Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Overview

• Primary business model: Decentralized management of a large group of subsidiaries and affiliates across multiple industries, with centralized oversight for capital allocation, governance, and risk management.
• Global footprint: Operations in the United States and in many international locations; regulated activities across multiple jurisdictions.
• Workforce: Approximately 387,800 employees worldwide at year-end 2025 (about 80% in the U.S.; roughly 19% represented by unions).
• Insurance float and capital strength: Insurance float approximately $176 billion and combined U.S. statutory surplus of Berkshire’s insurers approximately $333 billion at 12/31/2025. Major U.S. insurance subsidiaries carry AA+ (S&P) and A++ (A.M. Best) ratings.
• Capital markets and risk profile: Substantial equity investments with concentrated holdings in a limited number of issuers; a large regulated energy and railroad footprint that requires ongoing capital investment.
• Public disclosures: See Note 26 and related notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for revenue by segment and other financial metrics.

Key segments

1. Insurance and Reinsurance

• Structure: GEICO (private passenger auto and related lines), Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group (BH Primary), and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group (BHRG), which includes NICO Group, General Re Group, and TransRe Group.
• Employees: Insurance subsidiaries employed about 42,600 people in 2025.
• Regulation and capital framework: Subject to U.S. state insurance regulation and international group supervision initiatives (IAIS ComFrame, GCC tool); TRIA terrorism reinsurance program in effect through 2027; ORSA filings required; group capital and liquidity tools under development.
• Float and strengths: Float increased to about $176 billion by 12/31/2025; U.S. statutory surplus among Berkshire’s insurers about $333 billion at 12/31/2025.
• Ratings: Major U.S. insurer subsidiaries rated AA+ by S&P and A++ (Superior) by A.M. Best.
• Product areas: Property/casualty, life/health, retroactive reinsurance, and periodic payment annuities. Underwriting profit is a long-term objective; investments funded by float are a primary driver of value.
• Regulatory context: Greater emphasis on risk-based capital, liquidity tools, and supervisory colleges across jurisdictions.

2. Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Rail Freight

• Business: One of North America’s largest freight railroad systems.
• Employees: About 35,000 in 2025 (roughly 30,000 represented by unions).
• Network: Approximately 32,500 route miles (plus operations in three Canadian provinces); total system miles exceed 50,000 when including main lines, yards, and sidings. Extensive interchanges with some 200 shortline railroads.
• Capital and maintenance: Ongoing capital expenditure needs; approximately $2.4 billion spent on repairs and maintenance in 2025.
• Market dynamics: Competes with other railroads and alternative transport modes; performance sensitive to economic conditions and commodity flows (consumer, industrial, agricultural, energy products, coal).

3. Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE)

• Description: Holding company for regulated U.S. electric and gas utilities, transmission and storage assets, and an international renewable energy portfolio; also includes franchise-like real estate investments (HomeServices investor).
• Employees: About 24,000.
• Major regulated utilities and pipelines: PacifiCorp; MidAmerican Energy Company (MEC); NV Energy (Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power); five interstate natural gas pipelines totaling roughly 20,900 miles.
• Transmission, storage, and LNG: Electric transmission and distribution systems; LNG export/import capabilities; multiple U.S. LNG facilities.
• Generation capacity (12/31/2025): Net owned capacity 36,866 MW; total net capacity 43,560 MW (including jointly owned capacity). Construction in progress adds 1,949 MW; battery storage capacity 320 MW in operation and under construction.
• Geography: Assets across multiple U.S. states and in Canada and the U.K.; AltaLink transmission operations (~8,300 miles of lines); Northern Natural (~14,100 miles); BHE GT&S, Kern River, and other pipelines with substantial mileage.
• Regulatory and environmental factors: Highly regulated utilities with ongoing proceedings affecting rates, capital plans, and project approvals; planning accounts for climate policy and greenhouse gas regulation.

