Misplaced Pages

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105-677: Family members still largely own Hyatt and prior to its sale to Berkshire Hathaway , the Marmon Group , a conglomerate of manufacturing and industrial service companies. They have also had holdings in the Superior Bank of Chicago (which collapsed in 2001), the TransUnion credit bureau , Braniff airlines, McCall's magazine, and the Royal Caribbean International cruise line . The Pritzker family

210-456: A boardroom coup and called an emergency meeting at which Apple's executive staff sided with Sculley and stripped Jobs of all operational duties. Jobs resigned from Apple in September 1985 and took several Apple employees with him to found NeXT . Wozniak had also quit his active employment at Apple earlier in 1985 to pursue other ventures, expressing his frustration with Apple's treatment of

315-491: A compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8% compared to a 10.2% CAGR for the S&;P 500 . However, in the 10 years ending in 2023, Berkshire Hathaway produced a CAGR of 11.8% for shareholders, compared to a 12.0% CAGR for the S&P 500 . From 1965 to 2023, the stock price had negative performance in only eleven years (1966, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1984, 1990, 1999, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2015). In August 2024, Berkshire Hathaway became

420-611: A multi-touch iPod Nano , an iPod Touch with FaceTime , and an iPod Shuffle that brought back the clickwheel buttons of earlier generations. It also introduced the smaller, cheaper second-generation Apple TV which allowed the rental of movies and shows. On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence for an indefinite period to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim Cook assumed Jobs's day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions". Apple became

525-529: A $ 309 million profit. On May 6, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the original Macintosh: the iMac . The iMac was a huge success, with 800,000 units sold in its first five months, and ushered in major shifts in the industry by abandoning legacy technologies like the 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch diskette , being an early adopter of the USB connector, and coming pre-installed with Internet connectivity (the "i" in iMac) via Ethernet and

630-401: A US jury ruled that Samsung should pay Apple $ 1.05 billion (£665m) in damages in an intellectual property lawsuit. Samsung appealed the damages award, which was reduced by $ 450 million and further granted Samsung's request for a new trial. On November 10, 2012, Apple confirmed a global settlement that dismissed all existing lawsuits between Apple and HTC up to that date, in favor of

735-1182: A chain of jewelry stores based in Kansas City that began in 1915, was acquired Berkshire in 1995 after a chance run in between Buffett and Barnett Helzberg on a street in New York City. In June 2000, the company acquired Justin Brands, the parent company of Justin Boots , Acme Boots , and Acme Brick for $ 600 million in cash. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas , Acme manufactures and distributes clay bricks (Acme Brick), concrete block (Featherlite), and cut limestone (Texas Quarries). Justin Brands also owns Chippewa Boots , Nocona Boots , and Tony Lama Boots . In December 2000, Berkshire acquired Benjamin Moore & Co. , headquartered in Montvale, New Jersey . Moore formulates, manufactures, and sells architectural coatings that are available primarily in

840-403: A dial-up modem. Its striking teardrop shape and translucent materials were designed by Jonathan Ive , who had been hired by Amelio, and who collaborated with Jobs for more than a decade to reshape Apple's product design. A little more than a year later on July 21, 1999, Apple introduced the iBook consumer laptop. It culminated Jobs's strategy to produce only four products: refined versions of

945-433: A distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well", and explained that the break would allow the company "to focus on delivering extraordinary products". Though Jobs was absent, Apple recorded its best non-holiday quarter (Q1 FY 2009) during the recession , with revenue of $ 8.16 billion and profit of $ 1.21 billion. After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks", Apple unveiled

1050-563: A diversified group of 32 brands that manufactures and distributes products for residential, industrial, and institutional use. It included Kirby Company , which was sold in 2021, Wayne Water Systems, and Campbell Hausfeld products. Campbell Hausfeld was transferred to Marmon, also a Berkshire subsidiary, in 2015. Scott Fetzer also manufactures Ginsu knives and World Book Encyclopedia . In January 1986, Berkshire acquired Fechheimer Brothers. Fechheimer Brothers owns Flying Cross and Vertx. Flying Cross manufactures public safety uniforms and Vertx

1155-511: A five-year agreement to allow Lee Enterprises to manage Berkshire Hathaway's newspaper and digital operations. In 2020, Lee Enterprises acquired BH Media Group's publications and The Buffalo News for $ 140 million in cash, retaining WPLG . In conjunction with the sale, Berkshire lent $ 576 million to Lee. In 1983, Berkshire acquired Nebraska Furniture Mart for $ 60 million. In 2000, Nebraska Furniture Mart purchased Homemakers Furniture. In 1986, Berkshire acquired Scott Fetzer Company ,

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1260-549: A general decline in the textile industry after World War I . At this time, Hathaway was run by Seabury Stanton , whose investment efforts were rewarded with renewed profitability after the Great Depression . After the merger, Berkshire Hathaway had 15 plants employing over 12,000 workers with over $ 120 million in revenue, and was headquartered in New Bedford . However, seven of those locations were closed by

1365-444: A large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010. The iPad ran the same touch-based operating system as the iPhone, and all iPhone apps were compatible with the iPad. This gave the iPad a large app catalog on launch, though having very little development time before the release. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the U.S. It sold more than 300,000 units on its first day, and 500,000 by

