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Handy & Harman
Handy & Harman was an American industrial company specializing in precious metals and metallurgy that was a significant common stock holding for Berkshire Hathaway in the late 1970s.
📝 The Investment
- Portfolio Concentration: Listed in the 1980 letter as a major holding with one of Berkshire's largest percentage gains.
- Position (1980): Berkshire held 2,015,000 shares with a cost of $21.8 million and a market value of $58.4 million.
- Context: The company was a dominant refiner and fabricator of silver and gold. During the precious metals boom of 1979-1980, the company's inventory value and service demand increased, contributing to the significant market appreciation of its shares.
🔗 Connections
- Company: Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation (Industrial peer)
- Source: 1980 Letter
📚 Historical Mentions & Citations (1)
Click a reference document below to expand and read the exact paragraph(s) containing this concept in the archive.
📜1980 LetterExcerpt Available▼
1980 LetterExcerpt Available
| No. of Shares | Company | Cost | Market |
| :--- | :--- | :---: | :---: |
| 434,550 | (a) Affiliated Publications, Inc. | $ 2,821 | $ 12,222 |
| 464,317 | (a) Aluminum Company of America | 25,577 | 27,685 |
| 475,217 | (b) Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company | 12,942 | 15,894 |
| 1,983,812 | (b) General Foods, Inc. | 62,507 | 59,889 |
| 7,200,000 | (a) GEICO Corporation | 47,138 | 105,300 |
| 2,015,000 | (a) Handy & Harman | 21,825 | 58,435 |
| 711,180 | (a) Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. | 4,531 | 22,135 |
| 1,211,834 | (a) Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. | 20,629 | 27,569 |
| 282,500 | (a) Media General | 4,545 | 8,334 |
| 247,039 | (b) National Detroit Corporation | 5,930 | 6,299 |
| 881,500 | (a) National Student Marketing | 5,128 | 5,895 |
| 391,400 | (a) Ogilvy & Mather Int’l. Inc. | 3,709 | 9,981 |
| 370,088 | (b) Pinkerton’s, Inc. | 12,144 | 16,489 |
| 245,700 | (b) R. J. Reynolds Industries | 8,702 | 11,228 |
| 1,250,525 | (b) SAFECO Corporation | 32,062 | 45,177 |
| 151,104 | (b) The Times Mirror Company | 4,447 | 6,271 |
| 1,868,600 | (a) The Washington Post Company | 10,628 | 42,277 |
| 667,124 | (b) E W Woolworth Company | 13,583 | 16,511 |
| | | $298,848 | $497,591 |
| | All Other Common Stockholdings | 26,313 | 32,096 |
| | Total Common Stocks | $325,161 | $529,687 |