What Is a Class A Share?

Buffett himself has described this as a «call on the industry» rather than a choice in an individual company. Buffett had made an investment in US Airways in 1989 which, although he sold for a profit, almost lost Berkshire a substantial sum of money. Berkshire Hathaway reduced its Apple stake by nearly 50%, selling $75.5 billion worth of stock in the second quarter of 2024, increasing its cash reserves to a record $276.9 billion.

Much of the county’s early history is recorded in the Chronicles of the Abingdon Abbey, which at the time of the survey was second only to the crown in the extent and number of its possessions, such as The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay. This wood, perhaps no longer extant, was west of Frilsham, near Newbury. 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.

Local

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. Class A shares of common stock usually give shareholders a greater amount of voting rights than Class B and other classes of stock. In 2018, the company put Ajit Jain in charge of all of the insurance operations and made Greg Abel the manager of all other (noninsurance) operations. Berkshire’s stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange in two classes—A shares and B shares.

Financials

In 1964, Buffett offered to sell his shares back to the company for $11.50 each. Buffett personally owns 38.4% of the Class A voting shares of Berkshire Hathaway, representing a 15.1% overall economic interest in the company. A “file MD5” is a hash that gets computed from the file contents, and is reasonably unique based on that content. Warren E. Buffett first took control of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a small textile company, in April of 1965. He’s renowned not only for the jaw-dropping success of Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company of which he’s been in charge since 1964. Abel’s official title is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy and vice chair in charge of noninsurance operations.

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. 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.

• Reading became the new county town in 1867, taking over from Abingdon, which remained in the county.
• In July 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired NetJets, formerly Executive Jet Aviation, for $725 million in cash.
• Buffett was reluctant to create the class B shares but did so to thwart the creation of unit investment trusts that would have marketed themselves as Berkshire look-alikes.
• In May 2008, Mitek acquired Hohmann & Barnard, a fabricator of anchors and reinforcement systems for masonry.
• Buffett sold around 30% of this stake in 2013 when he «soured somewhat on the company’s then-management», realizing a profit of $43 million.

Charlie Munger served as vice chairman of the company from 1978 until his death on November 28, 2023. Berkshire’s annual shareholders’ meetings, nicknamed «Woodstock for Capitalists», take place at the CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett also receives approximately $300,000 worth of home security services from the company annually. The increased market liquidity resulted in the company’s inclusion in the S&P 500. Buffett was reluctant to create the class B shares but did so to thwart the creation of unit investment trusts that would have marketed themselves as Berkshire look-alikes. Holders of class A stock are allowed to convert their stock to Class B, though not vice versa.

Understanding Berkshire Hathaway: Market Cap, Ownership, and More

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. Abel was appointed vice chairman for non-insurance business operations, and Jain became vice chairman of insurance operations.

Investment strategy

NetJets is the world’s largest provider of fractional ownership programs for general aviation aircraft. In July 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired NetJets, formerly Executive Jet Aviation, for $725 million in cash. It uses flight simulators and is the largest provider of professional aviation training services. The company is known for its advertising characters including a gecko and the GEICO Cavemen.

• The overall return of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock from 1965 to 2021.
• In October 1997, Berkshire acquired Dairy Queen, based in Edina, Minnesota, for $585 million.
• In February 2002, Berkshire acquired Albecca, headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, operating under the Larson-Juhl name.
• Biosynth Carbosynth, along with its acquired companies, vivitide and Pepscan rebranded to Biosynth in 2022.
• The early Eocene London Clay (Thames Group) generally gets thinner as we proceed westwards, though the thickness of beds can vary considerably over short distances.
• By the end of June 2016, this stake had increased to 15.2 million shares (0.3% of Apple).

By December 31, 2017, Berkshire owned 166 million shares (3.3% of Apple). By the end of June 2016, this stake had increased to 15.2 million shares (0.3% of Apple). In the first quarter of 2016, Berkshire began investing in Apple Inc., with a purchase of 9.8 million shares (0.2% of Apple) worth $1 billion.

In June 2000, the company acquired Justin Brands, the parent company of Justin Boots, Acme Boots, and Acme Brick for $600 million in cash. 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. The company has acquired several residential real estate brokerages including Long & Foster, acquired in September 2017. In 2005, it acquired PacifiCorp for $5.1 billion in cash, and assumed $4.3 billion in PacificCorp debt and preferred stock.

The financial company ING Direct has its headquarters in Reading, as does the directories company Hibu. These companies have been swallowed by other groups, but their descendants, Fujitsu and Hewlett-Packard respectively, still have local operations. Reading has a historical involvement in the information technology industry, largely as a result of the early presence in the town of sites of International Computers Limited and Digital.

Acquisitions

Phoenix Reading Hockey Club, based at Reading University, has six adult teams and a large junior development section. There are several amateur and semi-professional football clubs in the county. This area of West Berkshire is the largest centre of racehorse training in the UK after Newmarket, and is known as the ‘Valley of the Racecourse’. Newbury Racecourse is in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury. Berkshire hosts more Group 1 flat horse races than any other county.

On October 2, 2014, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, an auto dealership subsidiary, was created through the acquisition of Van Tuyl Group, the largest auto dealer in the nation that was still independently owned up to that date. In March 2011, Berkshire Hathaway made its first foray into the Indian insurance sector with its non-direct subsidiary BerkshireInsurance.com. In September 2011, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Lubrizol for $9 billion in cash. In February 2010, the remaining portion that it did not already own was acquired for $26 billion.