Berkshire Hathaway — Business Overview

What does Berkshire Hathaway do?

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company that owns a sprawling collection of businesses across insurance, energy, transportation, manufacturing, retail, and services. Rather than operating as a traditional corporation with centralized functions, Berkshire lets each subsidiary run itself — the parent company in Omaha primarily allocates capital and monitors performance. With roughly 387,800 employees worldwide (about 80% in the U.S.), it is one of the largest employers in the country.

Its major operating segments and sub-businesses include:

How does Berkshire Hathaway make money?

The insurance business is Berkshire's financial engine, and its unique feature is "float." When policyholders pay premiums before claims are paid out, that money sits with Berkshire and is available for investment. At year-end 2025, this float totaled approximately $176 billion, up from $138 billion in 2020. Berkshire invests float heavily in equities — much more so than typical insurers — and this investment portfolio, concentrated in a relatively small number of companies, generates substantial returns. GEICO is the consumer-facing arm (auto insurance, third-largest U.S. market share at about 11.6%), while the Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group takes on large, often complex risks from other insurers worldwide.

Beyond insurance, revenue comes from operating businesses that span nearly every corner of the economy. BNSF generates revenue by hauling consumer goods, agricultural products, industrial materials, and coal across the western and southern U.S. BHE earns regulated utility revenues from roughly 5.4 million retail electricity and gas customers, plus fees from natural gas pipelines covering about 20,900 miles. McLane alone — a wholesale distributor to convenience stores and restaurants — counts Walmart, 7-Eleven, and Yum! Brands as its top customers, each representing roughly 13–17% of its revenues. Pilot sold approximately 10.9 billion gallons of fuel in 2025. Manufacturing businesses sell everything from aircraft engine parts to carpet to candy.

What market does Berkshire Hathaway operate in?

Berkshire operates across so many industries that no single market defines it — this diversification is intentional. In insurance, the property and casualty market is large, global, and competitive with virtually no barriers to entry, according to the filing. Auto insurance (GEICO's core) is a mature, price-sensitive market where scale and low-cost distribution matter enormously. Reinsurance is more specialized, with premiums that fluctuate based on perceived risk pricing and large, episodic transactions.

Several of its businesses are tied to long-term secular trends. Aerospace manufacturing (PCC) benefits from long-term growth in air travel demand. BHE has invested $38 billion cumulatively in renewable energy and has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions 30% since 2005, positioning it for an ongoing energy transition — though the regulatory landscape is shifting rapidly, with the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement in early 2026 and the EPA moving to rescind several emissions rules. Freight rail (BNSF) faces ongoing competition from trucking and is subject to fuel costs and economic cycles. Housing-related businesses (Clayton, Shaw, Benjamin Moore, Acme) are sensitive to mortgage rates and construction activity.

Who are Berkshire Hathaway's main competitors?

In insurance, Berkshire's primary competitive advantage is its extraordinary financial strength. The combined statutory surplus (a measure of financial cushion) of its U.S. insurers was approximately $333 billion at end of 2025, and its major insurance subsidiaries carry AA+ ratings from Standard & Poor's and A++ from A.M. Best — the highest possible ratings. This allows Berkshire to take on large or unusual risks that others cannot. GEICO competes directly with State Farm, Progressive, Allstate, and USAA in personal auto insurance. The five largest auto insurers held a combined 63.6% market share in 2024, making it a moderately consolidated market.

In its other businesses, Berkshire typically occupies a leading or top-three position. BNSF's primary rail rival in the West is Union Pacific. In RVs, Forest River (36% market share) competes closely with one larger rival at roughly 39%. Duracell holds an estimated 32% of the global alkaline battery market. PCC is a leading supplier of aerospace castings and forgings, with Boeing, Airbus, GE Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, and Pratt & Whitney as key customers. Lubrizol's additives business competes mainly with Infineum, Chevron Oronite, and Afton Chemical.

Where does Berkshire Hathaway operate?

Berkshire is primarily a U.S. business, but many of its subsidiaries have meaningful international reach. About 80% of its roughly 387,800 employees are in the U.S. Core operations — BNSF, BHE utilities, GEICO, McLane, Pilot, and most retail businesses — are entirely or almost entirely domestic.

Several subsidiaries operate globally at scale. Lubrizol runs more than 100 offices, labs, and production facilities across six continents, with North America, Europe, Asia, and South America as its key regions. IMC manufactures metal cutting tools in Israel, the U.S., South Korea, Japan, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, India, China, Mexico, and Hungary, and sells in nearly every major manufacturing center worldwide. PCC has operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. General Re (part of BHRG) conducts reinsurance business in 23 countries, with its international arm based in Cologne, Germany and a presence in Lloyd's of London. BHE owns electricity distribution networks in northeast England (serving about 4 million end-users) and a regulated transmission utility in Alberta, Canada. NetJets has its European base in Lisbon.

Geopolitical exposure is limited but present. IMC's primary manufacturing hub is in Israel, which the filing notes as a key geography. Supply chain dependencies on specialty metals — nickel, titanium, cobalt, tungsten, and others — sourced from limited global locations represent a risk flagged specifically for PCC and IMC. The filing also notes the fluid U.S. regulatory posture on climate and environmental rules as a meaningful uncertainty for BHE's long-term capital planning.