Berkshire

Berkshire may refer to several places and entities. In England, Berkshire is a ceremonial and historic county in South East England, located to the west of London. It borders Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, and Surrey, and contains towns such as Reading, Windsor, Slough, and Bracknell. Notable landmarks include Windsor Castle and Eton College, and the River Thames forms part of its southern boundary. The county blends suburban communities near the capital with rural areas in its western and northern parts.

In the United States, Berkshire County is located in western Massachusetts, named after the Berkshire Hills. The county seat is Pittsfield. The Berkshires are known for outdoor recreation and cultural institutions that cluster around towns like Lenox, Stockbridge, Great Barrington, Williamstown, and North Adams. Major attractions include Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox; the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge; the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown; and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in North Adams. Mount Greylock, at 3,492 feet, is the highest point in Massachusetts. The region is a popular summer and fall destination for culture and outdoor activities.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate based in Omaha, Nebraska. Led by Warren Buffett, it owns a diverse set of subsidiaries in insurance, energy, transportation, manufacturing, and consumer products. The company’s name reflects a 1955 merger between two Massachusetts textile companies, Berkshire Cotton Manufacturing Company and Hathaway Manufacturing Company; the Berkshire portion also nods to the English county of Berkshire. The firm is known for its long-term investment approach and broad holdings, including GEICO, BNSF Railway, and See’s Candies.