Berkshire Crosses 10% in All Five Japanese Trading Houses Under Greg Abel

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)(BRK:B) crossed the 10% voting threshold in Sumitomo Corp and Marubeni Corp on May 7, 2026, according to regulatory filings with the company. The conglomerate now owns more than 10% of all five Japanese trading houses it has held since 2020. The five names are Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo, diversified trading conglomerates Japan calls sogo shosha, which import raw materials, finance domestic industry, and operate businesses across energy, metals, food, and chemicals.

National Indemnity Company, Berkshire’s wholly owned insurance subsidiary, increased its Sumitomo stake from 9.30% to 10.05%, 119.8 million shares. Marubeni moved from 9.32% to 10.10%, a total of 165.3 million shares. Sumitomo and Marubeni had been the two laggards. Itochu Corporation crossed 10.07%...