Buffett, one of the richest people in the world and one of the most successful investors, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when the company was manufacturing textiles. He transformed it into a conglomerate by finding other businesses and stocks to buy that were selling for less than they were worth.

His success made him an icon of Wall Street.

Buffett's best

National Indemnity and National Fire & Marine: acquired in 1967, the company was one of Buffett's first investments in insurance, the 'float' of insurance, the money from premiums that insurers can invest between the time policies are purchased and when policyholders make claims, provided the capital for many of Berkshire's investments over the years and helped drive the company's growth. Berkshire's insurance division has grown to include Geico, General Reinsurance, and several other insurers.

The float totaled $173 billion at the end of the first quarter of the year.

Buying blocks of shares in American Express, Coca-Cola Co., and Bank of America at times when those companies were out of favor due to scandals or market conditions. Together, the stocks are worth more than $100 billion more than what Buffett paid for them, and that does not include all the dividends he has collected over the years.

Apple: Buffett indicated for a long time that he did not understand technology companies well enough to value them and pick long-term winners, but he began buying shares of Apple in 2016.

He later explained that he acquired more than $31 billion because he understood that the iPhone manufacturer was a consumer products company with extremely loyal customers. The value of his investment grew to more than $174 billion before Buffett began selling shares of Berkshire Hathaway.

Following the advice of his late investing partner, Charlie Munger, Buffett bet big on the genius of BYD founder Wang Chanfu in 2008 with a $232 million investment in the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer.

The value of that stake soared to more than $9 billion before Buffett began selling it. The remaining stake of Berkshire is still worth around $800 million.

See's Candy: Buffett repeatedly referred to his purchase in 1972, calling it a turning point in his career. Buffett indicated that Munger persuaded him that it made sense to buy large businesses at good prices as long as they had durable competitive advantages.

Previously, Buffett had primarily invested in companies of any quality, provided that they were sold for less than what he thought they were worth. Berkshire paid $25 million for See's and registered pre-tax profits from the candy company of $1.65 billion until 2011. The amount continued to grow, but Buffett did not refer to it regularly.

Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Utility companies provide a large and steady stream of profits for Berkshire. The conglomerate paid $2.1 billion, or approximately $35.05 per share, for MidAmerican Energy, based in Des Moines, in 2000.

Subsequently, the utility unit was renamed and made several acquisitions, including PacifiCorp and NV Energy. The utility companies added more than $3.7 billion to Berkshire's profits in 2024, although Buffett has said they are now worth less than they used to due to the legal liability they face related to wildfires.

Buffett's worst

Berkshire Hathaway: Buffett had said that his investment in Berkshire Hathaway's textile mills was probably the worst of his life. The textile company he acquired in 1965 lost money for many years before Buffett finally shut it down in 1985, although Berkshire did provide cash for some of Buffett's early acquisitions. Of course, the shares of Berkshire that Buffett began buying for $7 and $8 per share in 1962 are now worth $809,350 per share, so even Buffett's worst investment was good.

Dexter Shoe Co.: Buffett noted that he made a terrible mistake buying Dexter in 1993 for $433 million, an even worse mistake because he used Berkshire stock for the deal. Buffett says he essentially gave away 1.6% of Berkshire for a worthless business.

Buffett indicated that some of his worst mistakes over the years were investments and deals he did not make. Berkshire could easily have made billions of dollars if Buffett had felt comfortable investing in Amazon, Google, or Microsoft when those companies were starting out.

But it wasn't just technology companies that he missed out on. Buffett told shareholders that he was surprised 'sucking his thumb' when he did not go ahead with a plan to buy 100 million shares of Walmart that would now be worth nearly $10 billion.

Selling banks too soon, just before the Covid-19 pandemic, Buffett seemed to become disillusioned with most of his bank stocks. Repeated scandals involving Wells Fargo gave him a reason to start unloading his 500 million shares, many of them for about $30 per share. But he also sold his stake in JP Morgan at prices below $100. Both stocks have more than doubled in price since then.

Blue Chip Stamps: Buffett and Munger, the former vice president of Berkshire, took control of Blue Chip in 1970 when the customer rewards program generated $126 million in sales. But as exchange coupons fell out of favor among retailers and consumers, sales steadily declined; by 2006 they totaled just $25,920.

However, Buffett and Munger used the float generated by Blue Chip to acquire See's Candy, Wesco Financial, and Precision Castparts, which consistently contribute to Berkshire.