Berkshire Hathaway vs General Motors: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Berkshire Hathaway and General Motors 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. 1908General Motors

   General Motors Founded

   William C. Durant incorporates General Motors in Hudson, New Jersey, on September 16, 1908, with Buick Motor Company as its primary asset.

3. 1909General Motors

   Cadillac and Oldsmobile Acquired

   GM acquires Oldsmobile and the prestigious Cadillac Automobile Company, establishing the multi-brand architecture that will define GM's market segmentation strategy for decades.

4. 1923General Motors

   Alfred Sloan Becomes President

   Alfred P. Sloan takes the GM presidency and begins implementing the decentralized divisional management structure and market segmentation strategy that transforms GM into the world's most admired corporate organization.

5. 1931General Motors

   GM Surpasses Ford as World's Largest Automaker

   General Motors overtakes Ford Motor Company as the world's largest automobile manufacturer by sales volume, a position it would hold for the majority of the next seven decades.

6. 1955Berkshire Hathaway

   Berkshire Fine Spinning and Hathaway Manufacturing Merge

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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 1984General Motors

    Saturn Corporation Founded

    GM establishes Saturn as a separate subsidiary intended to compete with Japanese small cars through innovative labor relations, retail practices, and manufacturing processes.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 1996General Motors

    OnStar Connected Vehicle Service Launched

    GM introduces OnStar, the world's first embedded cellular connected vehicle service, offering emergency assistance, stolen vehicle tracking, and remote diagnostics.

16. 1998Berkshire Hathaway

    General Re and Executive Jet Acquired

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

17. 2009General Motors

    Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and Government Bailout

    General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1, 2009, with $49.5 billion in U.S. Government assistance as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

18. 2010Berkshire Hathaway

    BNSF Railway Acquired

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

19. 2010General Motors

    IPO Return to Public Markets

    General Motors returns to public markets through an initial public offering on November 18, 2010, raising approximately $23.1 billion - at the time one of the largest IPOs in U.S. History. The offering allows the U.S.

20. 2014General Motors

    Mary Barra Becomes CEO

    Mary Barra, a 33-year GM veteran with a background in engineering and manufacturing, becomes CEO on January 15, 2014, becoming the first female CEO of a major global automaker.

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. 2016General Motors

    Cruise Automation Acquired

    GM acquires Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle startup, for approximately $1 billion - at the time one of the largest acquisitions in GM's modern history.

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. 2021General Motors

    Ultium Platform and EV Commitment Announced

    GM announces its commitment to invest more than $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025 and introduces the Ultium battery platform as the technological foundation for dozens of future EV models across all four U.S. Brands.

25. 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.

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. 2024General Motors

    Cruise Robotaxi Program Ended

    Following the October 2023 Cruise pedestrian incident and a long operational pause, GM announced in December 2024 that it would stop funding Cruise's robotaxi business and fold the unit's technology work into GM.

29. 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.

30. 2025General Motors

    EV Capacity Cut and $7.6 Billion in EV Charges

    After the U.S. federal EV tax credit expired on September 30, 2025, GM cut EV production capacity and recorded about $7.6 billion of EV-related charges for the year.

31. 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.

32. 2026General Motors

    Guidance Raised as North America Margins Recover

    GM reported Q2 2026 revenue of $48.0 billion and EBIT-adjusted of $3.9 billion, with North America margins back in its 8-10% target range, and raised full-year 2026 EBIT-adjusted guidance to $14.0-16.0 billion.

Acquisitions

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