tell me about valueation of berkshire and how much it was size and price when he started buying When Warren Buffett started buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway in the early 1960s, it was a struggling textile manufacturer. Here's a detailed look at the **valuation, price, and size** of Berkshire at that time: 1.2m shares which its still to this day in 62 years ### 1. **Stock Price:** - **1962**: Buffett began buying Berkshire Hathaway stock at around **$7.50 per share**. He was attracted to the stock because it was trading below the company’s book value and its intrinsic value based on its assets. ### 2. **Market Capitalization:** - **Estimated Market Cap**: At the time Buffett started buying, the **market cap of Berkshire Hathaway was around $12 to $15 million**. This was very small for an industrial company, reflecting its declining textile business. ### 3. **Reason for Purchase:** Buffett's initial decision to buy Berkshire was based on its undervaluation. The company was losing ground as a textile manufacturer, but it had valuable assets, and Buffett saw an opportunity to acquire the company at a discount relative to its book value. ### 4. **Shares Outstanding:** - When Buffett began buying, there were **approximately 1.58 million shares outstanding**. He accumulated a significant portion of these shares over the years. By 1965, Buffett had purchased enough stock to take control of the company. ### 5. **Initial Size and Industry:** - **Textile Industry**: At the time, Berkshire Hathaway was a regional textile producer, headquartered in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The company's financials were weak, and it was facing increasing competition from foreign manufacturers. However, Buffett believed that the company’s value was greater than what the market was pricing it at, especially considering its asset base. ### 6. **Control and Shift to Investment Holding:** - In **1965**, Buffett officially took control of Berkshire Hathaway and began to wind down the textile operations, seeing little future in the industry. He transformed the company into an investment holding firm, with the first major acquisition being **National Indemnity**, an insurance company. ### Growth Since: - After Buffett took control, Berkshire’s focus shifted away from textiles toward **insurance and investments**. The float generated by Berkshire's insurance businesses gave Buffett the capital to invest in stocks and whole companies, fueling Berkshire's growth. ### Summary: - **Stock price in 1962**: ~$7.50 per share. - **Market cap in 1962**: ~$12–15 million. - **Shares outstanding**: ~1.58 million. Since then, Berkshire Hathaway has grown exponentially under Buffett’s leadership, becoming a diversified conglomerate worth over **$700 billion** today, with Class A shares now trading at around **$500,000–$550,000 per share**.