Berkshire Hathaway Interactive Timeline
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Berkshire Hathaway
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1955
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates and Hathaway Manufacturing merge to become Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
1967
National Indemnity Company and National Fire and Marine Insurance Company
Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 1967 for $8.6 million (See BRK financials)
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.
1983
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Ninety percent of Nebraska Furniture Mart acquired for $60 million.
1986
Fechheimer
Fechheimer acquired.
1986
Scott Fetzer
Scott Fetzer acquired for $410 million.
1991
H.H. Brown Shoe
H.H. Brown 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.
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.
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.