1470-531: A major interest in a declining textile business. While Buffett maintained Berkshire's core business of textiles, he gradually moved capital to other industries, beginning with the March 1967 acquisition of the National Indemnity group of companies, which include National Indemnity Company, National Liability & Fire Insurance Company, and National Fire & Marine Insurance company, among others. It

1575-583: A more modern approach. This led to the Pink project in 1988, A/UX that same year, Copland in 1994, and evaluated the purchase of BeOS in 1996. Talks with Be stalled when the CEO, former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassée , demanded $ 300 million in contrast to Apple's $ 125 million offer. Only weeks away from bankruptcy , Apple's board preferred NeXTSTEP and purchased NeXT in late 1996 for $ 400 million, retaining Steve Jobs . The NeXT acquisition

1680-672: A morning edition. Berkshire formed BH Media Group with a purchase of the Omaha World-Herald in December 2011, which included six other daily newspapers and several weeklies across Nebraska and southwest Iowa. In June 2012, Berkshire purchased 63 newspapers from Media General , including the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Winston-Salem Journal , for $ 142 million in cash. In 2012, Berkshire Hathaway bought Texas dailies The Bryan-College Station Eagle and

1785-538: A per-share value originally kept (by specific management rules) close to 1 ⁄ 30 of that of the original shares (now Class A) and 1 ⁄ 200 of the per-share voting rights, and after the January 2010 split, at 1 ⁄ 1,500 the price and 1 ⁄ 10,000 the voting rights of the Class-A shares. Holders of class A stock are allowed to convert their stock to Class B, though not vice versa. Buffett

1890-803: A power struggle between Steve Jobs and CEO John Sculley , who had been hired away from Pepsi two years earlier by Jobs saying, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?" Sculley removed Jobs as the head of the Macintosh division, with unanimous support from the Apple board of directors. The board of directors instructed Sculley to contain Jobs and his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Rather than submit to Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to oust him from leadership. Jean-Louis Gassée informed Sculley that Jobs had been attempting to organize

1995-512: A preferential rate. This visit influenced Jobs to implement a GUI in Apple's products, starting with the Apple Lisa . Despite being pioneering as a mass-marketed GUI computer, the Lisa suffered from high costs and limited software options, leading to commercial failure. Jobs, angered by being pushed off the Lisa team, took over the company's Macintosh division. Wozniak and Raskin had envisioned

2100-627: A slight by an individual), it would have paid off several hundredfold. On March 16, 1980, Berkshire became a public company via an initial public offering , selling Class A shares for $ 290 each. Buffett has had a long relationship with Jeff Bezos ; he turned down an opportunity to invest in Amazon.com in 1994 as he was unable to predict the company's future growth and it was losing money. Berkshire Hathaway purchased shares in Amazon in 2019 currently worth $ 2 billion. Shares closed over $ 100,000 for

2205-599: A ten-year license agreement for current and future patents between the two companies. It is predicted that Apple will make US$ 280   million per year from this deal with HTC. In May 2014, Apple confirmed its intent to acquire Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine 's audio company Beats Electronics —producer of the "Beats by Dr. Dre" line of headphones and speaker products, and operator of the music streaming service Beats Music —for US$ 3   billion, and to sell their products through Apple's retail outlets and resellers. Iovine believed that Beats had always "belonged" with Apple, as

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2310-552: Is a civilian tactical clothing company. In 1991, Berkshire acquired H.H. Brown Shoe Group . In May 1995, Berkshire acquired RC Willey Home Furnishings . In June 1997, Berkshire acquired Star Furniture Company. In February 1997, Berkshire acquired FlightSafety International (FSI), a pilot training company founded in 1951 by Albert Lee Ueltschi and headquartered at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, New York . It supplies high technology pilot training to aircraft operators in

2415-404: Is a major area of operations and the retained premiums (float) serves as an important source of capital. As of September 30, 2024, the company had $ 325 billion in cash and cash equivalents, more than any other U.S.-based public company . The company is focused on shareholder returns; between 1965, when Buffett gained control of the company, and 2023, the company's shareholder returns amounted to

2520-581: Is a major source of capital for Berkshire Hathaway's other investments. In 1985, the last textile operations were shut down. Buffett has described purchasing the Berkshire Hathaway textile company as the biggest investment mistake he had ever made, denying him compounded investment returns of about $ 200 billion over the subsequent 45 years. He has estimated that had he invested the same money directly in insurance businesses instead of indirectly via Berkshire Hathaway (due to what he perceived as

2625-534: Is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered and incorporated in Cupertino, California , in Silicon Valley . It is best known for its consumer electronics , software , and services . Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Company by Steve Jobs , Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne , the company was incorporated by Jobs and Wozniak as Apple Computer, Inc. the following year. It

2730-533: Is based on NeXTSTEP , OpenStep , and BSD Unix , to combine the stability, reliability, and security of Unix with the ease of use of an overhauled user interface. Second, in May 2001, the first two Apple Store retail locations opened in Virginia and California, offering an improved presentation of the company's products. At the time, many speculated that the stores would fail, but they became highly successful, and

