What Companies Does Warren Buffett Own? BRK Subsidiaries

Through Berkshire Hathaway’s subsidiaries, CEO Warren Buffett owns 62 companies and has a major stakeholding in hundreds of companies in a broad market portfolio. Warren Buffett owns many companies via Berkshire Hathaway. He owns stocks and entire companies such as Dairy Queen & GEICO.

Warren Buffett’s holdings are far greater than most people think because Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) owns both stock and entire companies. Currently, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B) has 65 subsidiaries, ranging from the famous BNSF Railway to obscure Marmon Holdings.

The Warren Buffett Company?

When people say “the Warren Buffett Company,” they mean Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the 9th largest listed company in the USA and worth over $889 billion. Warren Buffett is famously known as the “Oracle of Omaha” and is loved for his folksy humor. He is one of the best investors in the world. 

What Does Warren Buffett Own?

Through his holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett owns Stakes in Apple, Bank of America, American Express, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Coca-Cola, Visa, and Mastercard. With over $211 Billion invested in over 60 companies, the Buffett/Berkshire portfolio is one of the largest and most profitable globally.

Who Owns Berkshire Hathaway?

Warren Buffett founded Berkshire Hathaway and is the current chairman and CEO, but he does not own Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway is a public company whose shares are 68% owned by financial institutions. Vanguard, SSgA, and Blackrock are the largest investors, owning 21% of Berkshire Hathaway.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Success

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is one of the most stable and successful companies of all time, with its stock price having increased by 817% over the last 20 years.

View Berkshire Hathaway’s Chart & Financials Live on TradingView

How Many Companies Does Warren Buffett Own?

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway own over 65 companies and are diversified across the technology, consumer cyclical, energy, financial services, and healthcare industries. 47% of the portfolio is dedicated to financial services, and 27% to technology companies. The most substantial investments are in Apple and Bank of America, totaling over $90 billion.

Listed Company Stocks Warren Buffett Owns

Davita Inc – 40.1% Ownership

Occidental Petroleum – 20.9% Ownership

American Express – 20.3% Ownership

Bank of America Corp – 12.8% Ownership

Coca-Cola – 9.2% Ownership

Bank of New York Mellon – 8.3% Ownership

Apple – 5.6% Ownership

General Motors – 3.6% Ownership

Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway own sizable stakes in many household names. Those companies include General Motors, American Express, and 5.6% of Apple, one of the world’s largest companies. Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon, and 9.2% of Coca-Cola are also significant holdings.

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Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) Subsidiaries

The most famous Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries are Dairy Queen, GEICO, Home Services of America, See Candies, and the Nebraska Furniture Mart, where it all began.

Warren Buffett/Berkshire Hathaway Company 20-Year Performance

Berkshire Hathaway, led by the legendary Warren Buffett, stands as a paragon of stability and success. Over the past two decades, its stock price has surged an astonishing 800%, illustrating its remarkable growth and prosperity.

View Berkshire Hathaway’s Financials

The Companies Warren Buffett Owns

Warren Buffett, through Berkshire Hathaway Inc., owns 65 distinct companies divided into a complex web of over 260 subsidiaries.

1. Acme Brick Company
2. HomeServices of America
3. Applied Underwriters
4. International Dairy Queen, Inc.
5. Ben Bridge Jeweler
6. IMC International Metalworking Companies
7. Benjamin Moore & Co.
8. Johns Manville
9. Berkshire Hathaway Automotive
10. Jordan’s Furniture
11. Berkshire Hathaway Direct Insurance Company (THREE)
12. Justin Brands
13. Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company
14. H. Brown Shoe Group
15. Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
16. Larson-Juhl
17. Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies
18. LiquidPower Specialty Products Inc. (LSPI)
19. Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
20. Louis – Motorcycle & Leisure
21. BH Media Group
22. Lubrizol Corporation
23. biBERK Business Insurance
24. Marmon Holdings, Inc.
25. BoatU.S.
26. McLane Company
27. Borsheims Fine Jewelry
28. MedPro Group
29. Brooks
30. MiTek Inc.
31. Buffalo NEWS, Buffalo NY
32. MLMIC Insurance Company
33. BNSF
34. National Indemnity Company
35. Business Wire
36. Nebraska Furniture Mart
37. Central States Indemnity Company
38. NetJets®
39. Charter Brokerage
40. Oriental Trading Company
41. Clayton Homes
42. Pampered Chef®
43. CORT Business Services
44. Precision Castparts Corp.
45. CTB Inc.
46. Precision Steel Warehouse, Inc.
47. Duracell
48. RC Willey Home Furnishings
49. Fechheimer Brothers Company
50. Richline Group
51. FlightSafety
52. Scott Fetzer Companies
53. Forest River
54. See’s Candies
55. Fruit of the Loom Companies
56. Shaw Industries
57. Garan Incorporated
58. Star Furniture
59. Gateway Underwriters Agency
60. TTI, Inc.
61. GEICO Auto Insurance
62. United States Liability Insurance Group
63. General Re
64. XTRA Corporation
65. Helzberg Diamonds

Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Reports

The companies listed above are just a small sampling of the many firms in Berkshire Hathaway’s vast empire. Berkshire Hathaway makes everything from candy to industrial equipment.

Therefore, Berkshire is one of the world’s most diversified companies because it operates in an incredible variety of sectors.

How Buffett Runs Berkshire Hathaway

In addition, Berkshire Hathaway owns some famous brands outright, making it more like a hedge fund than a traditional corporation. For instance, Buffett provides no direction or guidance to Berkshire’s subsidiaries. In a Letter to Shareholders, Buffett admits there is no corporate budget for Berkshire Hathaway.

Instead, Buffett lets each management team make all the decisions for each Berkshire subsidiary. That frees Buffett and his team to concentrate on what they do best: investing.

How Does Warren Buffett Select Companies To Invest In?

Warren Buffett finds companies to invest in using value investing. He inherently values a company based on the Intrinsic Value of the company’s future cash flows. Then, he calculates the Margin of Safety; this is how much he is willing to pay for the stock below the current price. Essentially, the margin of safety is how much a stock price could fall before it starts losing money. Learn about Warren Buffett’s investing style in this article on building your own Buffett Stock Screener.

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Famous Companies Warren Buffett Owns

Amongst the most famous consumer brands in the USA, Warren Buffett owns Dairy Queen, Kraft Heinz, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, and Geico.

1. The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway BNSF

The BNSF combines the operations of over 390 historic American railroads. Its most famous predecessors are Santa Fe, Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe.

The Santa Fe, which ran between Chicago and Los Angeles, was featured in many Western movies. During the mid-20th Century, Santa Fe’s most famous train, the Super Chief, was the favorite ride of movie stars traveling to Hollywood.

Other historic railroads owned by the BNSF include the Great Northern, the Frisco, the Colorado and Southern, the Northern Pacific, the Denver Road, the Colorado Midland, and the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy. The BNSF operates 32,500 miles of rail lines in the United States. BNSF assets include three transcontinental rail lines between Chicago and the Pacific Coast.

The BNSF is a classic value investment because it provides the necessary infrastructure other industries need to operate railways. Additionally, the BNSF right of way can be used for pipelines, fiber-optic networks for the internet and the cloud, and even next-generation transportation systems like the Hyperloop.

2. Duracell

This battery maker cashes in on our love of electronics by providing power for everything from watches to boats.

Duracell is poised to profit from America’s aging population with a line of hearing-aid batteries. Notably, nearly 53.742 million Americans are over 65. That’s a huge market for just one Duracell product because many seniors need hearing aids.

Moreover, Duracell is a significant player in LED lighting, rechargeable, alkaline, and coin and button batteries. Given our love of electronic gadgets, demand for Duracell batteries will likely skyrocket in the coming years.

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3. Fruit of the Loom

America’s best-known underwear manufacturer is a perfect example of a low-profile company that makes products that are not glamorous. However, Fruit of the Loom manufactures a product everybody needs: underwear.

Interestingly, Fruit of the Loom is one of several clothing makers Berkshire Hathaway owns. Fruit of the Loom is often cited as a classic value investment because Buffett bought it from a bankruptcy court. Fruit of the Loom also owns the Russell Athletic, Spalding, Jerzees, and Vanity Fair brands.

4. GEICO

This auto insurance giant is Berkshire Hathway’s highest-profile holding because of vast amounts of innovative advertising. In particular, Geico’s mascot, the Gecko, is a constant presence on American television.

GEICO is one of Berkshire’s most lucrative holdings, generating $1.259 billion from underwriting.