4. Non-Energy Manufacturing and Industrials

• Manufacturing workforce: Around 175,600 in 2025.
• Major subsidiaries and activities:
  • Precision Castparts (PCC): Investment castings, forgings, fasteners and complex metal components for aerospace, power, and industrial customers such as Boeing and Airbus.
  • Lubrizol: Specialty chemicals with two segments—Lubrizol Additives and Lubrizol Advanced Materials—serving engine/lubricant, industrial, polymer, and life sciences markets.
  • IMC International Metalworking Companies: Tools and carbide inserts (ISCAR, TaeguTec, Ingersoll, Tungaloy, NTK) with operations in 60+ countries.
  • Marmon: 11 business groups across roughly 630 facilities, spanning foodservice, water technologies, transportation products, metal services, electrical/plumbing, rail/leasing, crane services, medical, and more.
  • OxyChem (acquired Jan 2, 2026): Basic chemicals producer (PVC, chlor-alkali, chlorine, caustic soda) with five international sites and about 4,000 employees.
  • Building products and home construction: Clayton Homes, Shaw Industries, Johns Manville (JM), MiTek, Benjamin Moore, Acme Brick/Featherlite and other integrated suppliers and builders.
• Selected building-products details:
  • Shaw Industries: Produces carpet, carpet tile and hard surface flooring; served over 42,000 wholesale/retail customers and produced roughly 92% of its carpet yarn in-house in 2025.
  • JM (Johns Manville): Building insulation, fiberglass and roof products with 40+ facilities.
  • MiTek: Engineered connectors, software and construction hardware operating in 15+ countries.
  • Benjamin Moore: Premium coatings sold through 8,000+ independent retailers and distributed internationally.
  • Acme Brick/Featherlite: Clay brick and concrete block production with 12 brick plants concentrated in the South Central and Southeastern U.S.
• Supply chain and input risks: Exposure to global raw material markets (metals, chemicals) with price volatility and environmental/regulatory compliance requirements; manufacturing capital intensity across the portfolio.

5. Consumer, Industrial and Specialty Manufacturing

• Duracell: Leading alkaline and lithium coin battery supplier with about 32% global market share in 2025; manufacturing in the U.S., Europe and China.
• Jazwares: Global toy and consumer products company with branded lines and broad distribution.
• Richline Group: Jewelry production and distribution (Richline Jewelry, LeachGarner, Rio Grande, Inverness).
• Larson-Juhl: Framing products, art printing and fulfillment.
• See’s Candy: Approximately 250 corporate/volume stores plus about 100 seasonal locations.
• Additional holdings: CTB International (agriculture systems), W&W|AFCO Steel (steel fabrication), Louis (Detlev Louis Motorrad) retail network, Clayton Homes and related homebuilding operations.

6. Service and Retailing Businesses

• Aviation and training: NetJets (private aviation shared ownership), FlightSafety (training and simulation); both operate under FAA and international regulatory oversight.
• Distribution and services: TTI, McLane, XTRA, IPS and others with broad industrial and professional distribution networks.
• Franchises and retail brands:
  • International Dairy Queen (DQ): Roughly 7,800 franchised restaurants worldwide.
  • Pilot Travel Centers: Operates 675 travel centers and 82 fuel-only locations across the U.S. and five Canadian provinces; about 663 company-owned locations and 94 unconsolidated JV locations; approximately 29,300 employees. Agreement in place to develop a nationwide EV charging network (up to 2,000 charging stalls in up to 500 U.S. locations) with GM.
  • Oriental Trading Company: Online retailer serving over three million customers annually.
  • HomeServices of America: Real estate brokerage network with 35,000 agents, 770+ offices, and an extensive franchise and third-party agent footprint; includes mortgage origination and related services.
  • Retail and home furnishings: Nebraska Furniture Mart, R.C. Willey, Star Furniture, Jordan’s Furniture with multiple large-format stores and regional presence.
  • Automotive and luxury retail: Berkshire Hathaway Automotive (108 new-vehicle franchises through 83 dealerships); Borsheim’s, Helzberg Diamonds, Ben Bridge and other jewelry/luxury retail assets.

Building and backlog indicators

• Clayton Homes: Off-site backlog approximately $285 million as of December 2025; Clayton Properties Group (CPG) owned/controlled about 67,300 homesites with backlog around $1.2 billion; site-built operations across 17 states.
• Shaw Industries: Distribution to over 42,000 retailers/distributors/customers and substantial in-house yarn production (about 92% of carpet yarn requirements in 2025).
• Other scale indicators: UTLX railcar fleet (~118,000 railcars) and EXSIF intermodal tank container fleet (~76,000 containers) underscore scale in transportation equipment leasing.

Executive leadership and governance

• Leadership transition: Warren E. Buffett served as Chairman/CEO; effective January 1, 2026, Gregory E. Abel became CEO.
• Other executives: Ajit Jain oversees insurance operations; Marc D. Hamburg serves as CFO. Board oversight of succession and governance remains a central focus.

References and financial notes

• For revenues by segment and additional financial details, see Note 26 and related notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. Notes 3–5 address investments in fixed maturity and equity securities.