Berkshire Hathaway is one of the wld's most famous investment holding companies, led by Warren Buffett, its histy can be traced back to the 19th century. The following are the key stages of the company's development:
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1. igin: Textile Industry Era (19th Century–1965)
1839: The company's predecess was the Valley Falls Textile Mill in Massachusetts, USA, which initially produced cotton textiles.
1929: Merged with Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company renamed Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates.
1955: Merged with Hathaway Manufacturing Company officially established Berkshire Hathaway, focusing on textile production. However, affected by the decline of the US textile industry, the company gradually fell into trouble.
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2. Buffett's Acquisition Transfmation (1962–1967)
1962: Warren Buffett began to buy Berkshire shares at $7.5 per share, initially seeing an investment opptunity where the stock price was below book value.
1965: Buffett took full control of Berkshire gradually closed the textile business, transfming it into an investment holding company.
1967: The acquisition of National Indemnity marked Berkshire's entry into the insurance industry. The insurance business became the ce of the company because it could provide low-cost "float" to fund subsequent investments.
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3. The Rise of the Investment Empire (1970–2000)
1970s: Buffett wked with Charlie Munger to build a diversified business ptfolio by acquiring high-quality companies. Classic cases include:
1972: Acquired See's Cies, reflecting the concept of "buying excellent companies at reasonable prices".
1976: Acquired part of GEICO (Government Employees Insurance Company), then acquired it in 1996.
1980s: Invested in consumer brs such as Coca-Cola American Express, acquired media such as The Buffalo News.
1990s: Exped investment in manufacturing energy, such as acquiring Dairy Queen (1997).
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4. Expansion globalization in the 21st century (2001 to present)
After 2000: Berkshire became a global giant through large-scale acquisitions equity investments:
2009: Acquired Burlington Nthern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) f $44 billion.
2016: Acquired Precision Castparts f $37.2 billion.
Invest in technology new energy companies such as Apple, Amazon, BYD.
Insurance reinsurance: It owns brs such as GEICO General Reinsurance (Gen Re), its insurance business continues to provide cash flow.
Subsidiary netwk: It covers dozens of wholly-owned subsidiaries such as energy (such as MidAmerican Energy), food (such as See's Cy), industry (such as Lubrizol).
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5. Company structure ce concepts
Long-term holding: Buffett insists on value investment, long-term holding of high-quality companies, avoids sht-term transactions.
Decentralized management: Subsidiaries maintain a high degree of autonomy, the headquarters is only responsible f capital allocation.
Stock perfmance: From 1965 to 2023, Berkshire's stock price rose by an average of about 20% per year, far exceeding the S&P 500 index.
Shareholders' meetings: It attracts tens of thouss of people every year is known as the "Woodstock Festival f capitalists."
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6. Recent trends challenges
Invest in technology stocks: It has a heavy position in Apple (accounting f about 40% of the ptfolio), has deployed cloud computing new energy.
Succession plan: Greg Abel is designated as Buffett's success.
ESG controversy: It has attracted attention f investing in fossil fuels betting on Japanese trading companies.
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Berkshire Hathaway has transfmed from a textile facty on the verge of bankruptcy to a giant with a market value of over US$800 billion. The ce lies in Buffett's capital allocation ability long-term philosophy. Its histy is not only a histy of cpate transfmation, but also a practical textbook of value investment they.