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Animation: Berkshire Hathaway’s Holdings Since 1994

Published

2 years ago

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Visualizing Berkshire Hathaway’s Holdings Since 1994

If you’re a long-time follower of Visual Capitalist, then you probably know that we’re big fans of Warren Buffett.

We’ve written numerous articles about the world-famous investor, covering everything from his early years to his most famous quotes. As one of the wealthiest and most influential investors in the world, he’s an important market player to keep track of.

As our latest addition to the Warren Buffett archives, this animated video by Sjoerd Tilmans highlights three decades of Warren Buffett’s investments. It shows what his holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has been invested in since 1994, using data from the company’s financial reports.

A Rocky Start: The Early Years of Berkshire Hathaway

Before becoming the multinational conglomerate that it is today, Berkshire Hathaway was once a massive (yet struggling) textile company in Rhode Island.

Buffett first invested in the company in the late 1950s, when the company’s shares were declining. By 1964, things still hadn’t picked up for the company, and Buffett was ready to cut his losses and move on.

But when industrialist Seabury Stanton, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at the time, offered to buy Buffett out for less than the price he’d originally promised, things got interesting. Buffett was so furious by the offer that instead of selling his shares, he bought more, eventually taking control of the company and letting Stanton go.

The textile company never recovered, and Berkshire Hathaway eventually became Buffett’s holding company for other investments. He estimates that his investment in Berkshire Hathaway ultimately cost him $200 billion.

A Brighter Future: Berkshire Hathaway Now

Despite its tumultuous past, Berkshire Hathaway is now associated with tremendous financial success. In 2021, the conglomerate generated over $276 billion in total revenue.

And Buffett has about a 38% stake in the company, which means he’s one of the wealthiest people on the planet. As of today’s publication date, his net worth sits at $93.3 billion.

In the long run, Berkshire Hathaway has outperformed the market by a landslide. Here’s a look at the holding company’s compounded annual gain, and overall gain, compared to the S&P 500:

Berkshire HathawayS&P 500
Compounded Annual Gain (1965-2021)20.1%10.5%
Overall Gain (1964-2021)3,641,613%30,209%

Note: These figures are from Berkshire Hathaway’s (BH) Annual Report. BH’s market value is after-tax, and S&P 500 is pre-tax, including dividends.

According to the conglomerate’s website, it owns 62 different companies outright, including big names like GEICO, Dairy Queen, Kraft Heinz, and Duracell, and also has large investments in companies like Apple, Wells Fargo, and Coca-Cola.

However, as the graphic above indicates, the exact composition of its portfolio has certainly evolved over the years. As of June 2022, here’s a breakdown of Berkshire Hathaway Holdings:

CompanyValue (Millions)% of Portfolio
Apple$122,33740%
American Express$21,0167%
Bank of America$31,44410%
Coca-Cola$25,1648%
Chevron$23,3738%
Kraft Foods$12,4194%
Other$71,55923%

It’s a well-balanced portfolio of big tech, banks, and consumer goods. Despite being 92 years old, Buffett remains the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate.

As for future succession plans, Greg Abel has been selected as the successor to Buffett as CEO, while the the Guardian has reported that Buffett’s oldest son Howard is expected to take over as non-executive chair when his father is no longer in charge.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Markets

Mapped: Europe’s GDP Per Capita, by Country

Which European economies are richest on a GDP per capita basis? This map shows the results for 44 countries across the continent.

Published

18 hours ago

on

May 6, 2024

By

A cropped map of GDP per capita levels for 44 European countries.

Mapped: Europe’s GDP Per Capita, by Country (2024)

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Europe is home to some of the largest and most sophisticated economies in the world. But how do countries in the region compare with each other on a per capita productivity basis?

In this map, we show Europe’s GDP per capita levels across 44 nations in current U.S. dollars. Data for this visualization and article is sourced from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) via their DataMapper tool, updated April 2024.

Europe’s Richest and Poorest Nations, By GDP Per Capita

Luxembourg, Ireland, and Switzerland, lead the list of Europe’s richest nations by GDP per capita, all above $100,000.

RankCountryGDP Per Capita (2024)
1🇱🇺 Luxembourg$131,380
2🇮🇪 Ireland$106,060
3🇨🇭 Switzerland$105,670
4🇳🇴 Norway$94,660
5🇮🇸 Iceland$84,590
6🇩🇰 Denmark$68,900
7🇳🇱 Netherlands$63,750
8🇸🇲 San Marino$59,410
9🇦🇹 Austria$59,230
10🇸🇪 Sweden$58,530
11🇧🇪 Belgium$55,540
12🇫🇮 Finland$55,130
13🇩🇪 Germany$54,290
14🇬🇧 UK$51,070
15🇫🇷 France$47,360
16🇦🇩 Andorra$44,900
17🇲🇹 Malta$41,740
18🇮🇹 Italy$39,580
19🇨🇾 Cyprus$37,150
20🇪🇸 Spain$34,050
21🇸🇮 Slovenia$34,030
22🇪🇪 Estonia$31,850
23🇨🇿 Czech Republic$29,800
24🇵🇹 Portugal$28,970
25🇱🇹 Lithuania$28,410
26🇸🇰 Slovakia$25,930
27🇱🇻 Latvia$24,190
28🇬🇷 Greece$23,970
29🇭🇺 Hungary$23,320
30🇵🇱 Poland$23,010
31🇭🇷 Croatia$22,970
32🇷🇴 Romania$19,530
33🇧🇬 Bulgaria$16,940
34🇷🇺 Russia$14,390
35🇹🇷 Türkiye$12,760
36🇲🇪 Montenegro$12,650
37🇷🇸 Serbia$12,380
38🇦🇱 Albania$8,920
39🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina$8,420
40🇲🇰 North Macedonia$7,690
41🇧🇾 Belarus$7,560
42🇲🇩 Moldova$7,490
43🇽🇰 Kosovo$6,390
44🇺🇦 Ukraine$5,660
N/A🇪🇺 EU Average$44,200

Note: Figures are rounded.

Three Nordic countries (Norway, Iceland, Denmark) also place highly, between $70,000-90,000. Other Nordic peers, Sweden and Finland rank just outside the top 10, between $55,000-60,000.

Meanwhile, Europe’s biggest economies in absolute terms, Germany, UK, and France, rank closer to the middle of the top 20, with GDP per capitas around $50,000.

Finally, at the end of the scale, Eastern Europe as a whole tends to have much lower per capita GDPs. In that group, Ukraine ranks last, at $5,660.

A Closer Look at Ukraine

For a broader comparison, Ukraine’s per capita GDP is similar to Iran ($5,310), El Salvador ($5,540), and Guatemala ($5,680).

According to experts, Ukraine’s economy has historically underperformed to expectations. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the economy contracted for five straight years. Its transition to a Western, liberalized economic structure was overshadowed by widespread corruption, a limited taxpool, and few revenue sources.

Politically, its transformation from authoritarian regime to civil democracy has proved difficult, especially when it comes to institution building.

Finally, after the 2022 invasion of the country, Ukraine’s GDP contracted by 30% in a single year—the largest loss since independence. Large scale emigration—to the tune of six million refugees—is also playing a role.

Despite these challenges, the country’s economic growth has somewhat stabilized while fighting continues.

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