Berkshire Hathaway Interactive Timeline
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Berkshire Hathaway
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- 1889
- 1921
- 1929
- 1929
- 1929
- 1929
- 1930
- 1930
- 1955
- 1962
- 1965
- 1966
- 1967
- 1969
- 1969
- 1971
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1975
- 1977
- 1978
- 1980
- 1983
- 1983
- 1985
- 1985
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- 1993
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- 2019
1889
Hathaway Manufacturing
Incorporated in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1889
1921
Hargraves Mills
Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1888
Merged with Parker Mills in 1921
1929
Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing
Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1889
Merged to form Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates in 1929
1929
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates
Formed in 1929 from combination of Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing, Greylock Mills, Valley Falls, Coventry Co., and Fort Dummer Mills
Merged with Hathaway Manufacturing in 1955 to form Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
1929
Coventry Co.
Incorporated in Rhode Island in 1864
Merged to form Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates in 1929
1929
Greylock Mills
Merged to form Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates in 1929
1930
King Philip Mills
Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1871
Merged with Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates in 1930
1930
Parker Mills
Incorporated in Massachusetts in 1885
Merged with Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates in 1930
1955
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates and Hathaway Manufacturing merge to become Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
1962
Buffett Partnership, Ltd.
Warren Buffett begins buying shares for his partnership, Buffett Partnership, Limited.
1965
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Warren Buffett gains control of Berkshire Hathaway.
1966
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Berkshire Hathaway declares a $0.10 dividend, payable in 1967. It would be the last the company would pay - and likely will ever pay - under the direction of Warren Buffett.
1967
National Indemnity Company and National Fire and Marine Insurance Company
Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 1967 for $8.6 million (See BRK financials)
1969
Illinois National Bank & Trust Co. of Rockford
Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 1969 for approximately $17.7 million (See BRK Financials)
1969
Sun Newspapers
Berkshire acquires Sun Newspapers and its related printing business, both based in Omaha.1971
Blue Chip Stamps
Berkshire first acquires shares in Blue Chip Stamps, taking an initial stake of 6% of the company
1971
Home & Automobile Insurance Company Lakeland Fire & Casualty Company
Texas United Insurance
Acquisition of Home & Automobile Insurance Company of Chicago
Berkshire forms Lakeland Fire & Casualty Company in Minnesota, and Texas United Insurance
1972
1973
Wesco Financial
Blue Chip Stamps owns 54% of Wesco Financial stock at December 31, 1973
1975
Waumbec Mills
Waumbec Mills of Manchester, New Hampshire acquired for $1.7 million.
1977
Buffalo News
Buffalo News acquired by Blue Chip Stamps for $35.5 million.
1978
Diversified Retailing
Diversified Retailing merged into Berkshire Hathaway.
1980
Illinois National Bank
Illinois National Bank divested via a spin off to Berkshire shareholders.1983
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Ninety percent of Nebraska Furniture Mart acquired for $60 million.
1983
1985
Capital Cities/ABC
Berkshire invests $517.5 million into Capital Cities/ABC.1985
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Textile operations closed down.1986
Fechheimer
Fechheimer acquired.
1986
Scott Fetzer
Scott Fetzer acquired for $410 million.
1991
H.H. Brown Shoe
H.H. Brown Shoe acquired.
1992
Lowell Shoe
Lowell Shoe acquired.1993
Dexter Shoe
Dexter Shoe acquired for $433 million using 25,203 Berkshire shares.
1996
FlightSafety
FlightSafety acquired for $1.5 billion in Berkshire stock.
1996
GEICO
Berkshire acquires for $2.3 billion the remaining half of GEICO it didn't already own.
1998
Dairy Queen
International Dairy Queen acquired for $587.8 million cash/stock.
1998
Executive Jet Aviation
Berkshire acquires Executive Jet for $700 million in a half cash / half stock transaction.
1998
General Reinsurance Corporation
Berkshire acquires General Re for $22 billion in stock, issuing 272,000 Class A-equivalent shares.
2000
Benjamin Moore Paint
Berkshire acquires Benjamin Moore Paint for $1 billion cash.
2000
MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Berkshire acquires a 76% economic interest in MidAmerican Energy, investing $2 billion.
2000
Justin Industries
Justin Industries, parent of Justin Boots and Acme Brick, acquired for $570 million (all cash).
2000
Shaw Industries
Berkshire acquires an 87.3% initial stake in Shaw Industries for approximately $2 billion.
2000
Other 2000 Acquisitions
Cort Business Services
U.S. Liability
Ben Bridge Jewelers
2001
Johns Manville
Johns Manville acquired for $1.8 billion.
2001
MiTek
Berkshire acquires a 90% interest in MiTek for $400 million cash.
2001
XTRA
XTRA acquired for $578 million cash.
2002
Fruit of the Loom
Berkshire acquires Fruit of the Loom out of bankruptcy for $835 million.
2002
Larson-Juhl
Berkshire acquires Albecca, Inc., parent of custom frame maker, Larson-Juhl.
2002
Other 2002 Acquisitions
CTB
Garan
Northern Natural
Kern River
Berkshire acquires CTB and Garan, parent of children's apparel company, Garanimals. MidAmerican acquires Northern Natural Gas and Kern River.
2003
Clayton Homes
Berkshire acquires Clayton Homes for $1.7 billion.
2003
McLane
Berkshire acquires McLane from Walmart for $1.5 billion.
2005
Forest River
Recreational vehicle manufacturer Forest River acquired.
2005
Medical Protective Company
Berkshire acquires Medical Protective Company from a subsidiary of General Electric, paying $825 million in cash.
2006
Business Wire
Russell Corporation
2006
IMC
Berkshire pays $4 billion for an 80% stake in Israel-based ISCAR Metalworking Companies.
2007
TTI
VF Corp.
2008
Marmon Holdings, Inc.
Berkshire acquires 60% of Marmon, a conglomerate in its own right with 130 independently-operated businesses across 11 sectors.
2009
Cologne Re
Gen Re acquires the remaining portion of Kölnische Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG, otherwise known as Cologne Re, it didn't already own.2010
BNSF
Berkshire acquires Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, paying $44 billion in cash and Berkshire stock.
2011
Lubrizol
Omaha World Herald
2013
H.J. Heinz
Berkshire, in partnership with 3G Capital, acquires Heinz. Berkshire pays $4.25 billion for its 50% ownership and also invests $8 billion in preferred stock.
2013
NV Energy, Inc.
MidAmerican acquires NV Energy, a Nevada-based energy holding company, paying $5.6 billion.
2015
Van Tuyl Group
Berkshire completes its acquisition of the automotive group, Van Tuyl Group, which re-brands as Berkshire Hathaway Automotive.
2016
Duracell
Berkshire acquires Duracell from Proctor & Gamble via an exchange of long-held shares in P&G.
2016
Precision Castparts Corp.
Berkshire acquires Precision Castparts for $37.2 billion.
2017
Pilot Flying J
Berkshire acquires a 38.6% ownership interest in Pilot Flying J, and agrees to bring its ownership to 80% in 2023.