2835-724: Is of Jewish descent and based in Chicago . Yakov "Jacob" Pritzker (1831–1896), was the manager of a sugar factory in Kyiv Governorate in the territory of modern Ukraine . At first he lived with his family in the village of Velyki Pritzky, then in Kyiv . He and his family immigrated to the United States from the Russian Empire towards the end of the 19th century, to escape the pogroms there. In 1995, Jay Pritzker,

2940-577: Is ranked 5th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue and 9th on the Fortune Global 500 . Berkshire is one of the ten largest components of the S&P 500 and is on the list of largest employers in the United States . Its class A shares have the highest per-share price of any public company in the world, reaching $ 700,000 in August 2024, because

3045-633: Is the largest manufacturing company by revenue , the fourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales , the largest vendor of tablet computers , and the largest vendor of mobile phones in the world. Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company to be valued at over $ 1 trillion in 2018, and, as of June 2024 , is valued at just over $ 3.2 trillion. Apple has received criticism regarding its contractors ' labor practices, its relationship with trade unions , its environmental practices , and its business ethics, including anti-competitive practices and materials sourcing. Nevertheless,

3150-586: The Waco Tribune-Herald . In 2013, the company purchased the Tulsa World , the Greensboro, North Carolina -based News & Record , Virginia's Roanoke Times , and Press of Atlantic City . In 2014, Graham Holdings Company sold its Miami television station, ABC affiliate WPLG to BH Media in a cash and stock deal. In June, 2018, Lee Enterprises and Berkshire Hathaway reached

3255-590: The Apple II series was discontinued. It was expensive to produce, and the company decided it was still absorbing sales from lower-cost Macintosh models. After the launch of the LC, Apple encouraged developers to create applications for Macintosh rather than Apple II, and authorized salespersons to redirect consumers from Apple II and toward Macintosh. The Apple IIe was discontinued in 1993. Apple experimented with several other unsuccessful consumer targeted products during

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3360-960: The CHI Health Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. Attendance generally totals over 40,000 people and the meetings last for 6 to 8 hours, with Buffett himself, as well as Abel and Jain, answering questions from shareholders. Known for their humor and light-heartedness, the meetings typically start with a cartoon made for Berkshire shareholders. Current members of the board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway are Warren Buffett (chairman), Greg Abel (vice chairman of non-insurance business operations), Ajit Jain (vice chairman of insurance operations), Chris Davis, Susan Alice Buffett (Buffett's daughter), Howard Graham Buffett (Buffett's son), Ronald Olson , Kenneth Chenault , Steve Burke , Susan Decker , Meryl Witmer, Charlotte Guyman, Esteban Rodriguez Jr. Charlie Munger served as vice chairman of

3465-505: The Lisa in 1983 and the Macintosh in 1984, as some of the first computers to use a graphical user interface and a mouse . By 1985, internal company problems led to Jobs leaving to form NeXT, Inc. , and Wozniak withdrawing to other ventures; John Sculley served as long-time CEO for over a decade. In the 1990s, Apple lost considerable market share in the personal computer industry to

3570-518: The Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced the renaming of Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple Inc., because the company had broadened its focus from computers to consumer electronics. This event also saw the announcement of the iPhone and the Apple TV . The company sold 270,000 first-generation iPhones during the first 30 hours of sales, and the device was called "a game changer for

3675-534: The Power Macintosh , the first of many computers with Motorola's PowerPC processor. In the wake of the alliance, Apple opened up to the idea of allowing Motorola and other companies to build Macintosh clones . Over the next two years, 75 distinct Macintosh clone models were introduced. However, by 1996, Apple executives were worried that the clones were cannibalizing sales of its own high-end computers, where profit margins were highest. In 1996, Spindler

3780-526: The Power Macintosh G3 desktop and PowerBook G3 laptop for professionals, and the iMac desktop and iBook laptop for consumers. Jobs said the small product line allowed for a greater focus on quality and innovation. Around then, Apple also completed numerous acquisitions to create a portfolio of digital media production software for both professionals and consumers. Apple acquired Macromedia 's Key Grip digital video editing software project which

3885-669: The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 was repealed in 2005. It owns Northern Powergrid , which operates in the UK. In 2005, it acquired PacifiCorp for $ 5.1 billion in cash, and assumed $ 4.3 billion in PacificCorp debt and preferred stock. MidAmerican was rebranded as Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) in April 2014. The division owns a residential real estate brokerage business, which, in March 2013,

3990-481: The SoundJam MP audio player software from Casady & Greene . Apple renamed the program iTunes , and simplified the user interface and added CD burning. In 2001, Apple changed course with three announcements. First, on March 24, 2001, Apple announced the release of a new modern operating system, Mac OS X . This was after numerous failed attempts in the early 1990s, and several years of development. Mac OS X

4095-521: The TRS-80 and Commodore PET , because of its character cell-based color graphics and open architecture . The Apple I and early Apple II models use ordinary audio cassette tapes as storage devices, which were superseded by the 5 + 1 ⁄ 4 -inch floppy disk drive and interface called the Disk II in 1978. The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first killer application of

4200-543: The board of directors has historically been opposed to stock splits . Berkshire Hathaway traces its roots to Valley Falls Company , a textile manufacturing company established by Oliver Chace in 1839 in Valley Falls, Rhode Island . Chace, who was a carpenter, started working for Samuel Slater , the founder of the first successful textile mill in America. Chace founded his first textile mill in 1806. In 1929,

