Type: Subsidiary
On the web: http://www.wescofinancial.com
Employees: 2,286
Employee growth: (4.6%)

Wesco Financial is sort of like Berkshire Hathaway Lite. Charlie Munger, Berkshire vice chairman and a confidante of Warren Buffett, leads Wesco. And like Berkshire, the investment firm provides insurance and reinsurance; in Wesco's case, it does so through subsidiaries Wesco-Financial Insurance Company and Kansas Bankers Surety. It also holds shares in some of the same companies as Berkshire, like Coca-Cola, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, and Wells Fargo. Other prominent holdings include CORT Business Services and Precision Steel Warehouse, which has steel service centers in Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2011 Berkshire Hathaway acquired the 20% of Wesco that it didn't already own.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2010:
Sales: $765.7M
One year growth: (5.9%)
Net income: $72.2M
Income growth: 33.5%

Officers:
Chairman, President, and CEO: Charles T. (Charlie) Munger
VP and CFO, Wesco Financial and MS Property: Investment Firms

Competitors:
Enstar Group
Oaktree Capital
Stone Point Capital

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