The value of marketable securities in Berkshire's portfolio, on a per share basis, increased from $4 in 1965 to over $22,000 in 1995, a 33.4% annual increase. The double-barreled approach has paid off handsomely. While they prefer negotiated acquisitions of 100% of such a business at a fair price, they take a "double-barreled approach" of buying on the open market less than 100% of such businesses when they can do so at a pro-rata price well below what it would take to buy 100%. Berkshire also owns substantial equity interests in major corporations, including American Express, Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, Freddie Mac, Gillette, McDonald's, The Washington Post, and Wells Fargo.īuffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have built this $50 billion enterprise by investing in businesses with excellent economic characteristics and run by outstanding managers. Berkshire publishes The Buffalo News and owns other businesses that manufacture or distribute products ranging from encyclopedias, home furnishings, and cleaning systems, to chocolate candies, ice cream, footwear, uniforms, and air compressors. Berkshire's most important business is insurance, carried on principally through its 100% owned subsidiary, GEICO Corporation, the seventh largest auto insurer in the United States. The growth rate in book value per share during that period is 23.8% compounded annually.īerkshire is now a holding company engaged in a variety of businesses, not including textiles. Today, its book value per share is around $20,000 and its intrinsic value far higher. Buffett took the helm of Berkshire in 1964, when its book value per share was $19.46 and its intrinsic value per share far lower. Buffett has applied the traditional principles as chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, a company with roots in a group of textile operations begun in the early 1800s.
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