On March 17, 2026, Clayton Homes debuted the TRU Mini — a 408-square-foot, one-bedroom manufactured home — against a backdrop where nearly three-quarters of Americans cannot afford the median new home. This piece examines whether Berkshire's $12.9B housing giant can dent a 4.7-million-unit shortage, and what makes the bet more defensible than it looks.
In early 1986, a one-paragraph letter to a Cleveland CEO bought Berkshire a $315 million conglomerate that would route more than a billion dollars back to Omaha in its first fifteen years. Forty years later, Scott Fetzer has been quietly absorbed into Marmon — but the archetype it established still defines what a textbook Buffett deal looks like.
Berkshire closed January 2, 2026 by absorbing Occidental's OxyChem chemicals business for $9.7 billion cash — the same headline price Buffett paid for Lubrizol in 2011. The deal carries an unusual lineage: Lubrizol's CEO Rebecca Liebert now also runs OxyChem inside Berkshire.
A two-page fax in 2005 bought Berkshire an RV empire. Nineteen years later, Pete Liegl died still running it — leaving Greg Abel a ten-billion-dollar subsidiary now facing 50% steel tariffs, four-dollar gasoline, and the highest RV loan rates in a generation.
We review Clayton Homes’ 2024 performance and future prospects through the lens of American innovation, from postwar factory-built housing to today’s modular revolution.
Just shy of $2 billion in 2024 pre-tax earnings, Marmon’s mosaic of autonomous businesses showcases resilience and opportunity.
Precision Castparts shows a strong 2024 rebound. Yes, we are at pre-pandemic earnings again!
In 2024, Lubrizol regained momentum with stable revenue and a long-awaited rise in pre-tax earnings. Can it reach its next major milestone?
Clayton Homes has experienced revenue growth in 2024, yet its earnings have fallen short compared to 2023. Let’s dive into the factors at play.
Berkshire Hathaway's industrial products group is thriving amidst global challenges in Q3 2024: From Precision Castparts' soaring revenues to Lubrizol's innovative expansions.