Which family sold Berkshire Hathaway a controlling interest in Marmon Group?

The Pritzker family sold Berkshire Hathaway a controlling interest in Marmon Group. The deal gave Berkshire a 63.6% stake in 2008 for about $4.8 billion, making the industrial conglomerate part of Berkshire’s expanding collection of operating businesses.

Marmon began in 1953, when brothers Jay and Robert Pritzker acquired the struggling Colson Corporation. The company later took the Marmon name after acquiring Marmon-Herrington in 1964. Its businesses included railroad tank cars, electrical components, plumbing products, transportation equipment and industrial services.

Berkshire did not buy all of Marmon immediately. The Pritzker family retained 36.4%, while Berkshire planned to acquire the balance over several years. Berkshire became Marmon’s sole owner in 2013.

A common mix-up is confusing the Pritzkers with the Waltons, Mars family or Ford family. Those families are associated with other major American businesses, but the Marmon transaction was a Pritzker-Berkshire deal.