Learn the stock market › How listed companies work › Lesson 1 of 8
Class A and Class B shares
One company, different votes
A company can issue more than one class of shares. All of them own part of the same company, but each class can carry different rights. The usual difference is the number of votes at the shareholder meeting.
The letters don't mean the same thing everywhere. Which rights a class carries is set out in each company's own documents, and its annual report describes them.
Berkshire Hathaway shows how far it can go. One Class A share can be turned into 1,500 Class B shares, but not the other way round, and a Class B share has one ten-thousandth of a Class A vote. On Nov 6, 2026, one Class A cost $856,612.00 and 1,500 Class B cost $856,335.00. So the same stake in the company cost about the same, but the votes of one Class A would cost $5,708,900 in Class B shares.
What they cost
Closing prices on Nov 6, 2026. Berkshire's other class is priced for 1,500 shares, and the last column shows how much higher or lower Class A stood.
| Company | Class A | Other class | A vs other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox | $66.64 | $59.50 | +12.0% |
| Alphabet (C) | $284.78 | $283.93 | +0.3% |
| Berkshire Hathaway | $856,612.00 | $856,335.00 | +0.0% |
| News Corp | $26.39 | $28.96 | −8.9% |
Class A stood more than half a percent above the other class at one of the four companies and more than half a percent below at one. At two the gap was smaller than that.
The largest gap upward was at Fox: $66.64 against $59.50, or +12.0%.
The other way was News Corp: $26.39 against $28.96, or −8.9%. The letter A doesn't make a share the most expensive one.
The price also follows the trading
Here is Class A's share of trading, in money on a typical day from Nov 6, 2025 to Nov 6, 2026.
| Company | Share of trading in A |
|---|---|
| Fox | 78.3% |
| News Corp | 74.8% |
| Alphabet | 60.3% |
| Berkshire Hathaway | 6.5% |
At some companies most of the trading is in one class. In the other, trades come further apart, and the spread can be wider. A close there can also be older when the market shuts, so one day's gap may not mean much. Over the year, the gap at Alphabet moved between −0.5% and +1.5%.
Why one class costs more can't be read from the prices. How much each one trades plays a part, and so does what larger owners will pay for votes.
Test yourself
A company's Class A share has one vote and its Class B share one tenth of a vote. You own 100 Class B shares. How many votes do you have?
Sources
- Alphabet, Form 10-K for 2025, read on 5 November 2026.
- Berkshire Hathaway, Form 10-K for 2025, read on 5 November 2026.
How the price has moved: Why did Alphabet move?