🏢 CORT Business Services
📜 Profile
CORT Business Services is the leading provider of rental furniture, accessories, and related services in the "rent-to-rent" segment of the furniture industry. It primarily serves corporate customers and individuals in transition.
🤝 Acquisition
In February 2000, Berkshire Hathaway acquired CORT through its 80%-owned subsidiary, Wesco Financial Corporation, for approximately $386 million. This was Berkshire's first major foray into the furniture rental space.
📈 Key Figures & Performance
- Paul Arnold: The CEO who led CORT’s expansion. Buffett praised his "extraordinary" management during the integration into Berkshire.
- Strategy: CORT benefits from a "virtuous cycle" of high-quality furniture that can be rented multiple times, maximizing the return on the asset over its lifecycle.
💡 Berkshire Context
CORT represents Buffett’s willingness to enter specialized service niches that have dominant market positions and high barriers to entry (moats). It is often discussed alongside Berkshire’s other furniture holdings like Nebraska Furniture Mart and RC Willey.
🔗 Links
- Sources: 2000 Letter, 2000 Meeting
- Entities: Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Wesco Financial Corporation, Paul Arnold
"Paul Arnold... has done a truly extraordinary job at CORT... it is a textbook example of a dominant business with a unique moat." — Warren Buffett, 2000
📚 Historical Mentions & Citations (1)
Click a reference document below to expand and read the exact paragraph(s) containing this concept in the archive.
📜2000 LetterReference Only▼
Mentioned in this document.