Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company for a multitude of businesses, including GEICO and Fruit of the Loom. It's run by chair and CEO Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally, it was a company comprised of a group of textile milling plants.

Buffett assumed control of the struggling New England company in 1965. Since that time, Berkshire has grown to be one of the largest companies in the world, based on market capitalization.

Warren Buffett became the controlling shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway in the mid-1960s and began a progressive strategy of diverting cash flows from the core business into other investments. As of May 2022, Berkshire Hathaway had a market capitalization of close to $700 billion, making it one of the largest publicly traded companies worldwide.1

Berkshire Hathaway has a long history of operating success and smart investments. The company currently is the seventh-largest public company in the world in terms of market capitalization.1 Berkshire's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange as two classes—A shares and B shares. Class A shares closed at $471,670 per share on May 17, 2022.2

Insurance subsidiaries represent a large part of Berkshire Hathaway's holdings. However, the company also manages hundreds of diverse businesses all over the world. These include Duracell, International Dairy Queen, Pampered Chef, Fruit of the Loom, NetJets, and GEICO, among others.4

In addition to owning private companies, Berkshire also has a large investment portfolio of stocks in major public companies, such as Apple (AAPL), Bank of America (BAC), and United Parcel Service (UPS).5 As of the first quarter of 2022, Berkshire's public market equity portfolio was valued at more than $363 billion.6

Early in his career, Buffett came across the novel idea to use the float from his insurance subsidiaries to invest elsewhere. He focused on selecting stock that would be held for the long term.

Buffett has long eschewed a diversified stock portfolio in favor of trusted investments that would be over-weighted in order to leverage the anticipated return. Over time, Buffett’s investing prowess became so renowned that Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meetings are now a mecca for value investing proponents. They're also the target of intense media scrutiny.

From 1965 to 2021, the compounded annual gain of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock was just shy of twice that of the S&P 500 index. Berkshire’s stock generated an annualized 20.1% over that period, while the S&P 500’s annualized gain was 10.5%.3

Succession has always been a hot topic for Berkshire. The big question is whether Buffett’s replacement can continue the streak of outperforming the market. This becomes even more pressing when you consider that Buffett turned 91 years old in August of 2021.

In 2010, Buffett announced that he would be succeeded at Berkshire Hathaway by a team comprised of one CEO and two to four investment managers.

In 2011, it was announced that hedge fund managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler would be two of those managers. In 2018, the company put Ajit Jain in charge of all of the insurance operations and made Greg Abel the manager of all other (noninsurance) operations. Both men seemed likely candidates for Buffett's heir apparent.

Buffet has not announced any retirement plans. Still, it's good that the question of succession has been answered, considering the advanced age of the Oracle of Omaha.

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company for a multitude of businesses, including GEICO and Fruit of the Loom. It's run by chair and CEO Warren Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally, it was a company comprised of a group of textile milling plants.

Buffett assumed control of the struggling New England company in 1965. Since that time, Berkshire has grown to be one of the largest companies in the world, based on market capitalization.

Warren Buffett became the controlling shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway in the mid-1960s and began a progressive strategy of diverting cash flows from the core business into other investments. As of May 2022, Berkshire Hathaway had a market capitalization of close to $700 billion, making it one of the largest publicly traded companies worldwide.1

Berkshire Hathaway has a long history of operating success and smart investments. The company currently is the seventh-largest public company in the world in terms of market capitalization.1 Berkshire's stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange as two classes—A shares and B shares. Class A shares closed at $471,670 per share on May 17, 2022.2

Insurance subsidiaries represent a large part of Berkshire Hathaway's holdings. However, the company also manages hundreds of diverse businesses all over the world. These include Duracell, International Dairy Queen, Pampered Chef, Fruit of the Loom, NetJets, and GEICO, among others.4

In addition to owning private companies, Berkshire also has a large investment portfolio of stocks in major public companies, such as Apple (AAPL), Bank of America (BAC), and United Parcel Service (UPS).5 As of the first quarter of 2022, Berkshire's public market equity portfolio was valued at more than $363 billion.6

Early in his career, Buffett came across the novel idea to use the float from his insurance subsidiaries to invest elsewhere. He focused on selecting stock that would be held for the long term.

Buffett has long eschewed a diversified stock portfolio in favor of trusted investments that would be over-weighted in order to leverage the anticipated return. Over time, Buffett’s investing prowess became so renowned that Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meetings are now a mecca for value investing proponents. They're also the target of intense media scrutiny.

From 1965 to 2021, the compounded annual gain of Berkshire Hathaway’s stock was just shy of twice that of the S&P 500 index. Berkshire’s stock generated an annualized 20.1% over that period, while the S&P 500’s annualized gain was 10.5%.3

Succession has always been a hot topic for Berkshire. The big question is whether Buffett’s replacement can continue the streak of outperforming the market. This becomes even more pressing when you consider that Buffett turned 91 years old in August of 2021.

In 2010, Buffett announced that he would be succeeded at Berkshire Hathaway by a team comprised of one CEO and two to four investment managers.

In 2011, it was announced that hedge fund managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler would be two of those managers. In 2018, the company put Ajit Jain in charge of all of the insurance operations and made Greg Abel the manager of all other (noninsurance) operations. Both men seemed likely candidates for Buffett's heir apparent.

Buffet has not announced any retirement plans. Still, it's good that the question of succession has been answered, considering the advanced age of the Oracle of Omaha.