4305-654: The chief operating officer . Gassée left the company later that year to set up a rival, Be Inc. The company pivoted strategy and, in October 1990, introduced three lower-cost models: the Macintosh Classic , the Macintosh LC , and the Macintosh IIsi , all of which generated significant sales due to pent-up demand. In 1991, Apple introduced the hugely successful PowerBook with a design that set

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4410-557: The hedge fund Castle Point Capital, would join as an investment manager . In early 2012, 50-year-old Ted Weschler , founder of Peninsula Capital Advisors, joined Berkshire as a second investment manager. In the 2015 letter to shareholders, Buffett described hiring them both as "one of my best moves". In the 2016 letter to shareholders, Buffett revealed that each of them independently manages over $ 10 billion on behalf of Berkshire. In January 2018, Berkshire Hathaway appointed Ajit Jain and Greg Abel to vice-chairman roles. Abel

4515-539: The iLife suite. At the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address on June 6, 2005, Jobs announced that Apple would move away from PowerPC processors, and the Mac would transition to Intel processors in 2006. On January 10, 2006, the new MacBook Pro and iMac became the first Apple computers to use Intel's Core Duo CPU. By August 7, 2006, Apple made the transition to Intel chips for

4620-473: The iTunes Store , launching the " Think different " advertising campaign, and opening the Apple Store retail chain. These moves elevated Apple to consistently be one of the world's most valuable brands since about 2010. Jobs resigned in 2011 for health reasons, and died two months later; he was succeeded as CEO by Tim Cook . Apple's current product lineup includes portable and home hardware such as

4725-401: The third- and fourth-generation iPads , which featured Retina displays ; and the iPad Mini , which featured a 7.9-inch screen in contrast to the iPad's 9.7-inch screen. These launches were successful, with the iPhone 5 (released September 21, 2012) becoming Apple's biggest iPhone launch with over two million pre-orders and sales of three million iPads in three days following the launch of

4830-551: The 1990s, including QuickTake digital cameras , PowerCD portable CD audio players, speakers , the Pippin video game console, the eWorld online service, and Apple Interactive Television Box . Enormous resources were invested in the problematic Newton tablet division, based on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts. Throughout this period, Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows by focusing on delivering software to inexpensive personal computers, while Apple

4935-535: The App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple. By October 2008, Apple was the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone. On January 14, 2009, Jobs announced in an internal memo that he would be taking a six-month medical leave of absence from Apple until the end of June 2009 and would spend the time focusing on his health. In the email, Jobs stated that "the curiosity over my personal health continues to be

5040-476: The Apple II division and stating that the company had "been going in the wrong direction for the last five years". Wozniak remained employed by Apple as a representative, receiving a stipend estimated to be $ 120,000 per year. Jobs and Wozniak remained Apple shareholders following their departures. After the departures of Jobs and Wozniak in 1985, Sculley launched the Macintosh 512K that year with quadruple

5145-1835: The Loom , Business Wire , NetJets , Oriental Trading Company , Pampered Chef , Ben Bridge Jeweler , CTB International , Central States Indemnity , Johns Manville , Scott Fetzer Company , McLane Company , See's Candies , WPLG , Berkshire Hathaway Energy , Berkshire Hathaway Assurance , and HomeServices of America . Notable stakes in public companies owned by Berkshire as of September 30, 2024, in order of value as of that date, include 2.0% of Apple Inc. ($ 69.8 billion), 21.5% of American Express ($ 46.2 billion), 9.99% of Bank of America ($ 36.4 billion), 9.3% of The Coca-Cola Company ($ 25.7 billion), 6.6% of Chevron Corporation ($ 19.0 billion), 27.2% of Occidental Petroleum ($ 12.8 billion), 13.6% of Moody's Ratings ($ 12.1 billion), 26.9% of Kraft Heinz ($ 10.4 billion), 6.7% of Chubb Limited ($ 7.7 billion), 44.0% of DaVita ($ 6.0 billion), 8.9% of Mitsubishi ($ 5.9 billion), 7.5% of Itochu ($ 5.7 billion), 8.4% of Mitsui ($ 5.2 billion), 2.9% of Citigroup ($ 3.9 billion), 6.9% of Kroger ($ 3.0 billion), 32.5% of Sirius XM ($ 3.0 billion), 8.6% of Visa Inc. ($ 2.6 billion), 1.2% of Verisign ($ 2.3 billion), 8.5% of Marubeni ($ 2.1 billion), 9.5% of Sumitomo Group ($ 2.1 billion), 0.4% of Mastercard ($ 2.1 billion), 0.1% of Amazon.com ($ 2.0 billion), 4.9% of BYD Auto ($ 1.8 billion), 2.4% of Capital One ($ 1.7 billion), 1.9% of Aon ($ 1.6 billion), 1.8% of Nubank ($ 1.2 billion), 9.5% of Ally Financial ($ 1.1 billion), 0.4% of T-Mobile US ($ 1.1 billion), 2.0% of Charter Communications ($ 1.1 billion), 8.6% of Louisiana-Pacific ($ 0.7 billion), 3.7% of Domino's ($ 0.6 billion), 1.3% of HEICO ($ 0.2 billion), 1.1% of Pool Corporation ($ 0.2 billion), and 0.4% of NVR, Inc. ($ 0.1 billion). Insurance

