Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1839 as a textile manufacturer, it underwent a drastic restructuring into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the leadership of chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger. The company's main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiums) in a broad portfolio of subsidiaries, equity positions and other securities. Buffett and Munger are known for their advocacy of value investing principles and under their direction, the company's book value has grown at an average rate of 20%, compared to about 10% from the S&P 500 index with dividends included over the same period, while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.The company's insurance brands include auto insurer GEICO and reinsurance firm Gen Re. Its non-insurance subsidiaries operate in diverse sectors such as confectionery, retail, railroads, home furnishings, machinery, jewelry, apparel, electrical power and natural gas distribution. Among its partially owned businesses are Pilot Flying J (80%), Kraft Heinz Company (26.7%), American Express (18.8%), Paramount Global (15.4%), Bank of America (11.9%), The Coca-Cola Company (9.32%) and Apple (5.57%).Berkshire is one of the top ten components of the S&P 500 index and one of the largest American-owned private employers in the United States. Its class A shares have the highest per-share price of any public company in the world, reaching $500,000 in March 2022, because Buffett chooses not to split the stock.