American Express is a public company owned by its shareholders, and its largest shareholder by far is Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire and its subsidiaries held 151,610,700 American Express common shares, 22.1% of the class, according to American Express's 2026 proxy statement, which bases that row on Berkshire's Form 13F as of December 31, 2025.
The common stock trades principally on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AXP, per its 2025 Form 10-K. Berkshire's stake comes with an unusual condition: a 1995 agreement that keeps its investment passive. Every figure below comes from those SEC filings and is dated to the filing.
Who is the largest shareholder of American Express?
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led for decades by Warren Buffett, is the largest shareholder of American Express by a wide margin. It owns roughly a fifth of the company, more than three times the next largest disclosed holder. Two index fund managers, Vanguard and BlackRock, round out the holders above five percent.
The table reproduces the 5% holder rows and selected insider rows from the 2026 proxy statement, which reports beneficial ownership as of March 6, 2026 except where noted.
Holder | Shares owned | Percent of class | Basis |
151,610,700 | 22.1% | Form 13F as of December 31, 2025 | |
46,637,192 | 6.8% | Schedule 13G filed February 13, 2024 | |
44,114,286 | 6.4% | Schedule 13G filed February 5, 2024 | |
223,990 plus 233,611 right to acquire | Less than 1% | March 6, 2026 | |
501,133 plus 448,594 right to acquire | Less than 1% | March 6, 2026 |
Footnote 1 of the proxy says that of Berkshire's shares, National Indemnity Co. and its subsidiaries beneficially owned 149,061,045, and that Mr. Buffett, Berkshire and certain subsidiaries share voting and investment power over them.
Does Warren Buffett own American Express?
Not personally in the usual sense. The shares belong to Berkshire Hathaway and its insurance subsidiaries. Buffett appears in the ownership table because he controls a large part of Berkshire's voting power, which under SEC rules can make him a beneficial owner of what Berkshire holds.
The 2026 proxy cites a Schedule 13D/A in which Mr. Buffett reported owning 29.8% of the aggregate voting power of Berkshire's Class A and Class B common stock, as of November 12, 2025. As a result of that position, the same footnote says, Mr. Buffett may be considered the beneficial owner of the shares that Berkshire beneficially owns.
The chain looks like this.
Warren Buffett (largest voting stake in Berkshire)
|
v
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
| through National Indemnity Co. and other subsidiaries
v
American Express shares (largest disclosed holder)
| bound by 1995 passivity agreement
v
American Express Company (NYSE: AXP)Can Berkshire Hathaway control American Express?
No. Berkshire has agreed to keep its American Express investment passive and, within limits, to vote alongside the board. The arrangement dates to the 1990s and was also made to the Federal Reserve, which supervises American Express as a bank holding company. It also limits whom Berkshire can sell its shares to.
The 2026 proxy says American Express signed an agreement with Berkshire in 1995 designed to ensure that Berkshire's investment will be passive, and that the commitments remain in effect as long as Berkshire owns 10% or more of the voting securities. The same section says Berkshire made similar commitments to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve.
Under the same agreement, Berkshire and its subsidiaries agreed to follow the board's recommendations when voting shares up to 17% of shares outstanding, as long as Mr. Squeri is CEO and Berkshire owns 5% or more, per the proxy. With certain exceptions, Berkshire may not sell American Express shares to anyone who owns more than 5% of the voting securities or who is trying to change control of the company.
Is American Express owned by a bank?
No bank owns American Express. It is itself a bank holding company, and it owns a national bank as a subsidiary, American Express National Bank. American Express also runs its own card network, so it acts as card issuer, merchant acquirer and network in one company.
The 2025 Form 10-K says American Express Company and its subsidiary American Express Travel Related Services are bank holding companies under the Bank Holding Company Act, supervised by the Federal Reserve, and names its bank subsidiary as American Express National Bank (AENB). The same 10-K describes card-issuing, merchant-acquiring and card network businesses, and reports 86.6 million proprietary cards-in-force worldwide as of December 31, 2025.
For comparison with other card issuers, see Capital One Ownership, which now includes Discover's network, and Who Owns JPMorgan Chase?.
How old is American Express and who runs it?
American Express dates back to the middle of the nineteenth century and is headquartered in New York. Apart from Berkshire, its shareholder base is widely held, with no other holder above seven percent. Its chairman and chief executive has spent more than four decades at the company.
The 10-K says American Express was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, and reports 15,910 common shareholders of record as of December 31, 2025. The 2026 proxy says Stephen Squeri has been chairman and chief executive officer since 2018 and is also CEO of AENB, and that apart from Mr. Squeri the board is made up entirely of independent directors.
Where this ownership data falls short
The holder figures are snapshots taken on different dates and from different filing types. Berkshire's row reflects a year-end quarterly holdings report, while Vanguard's and BlackRock's rows rely on older large-holder filings. Smaller institutions below five percent do not appear in the proxy at all.
Three limits apply. First, the Vanguard and BlackRock rows in the 2026 proxy rely on 13G filings from February 2024, so those stakes may have moved. Second, the shareholder of record count in the 10-K counts registered holders, not the far larger number of people who own AXP through brokers and funds. Third, beneficial ownership under SEC rules measures voting or investment power, so Buffett's row overlaps with Berkshire's rather than adding to it.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of American Express does Berkshire own?
22.1% of the common stock, per the 2026 proxy, based on Berkshire's 13F as of December 31, 2025.
Is American Express a public company?
Yes. Its common stock trades principally on the NYSE under the symbol AXP, per its 10-K.
Who is the CEO of American Express?
Stephen J. Squeri is chairman and chief executive officer, per the 2026 proxy statement.
How can I check American Express's ownership myself?
Read the latest proxy, Berkshire's 13F filings and other 13G filings on SEC EDGAR.
Sources and methodology
Ownership figures and the Berkshire agreement come from American Express's 2026 proxy statement (DEF 14A, filed March 25, 2026), with holdings as of March 6, 2026 except where noted. Company history, bank holding company status, cards-in-force and shareholder of record counts come from American Express's Form 10-K for 2025 (filed February 6, 2026). Both were fetched from SEC EDGAR on October 18, 2026. No ownership percentage in this article comes from any other source.