5250-421: The Macintosh as a low-cost computer with a text-based interface like the Apple II, but a plane crash in 1981 forced Wozniak to step back from the project. Jobs quickly redefined the Macintosh as a graphical system that would be cheaper than the Lisa, undercutting his former division. Jobs was also hostile to the Apple II division, which at the time, generated most of the company's revenue. In 1984, Apple launched

5355-583: The Macintosh, the first personal computer without a bundled programming language . Its debut was signified by " 1984 ", a US$ 1.5   million television advertisement directed by Ridley Scott that aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. This was hailed as a watershed event for Apple's success and was called a "masterpiece" by CNN and one of the greatest TV advertisements of all time by TV Guide . The advertisement created great interest in Macintosh , and sales were initially good, but began to taper off dramatically after

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5460-589: The Pritzker family on the Forbes The World's Billionaires List of "the richest people in the world" in 2024: Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. ( / ˈ b ɜːr k ʃ ər / ) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska . Founded in 1839 as a textile manufacturer, it transitioned into a major conglomerate starting in 1965 under

5565-656: The RAM, and introduced the LaserWriter , the first reasonably priced PostScript laser printer . PageMaker , an early desktop publishing application taking advantage of the PostScript language, was also released by Aldus Corporation in July 1985. It has been suggested that the combination of Macintosh, LaserWriter, and PageMaker was responsible for the creation of the desktop publishing market. This dominant position in

5670-577: The United States and Canada. Buffett agreed not to sell the products through major retail chains. In January 2001, Berkshire acquired 87% of Dalton, Georgia -based Shaw Industries . It acquired the remaining 12% in January 2002. Shaw is the world's largest carpet manufacturer based on both revenue and volume of production and designs and manufactures over 3,000 styles of tufted and woven carpet and laminate flooring for residential and commercial use under approximately 30 brand and trade names and under certain private labels. Apple Inc. Apple Inc.

5775-766: The Valley Falls Company merged with the Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company established in 1889, in Adams, Massachusetts . The combined company was known as Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates . In 1955, Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates merged with Hathaway Mills which had been founded in 1888 in New Bedford, Massachusetts , by Horatio Hathaway with profits from whaling and the China Trade . Hathaway had been successful in its first decades, but it suffered during

5880-610: The acquisition. The salary for Buffett is $ 100,000 per year with no stock options, which is among the lowest salaries for CEOs of large companies in the United States. Buffett's salary has not changed in 35 years. Buffett also receives approximately $ 300,000 worth home security services from the company annually. Abel and Jain each receive a salary of $ 20 million per year, with a possible $ 3 million annual bonus approved by Buffett. Buffett's letters to shareholders are published annually. Berkshire's annual shareholders' meetings, nicknamed " Woodstock for Capitalists", take place at

5985-582: The business world: VisiCalc , a spreadsheet program released in 1979. VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II: compatibility with the office, but Apple II market share remained behind home computers made by competitors such as Atari , Commodore , and Tandy . On December 12, 1980, Apple (ticker symbol "AAPL") went public selling 4.6 million shares at $ 22 per share ($ .10 per share when adjusting for stock splits as of September 3, 2022 ), generating over $ 100 million, which

6090-612: The co-founder of Hyatt, stepped down and Thomas Pritzker took control of The Pritzker Organization. When Jay died in 1999, the family split the business into 11 pieces worth $ 1.4 billion each (choosing to settle a lawsuit from two family members, who apparently received $ 500 million each in 2005). By 2011, the dissolution had been completed and the cousins had gone their separate ways, with some pursuing business and others philanthropic or artistic ventures. According to Inside Philanthropy , many Pritzkers have numerous vehicles or foundations for giving philanthropically. Members of

6195-451: The company for $ 11.50 per share. Buffett agreed to the deal. A few weeks later, Warren Buffett received the tender offer in writing, but the tender offer was for only $ 11.375. Buffett later admitted that this lower, undercutting offer made him angry. Instead of selling at the slightly lower price, Buffett decided to buy more of the stock to take control of the company and fire Stanton, which in 1965 he did. However, this left Buffett's fund with

6300-713: The company from 1978 until his death on November 28, 2023. With some exceptions, Berkshire Hathaway usually does not invest in real property due to precise pricing, lack of competitive advantage, complex management, and corporation tax disadvantages. Insurance and reinsurance business activities are conducted through approximately 70 domestic and foreign-based insurance companies. Berkshire acquired See's Candies in 1972 for $ 25 million. It produces boxed chocolates and other confectionery products in two large kitchens in California. See's revenues are highly seasonal with approximately 50% of total annual revenues being earned in

6405-482: The company has a large following and enjoys a high level of brand loyalty . Apple Computer Company was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs , Steve Wozniak , and Ronald Wayne as a partnership . The company's first product is the Apple I , a computer designed and hand-built entirely by Wozniak. To finance its creation, Jobs sold his Volkswagen Bus , and Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator. Neither received

