Berkshire Hathaway became the first publicly traded U.S. company valued at $1 trillion without being primarily a technology company. It crossed the milestone in August 2024 as its Class A shares rose.
Berkshire Hathaway is a diversified holding company associated with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Its businesses include insurance, freight railroads, utilities, energy, manufacturing, retail, and large investment holdings. That structure distinguishes it from technology companies whose market values are often driven by software, platforms, or semiconductor demand.
Berkshire’s insurance operations, especially GEICO and reinsurance, have long supplied capital for investments and acquisitions. BNSF Railway and Berkshire Hathaway Energy are also major operating businesses.
The trillion-dollar figure referred to Berkshire’s market capitalization, calculated from the prices of its publicly traded share classes. It did not mean that every subsidiary was separately worth a trillion dollars or that Berkshire held that amount in cash.