• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
FinanceWarren Buffett

Warren Buffett gets early birthday present as Berkshire Hathaway joins $1 trillion club

By
Greg McKenna
Greg McKenna
News Fellow
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Greg McKenna
Greg McKenna
News Fellow
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 28, 2024, 2:30 PM ET
Chart shows companies in the $1 trillion club
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Berkshire Hathaway reached a $1 trillion market capitalization Wednesday morning, becoming the first non-technology company in the U.S. to do so. The milestone amounts to an early birthday present for chairman Warren Buffett, who turns 94 on Friday.

Recommended Video

The conglomerate’s Class A shares initially rose over 1% Wednesday and hit an all-time high above the $699,000 mark, allowing Berkshire to temporarily crack the $1 trillion threshold, before falling slightly as the day continued. Berkshire has famously never split the stock, which sells for almost 70% more than the median price of a home in the U.S., according to data from the St. Louis Fed.

That’s because Buffett wants to attract investors with investment horizons in line with his buy-and-hold philosophy. The shares have gained 29% year to date, compared to just 18% for the S&P 500. Investors can gain cheaper exposure to Buffett’s portfolio, however, with the company’s Class B shares, which also hit an all-time high Wednesday and are trading above the $462 mark.

Before he was known as the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett bought a struggling New England textile manufacturer in 1965, believing it was available for a bargain. It proved to be a bad bet, but Buffett transformed the company into one of the largest conglomerates in history, making Berkshire a vehicle for his investment philosophy that centers on value-oriented stock picking and diverse acquisitions.

Read more: My run-in with Warren Buffett involved a bankrupt textile mill—I outbid him, but he held no grudge: Wilbur Ross

His approach proved successful. From 1965 to the end of 2022, Berkshire’s stock rose 3,787,464%, far outpacing the S&P 500’s 24,708% gain. If you invested $10,000 in Berkshire 59 years ago, Fortune’s Will Daniel noted, you would have made $378 million by the end of that span.

Old-school Berkshire Hathaway stands alone among Big Tech players

As a result, Berkshire is flirting with a club previously only occupied by the U.S. tech giants and Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Group, the kingdom’s state-owned oil company. Buffett’s conglomerate boasts the seventh-biggest market cap in the U.S., exceeding those of Eli Lily, Broadcom, and Tesla.

The tech members of what Fortune’s Shawn Tully dubbed the Trillion-Dollar Club enjoy incredible dominance in their respective markets. Their long-term fates, meanwhile, appear tied to the hundreds of billions of dollars they’re spending to ensure they remain leaders in the age of AI.

Buffett’s company, therefore, is distinct for its old-school holdings. Berkshire’s signature property is Geico Insurance, and it also owns household names like Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, and BNSF Railway. Buffett is revered for his value-based approach, which has typically favored the likes of Coca-Cola and American Express rather than Big Tech, and his company owns more short-term treasuries than the Federal Reserve.

Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that Apple makes up roughly 40% of Berkshire’s portfolio, remaining the company’s biggest holding, even after Buffett created headlines by recently offloading almost half of his position in the iPhone maker. The selloff, which generated the bulk of Berkshire’s $90 billion in proceeds from sales in the first half of 2024, Tully wrote, might go down “as of one of the best bets of his career.”

Buffett has previous warned Berkshire’s size could become an obstacle to future returns, saying the conglomerate is generating more cash ($277 billion, including short-term equivalents, as of last quarter) than it can adequately deploy.

Thus far, however, he and his investors have had plenty to celebrate.

About the Author
By Greg McKennaNews Fellow
LinkedIn icon

Greg McKenna is a news fellow at Fortune.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

Nike’s earning numbers exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. But CEO Elliott Hill’s next test is the World Cup
RetailNike
Nike’s earning numbers exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. But CEO Elliott Hill’s next test is the World Cup
By Mia OsmonbekovJune 30, 2026
5 hours ago
Young couple looking sad in front of a home with a for sale sign
Real EstateHousing
Gen Z and millennials aren’t convinced the American Dream exists anymore: Only 40% of them can afford to buy a home
By Tristan BoveJune 30, 2026
6 hours ago
Russian President Vladimir Putin
EconomyRussia
It started with one viral influencer complaining about Russia’s economy. Now a record 60% of Russians are pessimistic about their country’s outlook
By Tristan BoveJune 30, 2026
8 hours ago
Stripe CEO Patrick Collison gestures with his hands as he speaks into a microphone before a congressional committee hearing.
Cryptostablecoins
Stripe, Visa and over 140 other businesses to launch stablecoin to rival Tether and Circle
By Camila Grigera NaónJune 30, 2026
8 hours ago
A woman types into a kiosk at an airport.
Travel & LeisureAviation
‘You can expect prices to be high and stay high’: Domestic airfare is skyrocketing faster than international flight costs, despite using less jet fuel
By Sasha RogelbergJune 30, 2026
9 hours ago
Young worker at desk
SuccessGen Z
Remote-first fintech giant Revolut is making the office compulsory for new Gen Z grads—and they’ll earn flexibility like their peers after one year
By Emma BurleighJune 30, 2026
9 hours ago

Most Popular

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
6 days ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
4 days ago
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
AI
'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
By Catherina GioinoJune 29, 2026
1 day ago
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
Environment
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
By Catherina GioinoJune 28, 2026
3 days ago
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
Commentary
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
By Marc AndersenJune 30, 2026
14 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.