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6510-635: The core of its computer offerings. The next month, in August 1997, Steve Jobs convinced Microsoft to make a $ 150 million investment in Apple and a commitment to continue developing Mac software. This was seen as an "antitrust insurance policy" for Microsoft which had recently settled with the Department of Justice over anti-competitive practices in the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case. Around then, Jobs donated Apple's internal library and archives to Stanford University , to focus more on

6615-428: The current shape for almost all modern laptops. The same year, Apple introduced System 7 , a major upgrade to the Macintosh operating system, adding color to the interface and introducing new networking capabilities. The success of the lower-cost Macs and PowerBook brought increasing revenue. For some time, Apple was doing very well, introducing fresh new products at increasing profits. The magazine MacAddict named

6720-402: The desktop publishing market allowed the company to focus on higher price points, the so-called "high-right policy" named for the position on a chart of price vs. profits. Newer models selling at higher price points offered higher profit margin , and appeared to have no effect on total sales as power users snapped up every increase in speed. Although some worried about pricing themselves out of

6825-450: The desktop publishing market and estranged many of its original consumer customer base who could no longer afford Apple products. The Christmas season of 1989 was the first in the company's history to have declining sales, which led to a 20% drop in Apple's stock price. During this period, the relationship between Sculley and Gassée deteriorated, leading Sculley to effectively demote Gassée in January 1990 by appointing Michael Spindler as

6930-510: The eighth U.S. public company and the first non-technology company to be valued at over $ 1 trillion on the list of public corporations by market capitalization . The company has generally avoided investing in the technology industry ; Buffett has said he prefers evergreen businesses that generate predictable long-term returns, that he doesn't invest in companies that he doesn't understand, and that he does not like to invest in companies that may undergo significant change. Berkshire Hathaway

7035-460: The end of the decade, accompanied by large layoffs. In 1962, Warren Buffett began buying Berkshire Hathaway stock for his fund, anticipating that as the company liquidated textile mills there would come a tender offer when he could sell the shares at a profit. A year later, Buffet and his associates became the largest shareholder of the company, eventually securing a 49% stake. In 1964, Stanton made an oral tender offer to buy back Buffett's stake in

7140-404: The end of the first week. In May 2010, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989. In June 2010, Apple released the iPhone 4 , which introduced video calling using FaceTime , multitasking , and a new design with an exposed stainless steel frame as the phone's antenna system. Later that year, Apple again refreshed the iPod line by introducing

7245-514: The entire Mac product line—over one year sooner than announced. The Power Mac, iBook, and PowerBook brands were retired during the transition; the Mac Pro , MacBook , and MacBook Pro became their respective successors. Apple also introduced Boot Camp in 2006 to help users install Windows XP or Windows Vista on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X. Apple's success during this period was evident in its stock price . Between early 2003 and 2006,

7350-545: The fields of military, governmental, corporate, and regional or mainline flying. FlightSafety is the largest provider of professional aviation training services, with 1,800 instructors and offers more than 4,000 individual courses for 135 aircraft types, using more than 320 flight simulators to serve customers from 167 countries. In October 1997, Berkshire acquired Dairy Queen , based in Edina, Minnesota, for $ 585 million. It franchises approximately 6,000 stores operating under

7455-504: The first of more than 500 stores around the world. Third, on October 23, 2001, the iPod portable digital audio player debuted. The product was first sold on November 10, 2001, and was extremely successful, with over 100 million units sold within six years. In 2003, the iTunes Store was introduced with music downloads for 99¢ a song and iPod integration. It quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008. Two years later,

7560-399: The first three months as reviews started to come in. Jobs had required 128 kilobytes of RAM, which limited its speed and software in favor of aspiring for a projected price point of $ 1,000 (equivalent to $ 2,900 in 2023). The Macintosh shipped for $ 2,495 (equivalent to $ 7,300 in 2023), a price panned by critics due to its slow performance. In early 1985, this sales slump triggered

7665-417: The first time on October 23, 2006. David L. Sokol , CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy until early 2008, was a top lieutenant for Buffett. Sokol, who was paid $ 24 million per year, resigned from Berkshire in 2011 after it was disclosed that he personally made a $ 3 million profit from Berkshire Hathaway's purchase of Lubrizol . In October 2010, Berkshire announced that 39-year old Todd Combs , manager of

7770-475: The fractional ownership of aircraft concept and introduced its NetJets program in the United States with one aircraft type. In 2019, the NetJets program operated more than 10 aircraft types with a fleet size of greater than 750. In 1999, Berkshire acquired MidAmerican Energy Holdings. At the time of purchase, Berkshire's voting interest was limited to 10% of the company's shares, but this restriction ended when

7875-529: The full selling price but in total earned $ 1,300 (equivalent to $ 7,000 in 2023). Wozniak debuted the first prototype Apple I at the Homebrew Computer Club in July 1976. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard with CPU , RAM , and basic textual-video chips—a base kit concept which was not yet marketed as a complete personal computer. It was priced soon after debut for $ 666.66 (equivalent to $ 3,600 in 2023). Wozniak later said he

7980-458: The iPad Mini and fourth-generation iPad (released November 3, 2012). Apple also released a third-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display and new iMac and Mac Mini computers. On August 20, 2012, Apple's rising stock price increased the company's market capitalization to a then-record $ 624 billion. This beat the non-inflation-adjusted record for market capitalization previously set by Microsoft in 1999. On August 24, 2012,