GEICO claims to insure 28 million vehicles through 17 million auto insurance policies in the United States. The name GEICO stands for Government Employees Insurance Company. GEICO will sell auto, home, general liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation, medical malpractice, rideshare, business, or commercial cars to anybody.

Notably, GEICO is one of many insurance companies Berkshire Hathaway owns. Buffett loves insurance because insurance premiums generate float. Float is a steady stream of cash Berkshire Hathaway can tap for acquisition and other purposes.

5. Gen Re

Gen Re provides financial backing to insurance companies through reinsurance. The reinsurance market is huge and lucrative. Gen Re claims to have $14 billion in capital and $9 billion in premiums.

Even though most of Berkshire’s operations focus on the USA, Gen Re operates 40 offices worldwide. Like several Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries, Gen Re has several subsidiaries, including General Star, USAU, and Faraday. Faraday underwrites insurance through the historic British insurance market Lloyd’s of London.

6. Kraft Heinz (NYSE: KH)

The historic American food manufacturer is the only publicly traded company listed as a subsidiary on Berkshire Hathaway’s website. However, Kraft-Heinz is an independent publicly traded company, and Berkshire owns 26.7% of it.

In detail, Berkshire and 3G Capital created Kraft Heinz by merging Kraft Foods with HJ Heinz. However, the company has struggled to compete with private-label brands.

View the Kraft Heinz Chart & Financials Live on TradingView

This food manufacturer owns many famous brands that have been staples in American kitchens for generations. Notable Kraft Heinz Products include Heinz ketchup, Maxwell House coffee, Jell-O, Velveeta, Kraft Cheese, Grey Poupon Mustard, Planters Peanuts, Kool-Aid, Ore Ida Potatoes, and Oscar Meyer meat products.

In recent years, Heinz has struggled because consumers prefer cheaper private-label products. Buffett himself admits Costco’s Kirkland brand now outsells Kraft Heinz.

7. Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company

Most people do not realize it, but Berkshire Hathaway is a major player in electricity generation in the United States.

For example, Berkshire Hathaway Energy invested $6.5 billion in solar projects in the United States and now owns two of the largest solar polar projects in the country.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy owns a utility portfolio that includes NV Energy in Nevada, Northern Powergrid in England, Northern Natural Gas, and PacifiCorp.

8. Home Services of America

Home Services of America offers everything a potential homebuyer might need, including real estate brokerages, title and escrow companies, mortgages, insurance, and relocation services.

Home Services of America operates through franchises throughout the United States. Specifically, it caters to Buffett’s faith in the United States and the American dream.

Buffett is a strong advocate of homeownership who has great faith in the resilience of the American economy. Thus, subsidiaries like Home Services of America reflect Buffett’s patriotism. Consequently, Buffett owns several housing-related companies, including Clayton Homes and Scott Fetzer Companies.

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9. BH Media Group

Warren Buffett is a lifelong fan of journalism and newspapers who delivered newspapers as a college student. Buffett owns 30 daily newspapers and many other holdings through the BH Media Group.

BH Media’s most notable properties include Buffett’s hometown newspaper, The Omaha World-Herald, which Warren once delivered. In addition, BH Media owns the Richmond-Times Dispatch, The Tulsa World, The Charlottesville Daily Progress, The Eagle, The Winston-Salem Journal, and The Roanoke Times.

Berkshire Hathaway also owns one of the largest newspapers in upstate New York, The Buffalo News, through a separate subsidiary. Newspaper holdings reflect Buffett’s commitment to investing in industries and businesses he loves.

10. The McLane Group

McLane provides a wide variety of goods and services to retailers and restaurants all over the United States. In particular, it delivers cigarettes, snacks, candy, and other merchandise to convenience stores and gas stations.

Additionally, it services major discounters like Family Dollar and offers alcoholic beverages through Empire Wine & Spirits. McLane trucks can be seen on almost every highway in America.

McLane represents the traditional value investing strategy of buying into companies that provide essential services. In detail, Berkshire profits from retail without taking any of the risks of operating brick-and-mortar stores. Instead, McLane services whatever company is operating in an area.

11. Helzberg Diamonds

Oddly, Berkshire’s investment in jewelry and diamonds is usually overlooked. Helzberg sells various diamonds and other jewelry through its website and stores.

