Earlier today, at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, Warren Buffett announced he will retire from the company at the end of the year. In his announcement, he also recommended that the Berkshire board tap Vice Chairman Greg Abel to replace him.

As you probably know, Warren Buffett is an investing legend. Through his conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren oversees a diverse portfolio of investments in a wide range of industries.

Contrary to what you might assume, Warren is not actually the founder of Berkshire. Like all of his assets, he first started out as a regular investor. He started buying shares of Berkshire in 1962 as a simple stock investment. He took majority control in 1965 and, from that point on, has used Berkshire as his investment vehicle and umbrella holding company.

Over the last several decades, Warren has used a disciplined investing strategy to make large investments in companies via Berkshire. He has also outright acquired dozens of companies. Some of the notable companies that Berkshire Hathaway owns outright or has significant investments in include:

• Apple: Berkshire Hathaway holds a significant stake in Apple, worth over $120 billion
• Coca-Cola: Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest shareholders in Coca-Cola, with a stake worth over $22 billion
• American Express: Berkshire Hathaway has a large stake in American Express, worth over $15 billion
• Bank of America: Berkshire Hathaway is a major shareholder in Bank of America, with a stake worth over $30 billion
• Burlington Northern Santa Fe: Berkshire Hathaway owns one of the largest railroad companies in North America, which it acquired in 2010 for $26 billion.
• See’s Candies: Berkshire Hathaway owns this California-based candy company, which has been an extremely successful investment for the company.
• Geico: Berkshire acquired 100% of the insurance giant Geico in 1996
• Fruit of the Loom: Acquired 100% of the underwear maker in 2002

Let’s do a fun hypothetical. Let’s say you had $1,000 in 1965, the same year Warren took majority control. And FYI, that would be the same as having $10,000 today after adjusting for inflation. Not a small sum, but not an impossible amount for the average person to pool together. Let’s say you invested all $1,000 into Berkshire Hathaway. What would that investment be worth today?

(David Silverman/Getty Images)

$1,000 Invested in Berkshire Hathaway in 1965

Back in 1965, when Warren became the majority owner of Berkshire Hathaway, a single share cost on average…

$19

So you could have bought 52 shares with $1,000.

By the mid-1980s, a single share of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock cost…

$1,500

Today, a single share costs…

$809,808

The company’s current market cap is around $1.16 trillion. So. How much money would you have today if you had invested just $1,000 with Warren Buffett back in 1965?

$42.1 million

What if you had $67,000 in 1965 and invested it all with Warren Buffett?

That’s a real scenario that existed for an extremely lucky couple who lived next door to Warren in Omaha…

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

$67,000 Invested In 1965

Back in 1965, Dorothy and Myer Kripke were Warren’s next-door neighbors in Omaha. Warren was 35 years old at the time. Unsure of what to do with the roughly $67,000 they had saved up, Dorothy encouraged Myer to ask their neighbor if he would oversee the money. Warren agreed.

Thirty years later, their $67,000 was $25 million. Assuming they never sold a single share, on the day Myer Kripke died in 2014 (Dorothy died in 2000), their $67,000 had grown to be worth over $150 million. If his relatives still own those shares, they are worth around $500 million. 🙂