Berkshire Hathaway vs ICICI Bank: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Berkshire Hathaway and ICICI Bank 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. 1955Berkshire Hathaway

   Berkshire Fine Spinning and Hathaway Manufacturing Merge

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

3. 1955ICICI Bank

   ICICI Founded as Development-Finance Institution

   ICICI was formed to provide medium- and long-term project finance to Indian businesses.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 1994ICICI Bank

    ICICI Bank Incorporated

    ICICI Bank was incorporated as part of the ICICI group during India's post-liberalization banking opening. The move gave ICICI a deposit-taking commercial bank able to serve retail, corporate, and transaction-banking customers.

11. 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.

12. 1998Berkshire Hathaway

    General Re and Executive Jet Acquired

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

13. 1999ICICI Bank

    NYSE Listing Milestone

    ICICI became the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The listing expanded global visibility and imposed a higher disclosure profile on the group.

14. 2001ICICI Bank

    Bank of Madura Amalgamation

    Bank of Madura was amalgamated with ICICI Bank with effect from March 10, 2001. The deal added branches, customers, and a southern India presence that helped the young bank build distribution faster than organic expansion alone.

15. 2002ICICI Bank

    Reverse Merger Created Universal Bank

    ICICI, ICICI Personal Financial Services, and ICICI Capital Services merged into ICICI Bank.

16. 2010Berkshire Hathaway

    BNSF Railway Acquired

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

17. 2010ICICI Bank

    Bank of Rajasthan Merger

    The Bank of Rajasthan merger strengthened ICICI Bank's branch network, especially in northern and western India. The transaction mattered because local branches and deposits still supported private-bank scale even as digital channels were growing.

18. 2016Berkshire Hathaway

    Precision Castparts Acquired

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

19. 2018Berkshire Hathaway

    Abel and Jain Named Vice Chairmen

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

20. 2018ICICI Bank

    Sandeep Bakhshi Became MD and CEO

    Sandeep Bakhshi became Managing Director and CEO in October 2018 after Chanda Kochhar requested early retirement. His tenure has been associated with a sharper focus on risk controls, asset quality, governance, and steady retail-led growth.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 2025ICICI Bank

    FY2025 Balance Sheet Scale

    The FY2025 integrated report listed Rs 16,103.48B in deposits, Rs 13,417.66B in loans and advances, Rs 21,182.40B in standalone total assets, and a 16.55% capital adequacy ratio.

26. 2025ICICI Bank

    FY2025 Profitability

    ICICI Bank reported Rs 472.27B in standalone profit after tax and Rs 510.29B in consolidated profit after tax for FY2025. Profitability matters because the bank has to fund technology, compliance, provisions, and growth while keeping capital strong.

27. 2025ICICI Bank

    IMobile and Card Scale

    IMobile processed 558M transactions worth Rs 11,238B in FY2025, and the bank had close to 18M active credit cards at March 31, 2025.

28. 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.

29. 2026ICICI Bank

    Q1 FY2027 Profit Up 15.9%

    Standalone profit rose 15.9% to Rs 14,805 crore for April-June 2026, with net interest income up 12.7% and net NPAs at 0.35%.

30. 2026ICICI Bank

    Bakhshi Reappointed to 2028

    The RBI approved Sandeep Bakhshi's reappointment as MD and CEO for two years from October 4, 2026.

31. 2026ICICI Bank

    FY2026 Profit Crosses Rs 50,000 Crore

    Standalone net profit rose 6.2% to Rs 50,146.6 crore in FY2026, with a 4.32% net interest margin and 15.8% loan growth.

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