Berkshire Hathaway

History

The Hathaway Manufacturing Company was founded in 1888 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In the 1950s, Hathaway merged with Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates, another textile company that was founded in Valley Falls, Rhode Island in the early 19th century.
By 1967, Berkshire Hathaway started expanding into the insurance industry and other investments. Berkshire acquired an equity stake in the Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) in the late 1970s.

GEICO forms the core of Berkshire Hathaway's insurance operations now-a-days. In 1985, the last textile operations were shut down and today Berkshire Hathaway is well established in its core insurance business. The company has 260,000 employees.

Area of Operation

The businesses of Berkshire Hathaway are:
Insurance:

• Property and Casualty Insurance
• Reinsurance
• Specialty nonstandard insurance.
• Diversified Investments
• Apparel
• Building Products
• Flight Services
• Retail Businesses

Financial Hihtlights (As per 2010 annual report):
Net Revenue = $ 136,185 ml.
Net Income = $ 12,967 ml.
Total Assets = $ 372,229 ml.

Organization

The corporate governance of Berkshire Hathaway is controlled by:

• Board of Directors
• Board Committees

International Ranking

• Berkshire Hathaway ranks 7th in the Fortune 500.
• Berkshire Hathaway ranks 18 in the world according to Forbes Magazine list.
• Berkshire Hathaway ranks 42 in Fortune Global 500 list.

Subsidiaries

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company owning many subsidiaries engaged in a number of diverse usiness activities, the most important of which are insurance businesses conducted nationwide on a primary basis and worldwide on a reinsurance basis.

Insurance and finance subsidiaries:

• GEICO
• General Re
• Kansas Bankers Surety Company
• National Indemnity Company
• Wesco Financial Corporation
• Applied Underwriters Inc.
• Medical Protective

Other Subsidiaries:

• Xtra Lease
• Borsheim's Fine Jewelry
• Dairy Queen
• Fruit of the Loom
• Nebraska Furniture Mart
• Jordan's Furniture
• The Pampered Chef
• See's Candies
• World Book
• FlightSafety International
• NetJets
• Forest River
• Business Wire
• Russell Corporation
• ISCAR Metalworking

Headquarter Address

Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
3555 Farnam Street Suite 1440
Omaha, Nebraska 68131
USA
Phone: (402) 346-1400
Fax: (402) 346-3375
Website: www.berkshirehathaway.com