Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation
wholly owned subsidiary
Industry Rail transport
Founded 1993
Headquarters Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Key people
[Carl Ice], Chairman, CEO, & President[1]
Revenue Increase$23.239 billion USD (2014)
Increase$7.002 billion USD (2014)
Increase$3.869 billion USD (2014)
Number of employees
48,000 (2014)
Parent Berkshire Hathaway
Subsidiaries BNSF Railway
Website http://www.bnsf.com/

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation is the parent company of the BNSF Railway (formerly the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway). The railroad is now wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by investor Warren Buffett.[2]

The corporation was incorporated in 1993 to facilitate the merger of Burlington Northern, Incorporated, parent of the Burlington Northern Railroad, and Santa Fe Pacific Corporation, which owned the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe).[3] The corporate merger was consummated on September 22, 1995 at which point shareholders of the previous companies became shareholders of BNSF and the two companies became wholly owned subsidiaries of BNSF.[4] In December 1996, the two holding companies and two railroads were formally merged, and in January 1998 the remaining intermediate holding company was folded into the railroad.

Robert D. Krebs of Santa Fe Pacific was president of BNSF from the merger until 1999, chief executive from the merger until 2000, and chairman from 1997 until 2002. He was succeeded in all three positions by Matthew K. Rose.

On November 3, 2009, Berkshire Hathaway made a $26 billion offer to buy the remaining 77.4 percent of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation it did not already own, valuing the purchase at $34 billion. The deal, which including Berkshire’s previous investment and the assumption of $10 billion in Burlington Northern debt brings the total value to $44 billion.[5] Consummated February 12, 2010, it is the largest acquisition in Berkshire Hathaway's history.[6]

BNSF Railway's primary rail competitor in the Western region of the United States is the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Other Class 1 railroads and numerous regional railroads and motor carriers also operate in parts of the same territories served by BNSF Railway.[7]

Based on weekly reporting by the Association of American Railroads, BNSF's share of the western United States rail traffic in 2008 was approximately 49 percent.[7]

References

External links