BBVA vs Berkshire Hathaway: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: BBVA 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. 1857BBVA

   Banco de Bilbao is created

   Bilbao's Board of Trade promotes the creation of Banco de Bilbao as a bank of issue and discount for the city's merchants. It is the oldest institution in BBVA's corporate line.

3. 1901BBVA

   Banco de Vizcaya is founded

   Banco de Vizcaya is founded in Bilbao and grows alongside Banco de Bilbao as the second large Basque bank, financing regional industry.

4. 1955Berkshire Hathaway

   Berkshire Fine Spinning and Hathaway Manufacturing Merge

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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 1988BBVA

    Banco de Bilbao and Banco de Vizcaya merge

    The two Basque rivals merge to form Banco Bilbao Vizcaya (BBV), one of the largest banks in Spain ahead of the European single market.

12. 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.

13. 1998Berkshire Hathaway

    General Re and Executive Jet Acquired

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

14. 1999BBVA

    BBV merges with Argentaria to create BBVA

    BBV merges with Argentaria, the group Spain had assembled from state-owned lenders such as Banco Exterior, Banco Hipotecario and Caja Postal, forming Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria.

15. 2000BBVA

    BBVA takes control of Bancomer in Mexico

    BBVA capitalizes Bancomer with USD1.4 billion and merges it with BBV-Probursa to create Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer, the largest bank in Mexico.

16. 2004BBVA

    BBVA bids for the rest of BBVA Bancomer

    BBVA offers USD4.1 billion in cash for the roughly 41 percent of BBVA Bancomer held by minority investors, ending with about 99 percent of the Mexican group.

17. 2007BBVA

    Compass Bancshares purchase builds a US franchise

    BBVA buys Compass Bancshares of Birmingham, Alabama for USD9.6 billion, creating a Sunbelt retail bank that later traded as BBVA Compass and BBVA USA.

18. 2010BBVA

    BBVA agrees to buy 24.9 percent of Garanti

    BBVA agrees to pay ~$4.74 billion (EUR4.195 billion), about USD5.84 billion, for 24.9 percent of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, funded with a rights issue of about $5.65 billion (EUR5 billion).

19. 2010Berkshire Hathaway

    BNSF Railway Acquired

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

20. 2014BBVA

    BBVA wins the auction for Catalunya Banc

    BBVA bids ~$1.34 billion (EUR1.187 billion) for Catalunya Banc, with 1.5 million customers and ~$71.2 billion (EUR63 billion) of assets, in the auction run by Spain's bank restructuring fund. The deal closed in 2015.

21. 2016Berkshire Hathaway

    Precision Castparts Acquired

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

22. 2018BBVA

    Onur Genc is named CEO

    BBVA's board designates Onur Genc as chief executive from December 31, 2018, the date Carlos Torres Vila replaces Francisco Gonzalez as executive chairman.

23. 2018Berkshire Hathaway

    Abel and Jain Named Vice Chairmen

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

24. 2019BBVA

    BBVA unifies its brand worldwide

    The group drops local names such as BBVA Bancomer, BBVA Francés, BBVA Continental and BBVA Compass and operates as BBVA in every market.

25. 2021BBVA

    BBVA closes the transfer of BBVA USA to PNC

    BBVA completes the transfer of BBVA USA Bancshares to PNC Financial Services on June 1, 2021, receiving about USD11.5 billion, equivalent to ~$10.8 billion (EUR9.6 billion), in cash.

26. 2022BBVA

    Tender offer lifts the Garanti stake to 85.97 percent

    A tender offer at 15 Turkish lira per share closes in May 2022 and raises BBVA's holding in Garanti BBVA to 85.97 percent.

27. 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.

28. 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.

29. 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.

30. 2025BBVA

    The offer for Banco Sabadell lapses

    Shareholders representing 25.47 percent of Sabadell's voting rights accept BBVA's all-share offer, short of the minimum BBVA required, and the bid lapses on October 16, 2025.

31. 2025BBVA

    Record net attributable profit of ~$11.9B (EUR10.511B)

    BBVA reports gross income of ~$41.7B (EUR36.931B) and net attributable profit of ~$11.9B (EUR10.511B) for 2025, with ROTE of 19.3 percent and an efficiency ratio of 38.8 percent.

32. 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.

33. 2026BBVA

    BBVA is ordered to stand trial in the Villarejo case

    Spain's National Court orders BBVA, former chairman Francisco Gonzalez and 14 other defendants to stand trial over work commissioned from former police commissioner Jose Manuel Villarejo between 2004 and 2016.

34. 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

Questions about BBVA vs Berkshire Hathaway