Wesco Financial Corporation was a diversified financial corporation headquartered in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. Wesco was originally the holding company for Mutual Savings, a savings and loan association. Mutual Savings' thrift operations were sold to CenFed Bank in 1993. It was for a long time 80.1% owned by

Blue Chip Stamps Blue Chip Stamps started as a trading stamps company called "Blue Chip Stamp Company." They were a competitor of S&H Green Stamps. Blue Chip stamps were a loyalty program for customers, similar to discount cards issued by pharmacies and grocery ...

, which is wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by legendary investor Warren Buffett. Charlie Munger, the vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Buffett's business partner, served as CEO and Chairman of Wesco from 1984 to 2011. Munger, formerly a practicing

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, is known for his straight-shooting style and his conduct at the now discontinued Wesco shareholder meetings in Pasadena, where he used to interact with the outside investors at considerable length. In June 2011 Berkshire Hathaway acquired the approximately 20% of Wesco that it did not already own.http://www.wescofinancial.com/Wesco%20Berkshire%20joint%20release%206.23.11.pdf Wesco Financial was previously likened to a miniature version of Berkshire Hathaway by certain observers, although Buffett and Munger cautioned investors that this was not an appropriate comparison. Like its parent company, Wesco provided insurance and reinsurance; it does so through subsidiaries Wesco-Financial Insurance Company and Kansas Bankers Surety. It also held shares in some of the same companies as Berkshire, like Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, and Wells Fargo. Controlling interests include CORT Business Services and Precision Steel Warehouse, which has steel service centers in Chicago and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Subsidiaries

Wesco did business in three major categories; insurance, furniture rental, and steel service. The following wholly owned subsidiaries handled most of Wesco's business: * Wesco-Financial Insurance, which was incorporated in 1985 and engages in the

property and casualty insurance General insurance or non-life insurance policy, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance is typically defined as any insurance that is not determine ...

business. Wesco-Financial became part of National Indemnity. *

Kansas Bankers Surety Company Kansas Bankers Surety Company (KBS) is an insurance company based in the United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment vehicle of Warren Buffett. It specializes in the writing of surety bonds for the offi ...

, which was incorporated in 1909, purchased by Wesco in 1996 and provides specialized insurance coverages for banks. Kansas Bankers Surety became part of Berkshire Hathaway Companies. * CORT Business Services Corporation, furniture rental. * Precision Steel Warehouse, Inc., a chain of steel service centers. Precision Steel was founded in 1940 and acquired by Wesco in 1979. * MS Property Company, which owns commercial real estate in Pasadena.

References

{{Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Financial services companies established in 1959 Financial services companies disestablished in 2011 Companies formerly listed on NYSE American Insurance companies of the United States 2011 mergers and acquisitions