Berkshire Hathaway is the investment company led by Warren Buffett and known for major stakes in Apple and Coca-Cola.
Berkshire Hathaway began as a textile manufacturer formed by 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 into a diversified holding company rather than preserving its textile business.
The group owns operating subsidiaries in insurance, railroads, energy, manufacturing, and retail. Berkshire also holds a portfolio of publicly traded shares, including well-known investments associated with Apple and Coca-Cola. Its insurance operations provide a major pool of investable capital through premiums and reserves.
Berkshire is unusual among giant companies because its Class A shares have an exceptionally high per-share price and the company has never split them. Market capitalization, however, depends on total shares and share prices, not on the price of one individual share alone.