Video:Profile of Berkshire Hathaway

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Transcript:Profile of Berkshire Hathaway

Hello, I’m Wealth Mentor Linda P. Jones from LiveWealthyAndSmart.com, here on behalf of About.com to profile Berkshire Hathaway.

Warren Buffett Started as an Small Investor in Berkshire Hathaway

You probably have heard of Berkshire Hathaway because that’s the company that Warren Buffett built his fortune with. Berkshire is a holding company conglomerate, that buys shares of stock in consumer companies, where customers make repeat purchases, companies like Coca-Cola, American Express and Gillette.

Berskshire Hathaway Began as a Textile Company Before Expanding

Berkshire Hathaway was actually started in 1839, as the Valley Falls Company, a textile company. And in 1929, it merged with Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company, and was renamed Berkshire Fine Spinning Association. In 1955, it merged with Hathaway Manufacturing. And in 1962, Warren Buffett began buying Berkshire Hathaway stock. In 1964, he bought the entire company outright. And in 1967, he expanded into insurance, mainly Geico, and other investments, and broadened his investment horizons. 

Interestingly, although Berkshire Hathaway was the investment vehicle for the world’s wealthiest man to grow his wealth, he said publicly it was not his best investment! And in 1985, Berkshire Hathaway discontinued textile manufacturing altogether. In 2007, Berkshire Hathaway had an all-time high in its stock price of $150,000 a share. But in 2010, Warren Buffett publicly stated that buying Berkshire Hathaway was the biggest mistake of his career, and he would have had 200 billion dollars more over the last 45 years, if he had invested in insurance companies, instead of in Berkshire Hathaway. In 2010, Berkshire Hathaway made history by entering into the Standard & Poor’s 500, along with only 500 other companies in the United States.

Berkshire Hathaway's Shareholder's Meeting is an Extravagant Event

The annual shareholder meeting for Berkshire Hathaway is held at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska each year. It’s been called the “Woodstock for Capitalists”. As a shareholder myself, I’ve attended, and it’s unlike any shareholder meeting I’ve ever been to! It’s a weekend full of parties, barbecues and Q&A time with Warren Buffett and his partner, Charlie Munger. You can even tour jets of one of the companies they own, NetJets. Any way you look at it, Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway have left a footprint on the investment industry.

Thank you for watching. For more information, visit us online at About.com.