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Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
CEO Warren Buffett says to earn customers' trust, "you do it one grain of sand at a time."
MOST ADMIRED
Top 50 rank: 3
Rank in Insurance: Property and Casualty: 1
(Previous rank: 1)
Overall score: 7.12
Why it's admired
Warren Buffett's legendary investing genius and seemingly clairvoyant understanding of markets has kept his firm (which includes holdings in insurance, retail and energy, among others) a perennial favorite among executives.

Last year Buffett made news again when he announced Berkshire would make its biggest-ever acquisition, Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion. When the deal closed in February, Berkshire replaced the railroad on the S&P 500.

Berkshire's class A and B shares have been some of the best-performing stocks ever, last year increasing in book value by 19.8%. That's less than the 26% the S&P returned, but in his much-anticipated annual letter to shareholders last month, Buffett explained that while Berkshire has in some years lagged the index when the overall market gained, "We have consistently done better than the S&P in the eleven years during which it delivered negative results. In other words, our defense has been better than our offense, and that's likely to continue."

In fitting form, he closed with a quip after inviting shareholders to attend his annual meeting: "P.S." he wrote. "Come by rail." --C.T.

Should Berkshire Hathaway be admired, or what?
Berkshire Hathaway stats
Nine key attributes of reputation Industry rank
Innovation 1
People management 1
Use of corporate assets 1
Social responsibility 5
Quality of management 1
Financial soundness 1
Long-term investment 1
Quality of products/services 1
Global competitiveness 4
Most Admired
1 Berkshire Hathaway 7.12
2 Zurich Financial Services 6.64
3 Swiss Reinsurance 6.18
4 Travelers 6.04
5 Allstate 5.83
6 Munich Re Group 5.80
7 Allianz 5.70
8 State Farm Insurance 5.59
Contenders
Rank Company Overall score
9 Liberty Mutual Insurance Group 5.51
10 Nationwide 5.29
11 Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings 5.28
12 Millea Holdings 4.85
13 Sompo Japan Insurance 4.67
14 Mapfre Group 4.62
15 Groupama 4.33
16 Premafin Finanziaria 4.11
From the March 22, 2010 issue
Headquarters
3555 Farnam St.
Omaha, NE 68131
402-346-1400
www.berkshirehathaway.com
Show: Top 50 | All Most Admired: The Americas | Europe | Asia/Australia
Find companies you most admire
 Innovation  Quality of management
 People management  Financial soundness
 Use of corporate assets  Long-term investment
 Social responsibility  Product/services quality
 Global competitiveness  



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