Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Surpasses $1T Valuation, Becoming First Non-Tech Firm To Cross Historic Threshold
What better birthday present than seeing the company you’ve spent more than half your life building reach a trillion-dollar market cap? For Warren Buffett, the greatest investor who’s ever lived, that gift came earlier this week. And now he can spend his 94th birthday today looking back at the tremendous career he’s built.
13-fig club: Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.B) achieved a $1T market capitalization this week — becoming the first non-tech US firm to surpass this historic threshold. It comes after a banner 2024 for the global business empire — which wholly owns insurance giant Geico, fast food chain Dairy Queen, and railroad operator BNSF, among dozens of others — with its Class B shares rising 30%, outperforming the S&P 500.
- The latest quarterly figures revealed a stunning $93B in revenue and over $30B in net income, making it one of the most profitable enterprises in the world.
- That’s helped Berkshire amass a record $276.9B in cash and equivalents, generating billions more in interest amid historically high rates.
94 And Still Making Big Moves
Even more impressive, the company’s standout performance has come along with its most cautious strategy in years. Berkshire has cut back stakes in many of its investments, with Buffett saying in his 2023 annual shareholder letter that the positioning is a product of “extreme fiscal conservatism.”
- Berkshire has made big sales of several of the conglomerate’s staple holdings — halving its outsized stake in Apple and trimming positions in Bank of America and Snowflake.
- On the other hand, the investment powerhouse has opened marginal positions in entities like Ulta Beauty, insurer Chubb, and aerospace specialist Heico.
Succession planning: Berkshire’s 3M+ shareholders hope for many more years of shareholder letters from the Oracle of Omaha. However, after the passing of Charlie Munger in late 2023, planning for life after Buffett has become a sensitive matter for shareholders who have come to appreciate the legendary investor’s astute decision-making. For that, the firm remains old-fashioned — hiring from within. But as for what Buffett and his successors might do in the waning years of his career, analysts are uncertain. One thing is for sure: you can do a lot with $277B.
