An animated video created by Visual Capitalist displays what Warren Buffett and his holding company Berkshire Hathaway have invested in since 1994, based on research from the last three decades of the Berkshire’s financial reports.
Back in the 1950s, when Buffett first invested in Berkshire, the company was a struggling textile business based in Rhode Island. Buffett was on the verge of selling his shares by the mid-1960s, when an offer from Berkshire’s then-CEO, Seabury Stanton, to buy Buffett’s shares for less than he’d originally agreed to. In response, Buffett bought up more and more shares until he had enough control to fire Stanton, an endeavor that cost Buffett an estimated $200 million. While the textile business went under, Buffett used Berkshire as a holding company for his other investments, the article details.
That’s a far cry from today’s Berkshire Hathaway, which generated more than $276 billion in total revenue last year. Buffett currently holds a 38% stake; with a net worth of $93.3 billion, he’s one of the richest people in the world. Buffett—and Berkshire by extension—has a reputation for taking the extremely long view when making purchases, and that’s resulted in Berkshire Hathaway outperforming the market by a tremendous amount.
The conglomerate owns 62 individual companies outright, with household names such as GEICO, Dairy Queen, Duracell, and Kraft Heinz. It has has big stakes in tech giant Apple, banking institution Wells Fargo, and Coca-Cola, resulting in a portfolio that is balanced between big tech, the financial sector, and consumer goods.
At 92, Warren Buffett remains Berkshire’s chairman and CEO, though transition plans are in place for Greg Abel to succeed him as CEO and Buffett’s eldest son Howard to step in as non-executive chair after his father, the article reports.
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