Berkshire Hathaway became the first U.S. company outside the technology sector to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization.
The conglomerate crossed the milestone in August 2024, when its Class A shares rose and pushed its total market value above $1 trillion. Berkshire Hathaway is associated with investor Warren Buffett and owns or invests in businesses across insurance, railroads, utilities, energy, manufacturing, and consumer products.
The achievement was notable because recent trillion-dollar milestones had largely been associated with technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Nvidia. Berkshire’s valuation instead reflected the combined worth of a diversified collection of operating businesses and investments.
Berkshire Hathaway is not the same as a technology-focused company, although it owns technology-related investments. Its insurance operations, especially property-and-casualty businesses, have historically supplied capital for acquisitions and investments. Market capitalization measures the market value of publicly traded equity, so this milestone referred to Berkshire’s listed shares rather than the value of every asset at a separately calculated price.