Berkshire Hathaway (Partially demolished)
Warren Buffet’s empire started with a fit of pique. In 1964, Buffet acquired shares in a failing New Bedford textile mill known as Berkshire Hathaway. His intent was to sell the shares back to the owners and make a tidy profit. His good business sense did not fail him. The owners of the mill, the Stanton family, agreed to buy back the shares from Buffet at $11.50 a share (Buffet had paid $7.50). However, when the Stantons sent Buffet a formal offer, they attempted to undersell him to $11.37½ per share. This was a miniscule amount, but Buffet responded angrily by acquiring enough shares to seize ownership from the Stantons. By 1965, he controlled Berkshire Hathaway, and its cash and assets became the foundation of his investment empire.
Berkshire and Hathaway began as separate textile enterprises. Berkshire was based in Adams, Massachusetts, and Hathaway in New Bedford. In 1912, The Plunkett family controlled Berkshire, with its 130,000 spindles and 6,500 looms. The Hathaway family still presided over their textile concern of 108,000 spindles and 3,400 looms, but Seabury Stanton ran the company. Both companies survived the Great Depression, and in 1955 decided to merge, though which company initiated the merger seems to be a matter of dispute.
Buffet’s investments, funded by Berkshire Hathaway’s assets, thrived and grew into a multinational conglomerate that still carries the name of his original purchase. However, the textile mills became the victims of a fading industry, and Buffet closed them in 1985. He later told the Wall Street Journal that "One of the dumbest things was to make a textile company the base of other things we bought or invested in."
Although Buffet retained the name Berkshire Hathaway for his conglomerate, he seems to have little emotional attachment to the place where it began. In 2014, Jon Mitchell, the mayor of New Bedford, attempted to stall the demolition of part of the Berkshire Hathaway mills and to interest Buffet or another investor in restoring the buildings. He failed, with Buffett saying, "I don't know what you'd do with that place." Part of the mill complex was destroyed in favor of a parking lot. The rest of Berkshire Hathaway could soon face a similar fate.
Video
Images
