AT&T vs Berkshire Hathaway: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: AT&T and Berkshire Hathaway side by side

1. 1839Berkshire Hathaway

   Valley Falls Company Founded

   Oliver Chace founds the Valley Falls Company in Valley Falls, Rhode Island, as a cotton textile manufacturer. Chace had learned the trade working with Samuel Slater and built his first mill in 1806.

2. 1885AT&T

   AT&T Founded as the Bell System Long-Distance Arm

   American Telephone and Telegraph was incorporated in 1885 to build and operate long-distance telephone lines for the Bell system.

3. 1913AT&T

   Kingsbury Commitment

   The Kingsbury Commitment settled a major antitrust threat. AT&T agreed to divest its Western Union holdings, connect independent telephone companies to its long-distance network and seek approval for further acquisitions.

4. 1925AT&T

   Bell Telephone Laboratories Founded

   AT&T and Western Electric consolidated their research into Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1925.

5. 1955Berkshire Hathaway

   Berkshire Fine Spinning and Hathaway Manufacturing Merge

   Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates and Hathaway Manufacturing combine and take the Berkshire Hathaway name.

6. 1962Berkshire Hathaway

   Buffett Partnership Buys Its First Berkshire Shares

   Buffett Partnership Ltd. buys its first Berkshire Hathaway shares in December 1962. Buffett was drawn to the pattern of Berkshire closing plants and using the liquidation proceeds to repurchase its own stock.

7. 1964Berkshire Hathaway

   Tender Offer Dispute With Seabury Stanton

   Berkshire president Seabury Stanton asks Buffett at what price Buffett Partnership would sell, agrees to $11.50 a share, then mails a tender offer at $11.375.

8. 1965Berkshire Hathaway

   Buffett Takes Control and Names Ken Chace President

   Buffett Partnership takes control of Berkshire Hathaway in May 1965 and Stanton leaves. Buffett selects Ken Chace, a long-time employee, as president to run the textile operation, and the cash it generates is pointed at other industries.

9. 1967Berkshire Hathaway

   Entry Into Insurance With National Indemnity

   Early in 1967 Berkshire pays $8.6 million to buy National Indemnity Company and a small sister insurer from owner Jack Ringwalt.

10. 1972Berkshire Hathaway

    See's Candies Bought for $25 Million

    Blue Chip Stamps, controlled by Buffett and Munger and later merged into Berkshire, buys See's Candies for $25 million.

11. 1984AT&T

    Bell System Breakup Takes Effect

    Divestiture took effect on January 1, 1984 under the 1982 consent decree. AT&T gave up the local exchange operations that had produced most of its revenue, which became seven regional Bell operating companies, and kept long distance, Western Electric and Bell…

12. 1985Berkshire Hathaway

    Textile Operations Closed

    Buffett decides in July 1985 to close Berkshire's textile operation and the shutdown is largely complete by year end. He described it as finally throwing in the towel after twenty years of unremitting struggle with the business.

13. 1996Berkshire Hathaway

    GEICO Becomes Wholly Owned and Class B Shares Created

    Berkshire buys the remaining 49% of GEICO on January 2, 1996, having held 51%, and GEICO becomes a wholly owned subsidiary. Shareholders also approve a recapitalization creating Class B shares with the economic rights of one thirtieth of a Class A share.

14. 1998Berkshire Hathaway

    General Re and Executive Jet Acquired

    Berkshire acquires reinsurer General Re and fractional-aircraft operator Executive Jet.

15. 2005AT&T

    SBC Acquires AT&T Corporation and Takes the Name

    SBC Communications, one of the regional companies created by the 1984 breakup, acquired AT&T Corporation in 2005 for about $16 billion and adopted the AT&T name.

16. 2007AT&T

    Exclusive US iPhone Launch Carrier

    AT&T, then operating wireless under the Cingular brand, was the exclusive U.S. carrier for Apple's first iPhone in 2007.

17. 2010Berkshire Hathaway

    BNSF Railway Acquired

    Berkshire completes its purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe in the first quarter of 2010.

18. 2015AT&T

    DirecTV Acquisition Completed

    AT&T completed the DirecTV purchase on July 24, 2015 for $48.5 billion, about $67 billion including assumed debt, betting that satellite video would reinforce telecom relationships.

19. 2016Berkshire Hathaway

    Precision Castparts Acquired

    Berkshire completes the purchase of Precision Castparts, an aerospace and industrial components maker, for $235 a share in cash.

20. 2018AT&T

    Time Warner Acquisition Completed

    AT&T completed the $85.4 billion Time Warner purchase on June 14, 2018, two days after a federal judge rejected the Justice Department challenge. The deal brought HBO, Warner Bros.

21. 2018Berkshire Hathaway

    Abel and Jain Named Vice Chairmen

    Berkshire's board expands from twelve to fourteen directors and elects Greg Abel and Ajit Jain.

22. 2020AT&T

    John T. Stankey Becomes CEO

    John T. Stankey became chief executive on July 1, 2020, inheriting high debt, a media portfolio under pressure and a shifting broadband market.

23. 2022AT&T

    WarnerMedia Separated and Merged with Discovery

    AT&T separated WarnerMedia in April 2022 and combined it with Discovery to create Warner Bros. Discovery, receiving cash and debt relief of about $40.4 billion.

24. 2022Berkshire Hathaway

    Alleghany Corporation Acquired

    Berkshire completes the acquisition of insurer Alleghany Corporation on October 19, 2022, paying $848.02 a share in cash for a total equity value of about $11.6 billion and adding the TransRe reinsurance business.

25. 2023AT&T

    $14 Billion Open RAN Contract with Ericsson

    In December 2023 AT&T committed roughly $14 billion over five years to Ericsson to deploy commercial-scale open radio access network equipment, with a target of carrying 70% of its wireless traffic on open-capable platforms by late 2026.

26. 2024Berkshire Hathaway

    Market Value Tops $1 Trillion

    Berkshire's market capitalization passes $1 trillion on August 28, 2024, making it the first US company outside the technology sector to reach that level.

27. 2024Berkshire Hathaway

    Pilot Travel Centers Fully Owned

    Berkshire acquires the remaining 20% of Pilot Travel Centers on January 16, 2024 and takes full ownership. It had bought 38.6% in 2017 and a further 41.4% for about $8.2 billion in January 2023.

28. 2025AT&T

    DIRECTV Exit Completed

    AT&T closed the sale of its entire remaining 70% DIRECTV stake to TPG on July 2, 2025, recording a $5.6 billion gain.

29. 2025AT&T

    Fiber Network Passes 30 Million Locations

    AT&T said in October 2025 that its fiber network had passed more than 30 million consumer and business locations, ahead of its own schedule, and finished the year at 32.0 million.

30. 2025Berkshire Hathaway

    Board Approves Abel as CEO From January 2026

    Berkshire announces in May 2025 that Greg Abel will become President and Chief Executive Officer on January 1, 2026, with Warren Buffett remaining Chairman of the Board.

31. 2026AT&T

    Lumen Fiber and EchoStar Spectrum Deals Close

    AT&T completed two large network purchases in 2026. In February it closed the $5.75 billion acquisition of Lumen's mass markets fiber business, adding more than 1 million subscribers and more than 4 million fiber locations in eleven states.

32. 2026Berkshire Hathaway

    Abel Becomes CEO and Buffett Becomes Chairman Emeritus

    Abel takes over as CEO on January 1, 2026 and Berkshire completes the $9.7 billion purchase of OxyChem from Occidental on January 2. On September 18, 2026 Buffett is named Chairman Emeritus and remains a director, and his son Howard G.

Acquisitions

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