Shares of billionaire Warren Buffett’s investment company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., closed at $100,000 Monday, setting a new record for the most expensive U.S. stock.
The Class A shares of the Omaha-based company crossed that threshold for the first time during the trading day on Oct. 5 but pulled back below by the close — a feat it repeated three times since only to come up short.
On Monday, the stock held on, closing right at $100,000.
When Buffett’s investment partnership began buying stock in Berkshire in 1962, the shares sold for $7 and $8 apiece. At that time, Berkshire was a New England textile firm. After 1969, Berkshire became Buffett’s investment vehicle.
Buffett, 76, built Berkshire into a holding company with total assets of $198.3 billion at the end of 2005.
Berkshire owns a diverse mix of more than 60 companies, including insurance, furniture, carpet, jewelry, restaurants and utility businesses. And it has major investments in such companies as H&R Block Inc., Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Coca-Cola Co.
Class A shares of Berkshire stock climbed as high as $100,250 during the day Monday to set a new 52-week high for the company on the New York Stock Exchange before falling to close at $100,000, up $100.
Class B shares, which were created in the mid-1990s to help less affluent people invest in the company, gained $5 Monday to close at $3,333. One Class A share can be converted into 30 Class B shares.
Berkshire’s core insurance business is expected to do well in the third quarter and for the year, as catastrophe losses due to hurricanes in the United States have been far below expectations this year.
