Who owns BNSF Railway?
BNSF Railway is owned by Berkshire Hathaway (the United States, NYSE: BRK.B), which has owned the brand since 12 February 2010.[1]
Evidence: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-03-02, SEC EDGAR, 2 March 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. verified
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Omaha, Nebraska
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States, Fort Worth
- Category
- Travel & transport › Railways
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: BRK.B
- Trademark registrant
- BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY (USPTO)
- Last verified
- · 2 sources
About BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway Company is the principal operating subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC. BNSF's FY2025 10-K says Berkshire Hathaway acquired 100% of the shares it did not already own on 12 February 2010 and the registrant was renamed Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC. The railway operates over 32,500 route miles in 28 states and three Canadian provinces.
What Berkshire Hathaway's annual report says about BNSF Railway
Sentences about BNSF Railway from Berkshire Hathaway's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC ("BNSF") is based in Fort Worth, Texas, and through BNSF Railway Company ("BNSF Railway") operates one of the largest freight rail transportation systems in North America.
BNSF Railway had approximately 35,000 employees at the end of 2025, of whom approximately 30,000 were members of a labor union.
In serving the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Western, Southwestern and Southeastern regions and certain ports of the U.S., BNSF Railway transports a range of products and commodities derived from manufacturing, agricultural and natural resource industries.
How often Berkshire Hathaway names BNSF Railway in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named more often than it was three years earlier.
Trademark record for BNSF Railway
The USPTO record for the BNSF Railway mark lists BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY as the owner of record (serial number 76627685). A trademark is often held by a group company rather than the listed parent, so the registrant's name can differ from the owner named above.[2]
Ownership timeline of BNSF Railway
- 2010 – present Berkshire Hathaway [1] verified
Where BNSF Railway sits in Berkshire Hathaway
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
- Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies
- Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
- biBERK
- BNSF Railway
- Brooks Running
- CapSpecialty
- Dairy Queen
- Duracell
- Fruit of the Loom
- GEICO
- General Re
- GUARD Insurance Group
- MedPro Group
- National Indemnity Company
- NetJets
- RSUI
- See's Candies
- Transatlantic Reinsurance
- U.S. Liability Insurance Company
Open the full Berkshire Hathaway ownership tree →
See the full Berkshire Hathaway brand portfolio (19) →
Other brands owned by Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway controls 19 brands on Brandtree, 2 of them in travel & transport.
Also in travel & transport
Other brands in railways, and who owns them
The 91 brands in railways on Brandtree belong to 68 owners. The largest is DfT Operator, with 9.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| c2c | DfT Operator | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Avanti West Coast | FirstGroup | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Eurostar | SNCF | 🇫🇷 France |
| CPKC | CPKC | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Linha 4 do Metrô de São Paulo | Motiva | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| Hellenic Train | FS Italiane | 🇮🇹 Italy |
| Transtar | FTAI Infrastructure | 🇺🇸 United States |
| KAI Commuter | KAI | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
About the owner: Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, founded in 1839. Brandtree records 19 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: BRK.B.
Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company built by Warren Buffett from a failing textile mill. Alongside insurance and railroads it owns consumer businesses outright and holds large minority stakes in others, including Kraft Heinz and The Coca-Cola Company.
Berkshire Hathaway: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇺🇸 BNSF Railway and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,399 brands that began in the United States. 461 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; BNSF Railway is not one of them.
- ABF Freight — ArcBest 🇺🇸
- ABX Air — ATSG 🇺🇸
- Adcom Express — Radiant Logistics 🇺🇸
- Advanced Air — Advanced Air 🇺🇸
- Air Wisconsin — Air Wisconsin 🇺🇸
- Alaska Airlines — Alaska Air Group 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of BNSF Railway?
The parent company of BNSF Railway is Berkshire Hathaway, a holding company headquartered in the United States.
Is BNSF Railway American?
Yes. BNSF Railway originated in the United States and its owner, Berkshire Hathaway, is also headquartered in the United States.
Since when has Berkshire Hathaway owned BNSF Railway?
Berkshire Hathaway has owned BNSF Railway since 12 February 2010.
Is BNSF Railway still owned by Berkshire Hathaway?
Yes. As of 10 October 2026, BNSF Railway is still owned by Berkshire Hathaway. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (2) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-03-02 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 2 March 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
- [2] USPTO: BNSF, serial 76627685 — United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark registry; retrieved 10 October 2026.
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