8085-518: The iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch , Mac , and Apple TV ; operating systems such as iOS , iPadOS , and macOS ; and various software and services including Apple Pay , iCloud , and multimedia streaming services like Apple Music and Apple TV+ . Apple is one of the Big Five American information technology companies; for the most part since 2011, Apple has been the world's largest company by market capitalization , and, as of 2023 ,

8190-465: The iTunes Store was the world's largest music retailer. In 2002, Apple purchased Nothing Real for its advanced digital compositing application Shake , and Emagic for the music productivity application Logic . The purchase of Emagic made Apple the first computer manufacturer to own a music software company. The acquisition was followed by the development of Apple's consumer-level GarageBand application. The release of iPhoto that year completed

8295-562: The iTunes Store, effective in May 2007. Other record labels eventually followed suit and Apple published a press release in January 2009 to announce that all songs on the iTunes Store are available without their FairPlay DRM. In July 2008, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch . Within a month, the store sold 60 million applications and registered an average daily revenue of $ 1 million, with Jobs speculating in August 2008 that

8400-432: The incorporation of Apple. During the first five years of operations, revenues grew exponentially, doubling about every four months. Between September 1977 and September 1980, yearly sales grew from $ 775,000 to US$ 118   million, an average annual growth rate of 533%. The Apple II , also designed by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16, 1977, at the first West Coast Computer Faire . It differs from its major rivals,

8505-408: The industry". In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to sell music on the iTunes Store without digital rights management , thereby allowing tracks to be played on third-party players if record labels would agree to drop the technology. On April 2, 2007, Apple and EMI jointly announced the removal of DRM technology from EMI's catalog in

8610-505: The lower-priced Wintel duopoly of the Microsoft Windows operating system on Intel -powered PC clones . In 1997, Apple was weeks away from bankruptcy . To resolve its failed operating system strategy, it bought NeXT, effectively bringing Jobs back to the company, who guided Apple back to profitability over the next decade with the introductions of the iMac , iPod , iPhone , and iPad devices to critical acclaim as well as

8715-634: The management of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger (1924-2023). Greg Abel now oversees most of the company's investments and has been named as the successor to Buffett. Buffett personally owns 38.4% of the Class A voting shares of Berkshire Hathaway, representing a 15.1% overall economic interest in the company. Notable companies wholly-owned by Berkshire include GEICO , Gen Re , BNSF Railway , Precision Castparts Corp. , Lubrizol , Dairy Queen , Duracell , Benjamin Moore & Co. , Pilot Flying J , Clayton Homes , Fruit of

8820-487: The market, the high-right policy was in full force by the mid-1980s, due to Jean-Louis Gassée's slogan of "fifty-five or die", referring to the 55% profit margins of the Macintosh II . This policy began to backfire late in the decade as desktop publishing programs appeared on IBM PC compatibles with some of the same functionality of the Macintosh at far lower price points. The company lost its dominant position in

8925-637: The months of November and December. By 2019, the $ 25 million investment had returned over $ 2 billion, or an 8000% return, to Berkshire. In 1977, Berkshire purchased the Buffalo Evening News and resumed publication of a Sunday edition of the paper that had ceased in 1914. After the morning newspaper Buffalo Courier-Express ceased operation in 1982, the Buffalo Evening News changed its name to The Buffalo News and began to print morning and evening editions. It now prints only

9030-418: The most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. In June 2011, Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveiled iCloud , an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files, and software which replaced MobileMe , Apple's previous attempt at content syncing. This would be the last product launch Jobs would attend before his death. On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple. He

9135-431: The names Dairy Queen, Orange Julius , and Karmelkorn . The stores offer various dairy desserts, beverages, prepared foods, blended fruit drinks, popcorn, and other snack foods. In July 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired NetJets , formerly Executive Jet Aviation, for $ 725 million in cash. NetJets is the world's largest provider of fractional ownership programs for general aviation aircraft. In 1986, NetJets created

9240-505: The period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh. The success of lower-cost consumer Macs, especially the LC, cannibalized higher-priced machines. To address this, management introduced several new brands, selling largely identical machines at different price points, for different markets: the high-end Quadra series, the mid-range Centris series, and the consumer-marketed Performa series. This led to significant consumer confusion between so many models. In 1993,

9345-451: The present and the future rather than the past. He ended the Mac clone deals and in September 1997, purchased the largest clone maker, Power Computing . On November 10, 1997, the Apple Store website launched, which was tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing model similar to PC manufacturer Dell 's success. The moves paid off for Jobs; at the end of his first year as CEO, the company had

9450-420: The price of Apple's stock increased more than tenfold, from around $ 6 per share ( split-adjusted ) to over $ 80. When Apple surpassed Dell's market cap in January 2006, Jobs sent an email to Apple employees saying Dell's CEO Michael Dell should eat his words. Nine years prior, Dell had said that if he ran Apple he would "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders". During his keynote speech at

9555-487: Was acquired in February 2000 by Wesco Financial Corporation, an 80.1% owned subsidiary of Berkshire and is the largest U.S. provider of rental furniture, accessories and related services in the "rent-to-rent" segment of the furniture rental industry. In May 2000, Berkshire acquired Ben Bridge Jeweler , a chain of jewelry stores established in 1912 with locations primarily in the western United States. Helzberg Diamonds ,

