surpassed $1 trillion on Wednesday, reflecting investor confidence in the conglomerate that Warren Buffett built over nearly six decades into what many consider a proxy for the American economy.
In Wednesday trading, Berkshire’s Class A shares rose as much as 1.2% to just below $700,000. The more plentiful Class B shares trade for about 1/1,500th as much.He transformed it from a failing textile company into a colossus with dozens of old-economy businesses such as Geico car insurance, the BNSF railroad, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Brooks running shoes, Dairy Queen ice cream, Ginsu knives and the World Book encyclopedia.
The $1 trillion valuation is based on Berkshire’s 553,234 Class A and 1,325,192,508 Class B shares outstanding as of July 23.When the market value hit $1 trillion, Berkshire shares had gained more than 5,600,000% since the year Buffett took over. As of Tuesday his fortune was about $144.9 billion, making him the world’s sixth-richest person, Forbes magazine said.