Which financial conglomerate is led by Warren Buffett and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska?

Berkshire Hathaway is the financial conglomerate led for decades by Warren Buffett and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.

The company began as a textile manufacturer formed through the 1955 merger of Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates and Hathaway Manufacturing Company. Warren Buffett began buying Berkshire shares in the 1960s and eventually transformed it from a declining textile business into an investment and operating conglomerate.

Berkshire owns or invests in businesses across insurance, railroads, utilities, energy, manufacturing, retail, and consumer products. Major operating companies have included GEICO, BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and numerous manufacturing and service businesses. Its insurance operations provide capital that can be invested, a structure often associated with the term “float.”

Berkshire’s share price is unusually high because the company has not traditionally split its Class A shares. It also issues lower-priced Class B shares, created in 1996. Market capitalization counts both share classes, so the famous price of one Class A share is not the same thing as Berkshire’s total market value.