In addition to Helzberg, Berkshire Hathaway owns the jewelry retailers  Borsheims and Ben Bridge Jeweler. Buffett likes jewelry because it is a small, high-value product many buy on credit. Consequently, diamonds generate float for Berkshire Hathaway.

12. International Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen is a famous American fast food brand that operates Orange Julius stores. Dairy Queen restaurants are commonplace in small American towns, and Orange Julius franchises are a common feature of American malls.

Dairy Queen is not as famous or glamorous as McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), but it is profitable. One reason is that it avoids urban and suburban markets with intense competition.

13. Marmon Holdings Inc.

Marmon is a giant billion Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary you probably never heard of.

However, Marmon makes everything from railroad tank cars to restaurant fixtures, electrical wire, cranes, and plumbing. Although Marmon is low profile, it is profitable.

14. Johns Manville

Johns Manville is another unsexy company that makes boring products, such as insulation and roofing. However, Johns Manville makes products that almost everybody needs.

Once again, Berkshire Hathaway profits by owning an obscure company that provides vital products. Interestingly, Johns Manville is a high-technology company.

Johns Manville is researching glass fibers and other composites that could be used in automobiles and other manufacturing. Consequently, Berkshire Hathaway could one day manufacture your car’s or airplane’s components.

15. The Acme Brick Company

Acme Brick could be the most boring company Berkshire Hathaway owns. However, it makes a widely used product that people use every day.

Acme Brick offers products such as paving stones, bricks for construction, and even glass bricks for decoration. It is another example of Buffett’s betting on Americans’ habit of homeownership. Brick is still one of the main building materials in American homes, ranging from suburban ranch houses to inner-city condos.

16. Fechheimer Brothers

The Fechheimer Brothers Company manufactures uniforms for police, the military, and firefighters. It also makes gear for a wide variety of workers, including Justin Flame-resistant garments.

Once again, Berkshire Hathaway is servicing a steady but necessary market that could be recession-proof. To explain, law enforcement and the military have a steady source of revenue in the form of taxes.

17. Berkshire Hathaway Automotive

Surprisingly, Warren Buffett is buying auto dealerships around the United States through Berkshire Hathaway Automotive. Berkshire Hathaway currently offers 46,360 vehicles for sale through 103 franchises.

I guess that Buffett thinks dealerships will generate float through auto financing. Notably, over 30% of new cars in the United States are leased. That means the leasers must make a monthly payment to keep their cars.

Additionally, Berkshire Hathaway could make more money by selling GEICO insurance policies through its dealerships. Future markets Berkshire Hathaway could tap include rideshare services such as Uber (NASDAQ: UBER) and Lyft (NYSE: LYFT).

Uber and Lyft drivers will need vehicles and insurance, and Berkshire Hathaway Automotive could provide those vehicles through its dealerships. Meanwhile, GEICO could insure rideshare vehicles.

18. The Oriental Trading Company

Oriental Trading sells party, teaching, and other supplies to organizations through catalogs and a website. Oriental Trading makes money by tapping obscure markets like Vacation Bible School and classroom decorations.

However, the markets Oriental Trading can tap are vast. There are over 132,853 public schools in the United States. Thus, Oriental Trading has hundreds of thousands of potential customers all over the United States.

Oriental Trading is another example of a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary that taps a vast market most people are unaware of. Therefore, studying obscure statistics helps Buffett locate great investments.

[Related Article: The Top 100+ Warren Buffett Quotes – With Explanations]

Warren Buffett Company List

Table Source: Berkshire Hathaway Annual Reports

The companies listed above are just a small sampling of the many firms in Berkshire Hathaway’s vast empire. In fact, Berkshire Hathaway makes everything from candy to industrial equipment.

Therefore, Berkshire is one of the world’s most diversified companies because it operates in an incredible variety of sectors.

A Lesson in Value Investing

Studying Berkshire’s holdings and studying them can give you a comprehensive lesson in value investing.

Studying Berkshire’s many insurance holdings will give you a good idea of how float works and why Buffett values it. In addition, the unsexy nature of Berkshire Hathaway Holdings demonstrates how you can make money by ignoring the market.

Understanding the characteristics of companies Buffett and his team buy can show you what to look for in stocks. Those who want to learn value investing should study Berkshire Hathaway’s subsidiaries.

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