US companies with a market capitalization of more than a trillion dollars have all previously belonged to the tech industry. Now an old-school investment legend has made it onto the list.
The company of legendary investor Warren Buffett is the first US company outside the tech industry to break the one trillion dollar mark in market value. In early New York trading, Berkshire Hathaway achieved a gain of around one percent.
Until now, membership in the exclusive club was reserved for technology giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, the Facebook group Meta or Google’s parent company Alphabet. The electric car manufacturer Tesla was a member for a while, but slipped well below this threshold again. Apple currently leads the rankings with a market value of almost 3.5 trillion dollars.
Berkshire Hathaway owns, among others, the insurer Geico, the railway company BNSF, the fast-food chain Dairy Queen and the battery manufacturer Duracell – as well as holdings in many other companies.
Berkshire was originally a small textile company. Buffett, now 93, bought it in the 1960s and turned it into a highly successful investment company. His instinct for good business ensured that Berkshire’s investments in various companies performed significantly better than the stock market on average over the years.
Recently, Buffett increased his holding company’s cash reserves and complained that he was unable to find any attractive investment opportunities. His goal was always to get into very promising companies at relatively low prices. Berkshire holds a large stake in Apple, among others, although part of it was recently sold.
Source: Stern
