Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Buys 10.9% Stake in BNSF

Berkshire Hathaway, the firm owned by billionaire Warren Buffett, has bought acquired a 10.9% stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., becoming the railroad’s largest shareholder, news services reported Monday.

Berkshire owned 39,027,430 shares of Burlington Northern with a market value of $3.23 billion as of April 5, according to a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, BNSF said it expects to record a charge of $80 million, or 14 cents per share, against its first-quarter earnings because of environmental cleanup and technology costs, the Associated Press reported.

Before Friday, Berkshire had not disclosed its stake in BNSF, the second-largest U.S. freight railroad behind Union Pacific Corp.

Buffett, in a Feb. 28 letter to Berkshire shareholders, named 17 companies in which the company owned at least $700 million of common stock, Reuters said.

Buffett also owns McLane Co., No. 6 on the Transport Topics Private 100 listing of private North American carriers, and trailer leasing company Xtra Corp.