What it does
The company states that it is a holding company whose subsidiaries conduct diverse activities. Its most important businesses are primary insurance and reinsurance, freight rail transportation, and utility and energy generation and distribution. The filing also says Berkshire owns and operates businesses in manufacturing, services and retailing. Its insurance subsidiaries provide property and casualty, life and health insurance and reinsurance worldwide. The filing identifies three insurance underwriting groups: GEICO, Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
How it makes money
The company states that its insurance operations seek underwriting profit over time, defined as earned premiums less incurred losses and benefits, loss-adjustment expenses, and policy-acquisition and other underwriting expenses. Investment income is not included in that definition. Insurance subsidiaries also invest shareholder capital and policyholder funds generated through underwriting activities, called float. BNSF earns freight revenue under contractual agreements, published common-carrier prices or company quotations. The filing says the volume of reinsurance written depends on market conditions, including premium rates, coverage terms and perceived price adequacy.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Customers and geography
The filing states that Berkshire’s insurance subsidiaries provide coverage worldwide. GEICO sells private-passenger automobile insurance to individuals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. BH Primary serves policyholders principally in the U.S., while BHRG provides property, casualty, life and health reinsurance to insurers and reinsurers worldwide and operates in 23 countries. BNSF serves U.S. regions including the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, West, Southwest and Southeast, as well as certain ports, and its routes reach parts of Canada and Mexico. Its freight includes consumer, industrial, agricultural, energy and coal products.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Competition
The filing states that insurance and reinsurance competitors may be domestic or foreign and licensed or unlicensed, and that the number of industry competitors is not known. It lists reliability, financial strength and stability, ratings, underwriting consistency, service, ethics, price, performance, capacity, policy terms and coverage conditions as bases of insurance competition. For GEICO’s private-passenger auto business, the filing names State Farm, Progressive, Allstate and USAA. It identifies Union Pacific Railroad Company as BNSF Railway’s primary rail competitor in the western U.S.; other freight competition includes motor carriers, river barges, ships and pipelines.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov
Key risks
The filing lists risks and uncertainties that could impair operations, including:
- Cybersecurity risks could result in economic losses to our businesses and reputational damage.
- Geopolitical events could cause losses to our business and losses in the values of securities we own.
- Investments are unusually concentrated in equity securities and fair values are subject to loss in value.
- Unfavorable general economic conditions may significantly reduce our operating earnings and impair our ability to access capital markets at a reasonable cost.
- Our tolerance for underwriting risk assumed in our various insurance businesses may result in significant underwriting losses.
- Changes in regulations and regulatory actions can adversely affect our operating results and our ability to allocate capital.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1A — sec.gov
People and operations
The company states that its operating subsidiaries are managed on a decentralized basis, with few centralized or integrated business functions. Berkshire and its operating subsidiaries employed approximately 387,800 people worldwide at the end of 2025. The filing says approximately 80% were in the U.S. and 19% were represented by unions. Subsidiaries establish their own personnel policies and practices, which commonly address workplace safety, compensation and benefits, wellness, training and career advancement, and hiring. BNSF Railway had approximately 35,000 employees at year-end, including approximately 30,000 union members. The filing says seasonal variations in GEICO’s insurance business are not significant.
Source: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 2025, Item 1 — sec.gov