9660-464: Was appointed vice chairman for non-insurance business operations, and Jain became vice chairman of insurance operations. In May 2021, Buffett named Greg Abel to be his successor as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway has never undergone a stock split of its Class A shares because of management's desire to attract long-term investors as opposed to short-term speculation . However, in 1996, Berkshire Hathaway created Class B shares , with

9765-480: Was delivering a richly engineered but expensive experience. Apple relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response; it sued Microsoft for making a GUI similar to the Lisa in Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. The lawsuit dragged on for years and was finally dismissed. The major product flops and the rapid loss of market share to Windows sullied Apple's reputation, and in 1993 Sculley

9870-458: Was finalized on February 9, 1997, and the board brought Jobs back to Apple as an advisor. On July 9, 1997, Jobs staged a boardroom coup that resulted in Amelio's resignation after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. The board named Jobs as interim CEO and he immediately reviewed the product lineup. Jobs canceled 70% of models, ending 3,000 jobs and paring to

9975-546: Was launched as Final Cut Pro in April 1999. Key Grip's development also led to Apple's release of the consumer video-editing product iMovie in October 1999. Apple acquired the German company Astarte in April 2000, which had developed the DVD authoring software DVDirector, which Apple repackaged as the professional-oriented DVD Studio Pro , and reused its technology to create iDVD for the consumer market. In 2000, Apple purchased

10080-582: Was more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956. By the end of the day, around 300 millionaires were created, including Jobs and Wozniak, from a stock price of $ 29 per share and a market cap of $ 1.778 billion. In December 1979, Steve Jobs and Apple employees, including Jef Raskin , visited Xerox PARC , where they observed the Xerox Alto , featuring a graphical user interface (GUI). Apple subsequently negotiated access to PARC's technology, leading to Apple's option to buy shares at

10185-437: Was on January 19, 2012, when Apple's Phil Schiller introduced iBooks Textbooks for iOS and iBook Author for Mac OS X in New York City. Jobs stated in the biography Steve Jobs that he wanted to reinvent the textbook industry and education. From 2011 to 2012, Apple released the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 , which featured improved cameras, an intelligent software assistant named Siri , and cloud-synced data with iCloud;

10290-567: Was rebranded as HomeServices of America , a division of Berkshire Hathaway Energy . In addition to brokerage services, it provides mortgage loan originations, title insurance and closing services, home warranty , property insurance and casualty insurance and other related services. The company has acquired several residential real estate brokerages including Long & Foster , acquired in September 2017. In October 1999, Berkshire acquired Jordan's Furniture for an estimated $ 200 million to $ 300 million. CORT Business Services Corporation

10395-409: Was reluctant to create the class B shares but did so to thwart the creation of unit investment trusts that would have marketed themselves as Berkshire look-alikes. In January 2010, as part of the acquisition of BNSF Railway , Berkshire completed a 50-to-1 stock split of its class B shares . The increased market liquidity resulted in the company's inclusion in the S&P 500 upon consummation of

10500-417: Was renamed Apple Inc. in 2007 as the company had expanded its focus from computers to consumer electronics. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue , with US$ 391.04   billion in 2024. The company was founded to produce and market Wozniak's Apple I personal computer. Its second computer, the Apple II , became a best seller as one of the first mass-produced microcomputers . Apple introduced

10605-581: Was replaced as CEO by Gil Amelio , who was hired for his reputation as a corporate rehabilitator. Amelio made deep changes, including extensive layoffs and cost-cutting. This period was also marked by numerous failed attempts to modernize the Macintosh operating system (MacOS). The original Macintosh operating system ( System 1 ) was not built for multitasking (running several applications at once). The company attempted to correct this by introducing cooperative multitasking in System 5, but still decided it needed

10710-607: Was replaced as CEO by Michael Spindler . Under Spindler, Apple, IBM , and Motorola formed the AIM alliance in 1994 to create a new computing platform (the PowerPC Reference Platform or PReP), with IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind and thus counter the dominance of Windows. That year, Apple introduced

10815-472: Was replaced by Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Apple did not have a chairman at the time and instead had two co-lead directors— Andrea Jung and Arthur D. Levinson —who continued with those titles until Levinson replaced Jobs as chairman of the board in November after Jobs's death. On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died, marking the end of an era for Apple. The next major product announcement by Apple

10920-541: Was unaware of the coincidental mark of the beast in the number 666, and that he came up with the price because he liked "repeating digits". Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated in Cupertino, California , on January 3, 1977, without Wayne, who had left and sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $ 800 only twelve days after having co-founded it. Multimillionaire Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of $ 250,000 (equivalent to $ 1,257,000 in 2023) to Jobs and Wozniak during

11025-520: Was valued at $ 35 per share, but Buffett offered $ 50 per share for the company, or $ 8.6 million. In 1963, Franklin Otis Booth Jr. invested $ 1 million in the company and in 1968, David Gottesman invested in the company. The investments made both individuals billionaires. In the late 1970s, Berkshire acquired an equity stake in GEICO , which forms the core of its insurance operations today and

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