Berkshire Hathaway is the investor-led company famous for being led by Warren Buffett and ranking among the world’s most valuable public companies.
Berkshire Hathaway began as a textile manufacturer before Buffett and his investment partners transformed it into a diversified holding company. Its businesses include insurance operations, rail transportation, utilities, energy, manufacturing, and consumer brands. The company also owns a large portfolio of publicly traded investments.
Berkshire is unusual among major public companies because it has long maintained a very high share price and has not carried out a conventional stock split for its Class A shares. That policy differs from market capitalization: a high per-share price alone does not make a company the most valuable, because market cap depends on both price and shares outstanding.