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ENTITY
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George Billings

1. Origin of Relationship

George Billings was hired to manage Texas United Insurance (Texas United Insurance Company), which was formed or acquired as part of Berkshire Hathaway's expanding Home-State Insurance operations in the mid-1970s. He took command of the Texas operation after its disastrous start under previous management.

2. Major Milestones

  • 1975: Executed a dramatic turnaround of Texas United, achieving outstanding improvement in loss ratios and building a sound agency force. He was awarded the "Chairman's Cup" for achieving the lowest loss ratio among all home-state companies.
  • 1977: Guided Texas United through early operations under Berkshire's Homestate group.
  • 1978: Achieved excellent underwriting performance, establishing Texas United as a key profitable unit in the Homestate group.
  • 1979: Won the Homestate group's annual award for the lowest loss ratio, delivering outstanding underwriting profits despite industry-wide combined ratio increases.

3. Strategic Importance

George Billings' performance at Texas United highlights the power of Berkshire's decentralized Homestate model. By recruiting local managers with deep knowledge of their specific state regulatory and pricing environments, Berkshire was able to underwrite profitable regional niches. Billings’ focus on risk selection over premium volume allowed Texas United to thrive even when larger Homestate operations (like Cornhusker Casualty in 1979) stumbled due to administrative or systems issues.

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