Buffett's Other Companies

We here plenty about Warren Buffett and the large publicly traded companies that are major investments of his holding company Berkshire Hathaway(BRKA,BRKB). However we rarely here anything about the many companies that are partially or wholly owned subsidiaries, which total around fifty in all. They range from a candy maker, boot company, paint manufacturer, to the worlds largest carpet company. In fact Buffett prefers to buy the whole company because it permits him in influencing the most critical part of the business: capital allocation.  Over the last 40 years Buffett has bought entire businesses as well as his huge stakes in $AXP, $WFC, $KO, $JNJ and $PG. One interesting company that Berkshire bought into within the last year and a half is The Marmon Group, which into itself is a holding company that runs 130 business units that operate independently within diverse business sectors.  As Buffet has stated many times before:

 I buy businesses, not stocks, businesses I would be willing to own forever.

I am a better investor because I am a businessman and a better businessman because I am an investor.

Here is a further list of Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiaries