improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . october 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . october 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message government employees insurance company geico headquarters in chevy chase maryland type subsidiary industry insurance founded 1936 ; 80 years ago 1936 fort worth texas u.s. founders leo goodwin sr. lillian goodwin headquarters chevy chase maryland u.s. key people tony nicely chairman president & ceo treasurer products auto insurance revenue us 9.212 billion 2004 1 number of employees 30 000 2 parent berkshire hathaway website geico.com the government employees insurance company geico a ko is an american auto insurance company headquartered in chevy chase maryland . it is the second largest auto insurer in the united states after state farm . 3 it is a wholly owned subsidiary of berkshire hathaway that as of 2015 provided coverage for more than 22 million motor vehicles owned by more than 14 million policy holders . geico writes private passenger automobile insurance in all 50 u.s. states and the district of columbia . geico sells its policies through local agents called geico field representatives and over the phone directly to the consumer and through their website . its mascot is a gold dust day gecko with a cockney accent voiced by english actor jake wood . geico is well known in popular culture for its advertising having made a large number of commercials intended to entertain viewers . contents 1 history 2 advertising campaigns 2.1 motorsports 3 competition 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit geico was founded in 1936 by leo goodwin sr. and his wife lillian goodwin to provide auto insurance directly to federal government employees and their families . 4 since 1925 goodwin had worked for usaa an insurer which specialized in insuring only military personnel ; he decided to start his own company after rising as far as a civilian could go in usaa s military dominated hierarchy . based on goodwin s experience at usaa geico s original business model was predicated on the assumption that federal employees as a group would constitute a less risky and more financially stable pool of insureds as opposed to the general public . despite the presence of the word government in its name geico has always been a private corporation not affiliated with any government organization . in 1937 the goodwins relocated geico from san antonio texas to washington d.c. and reincorporated the company as a d.c. corporation after realizing that their business model would work best in the place with the highest concentration of federal employees . 5 an important figure in geico s history is david lloyd kreeger who became president of the company in 1964 and helped steer it into a major insurance enterprise . 6 in 1948 he formed a group of investors who bought into geico right before it went public that year . he became senior vice president and general counsel of the company . six years after becoming president of geico in 1964 he was named chairman and chief executive officer . he retained those titles until he retired in 1975 . he continued as chairman of the executive committee until 1979 when he was named honorary chairman . 6 in 1974 under kreeger s leadership geico began to insure the general public after real time access to computerized driving records became available throughout the united states and it was briefly the fifth largest u.s. auto insurer . by 1975 it was clear that geico had expanded far too rapidly during the 1973 75 recession when it reported a 126.5 million loss . 7 to prevent geico from collapsing a consortium of 45 insurance companies agreed to take over a quarter of its policies and it was forced to issue a stock offering thus diluting existing stockholders to raise money to pay claims . it took five years during which the company shrank significantly and a massive reorganization to set geico on the path to recovery . geico has also offered other types of insurance besides auto including homeowner s insurance from 1962 to 1996 . a sister company the government employees life insurance company gelico offered life insurance from 1975 to 1985 . although geico has since focused on its core auto insurance competency selling gelico to legal & general it uses its established direct sales infrastructure to market homeowner s and other types of insurance underwritten by other companies . in 1996 after many years as a publicly traded firm geico became a wholly owned subsidiary of berkshire hathaway . 8 geico generally deals directly with consumers via telephone and internet ; however the local agent program has more than 150 offices countrywide . geico is now the second largest writer of private auto insurance in the united states . after several years of denying claims and even canceling policies for policyholders that used their personal car for ridesharing companies such as uber and lyft 9 geico began offering rideshare coverage in select states in 2015 including in high population states such as texas pennsylvania ohio and georgia . the policy which is issued through geico s commercial department has received critical praise from insurance experts and quickly launched geico as the largest insurance provider for tnc drivers . 10 advertising campaigns edit main article geico advertising campaigns geico has many well known ad campaigns . in 2012 geico spent over 1.1 billion in advertising or 6.8 % of its revenue . 11 all are made and produced by the martin agency which is based in richmond virginia . geico ads have featured several well known mascots including the geico gecko is the most prevalent spokesperson mascot and speaks with a cockney accent . the geico cavemen from ads claiming using their website is so easy a caveman could do it . maxwell the geico piggy who shouts a long whee and appears in more radio and tv commercials . actor mike mcglone who uses film noir style narration to compare the ease of geico to things famous people or idioms . could switching to geico really save you 15 % or more on car insurance ... is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea the scene is then acted out with typically humorous results . in addition to johnson other ads have included charlie daniels andr s cantor foghorn leghorn elmer fudd r. lee ermey and ed too tall jones among others including maxwell the piggy . the money savers campaign enlisted actors to portray average consumers who have resorted to various humorous extremes in order to save money such as teaching a dog to sing or teaching a group of guinea pigs to row a boat and perform some mundane task for the consumer and then presented switching to geico as an easy alternative to such endeavors with the common line ... . there s an easier way to save money . the happier than ... . duo features jimmy actor timothy ryan cole and ronnie musician alex harvey playing a guitar and a mandolin respectively on a small portable stage . they comment on a fictitious preceding event such as a man dressed in 15th century attire laughing as he leads a trio of speed boats with the painted names nina pinta and santa maria . after cutting to the duo one says to the other you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy . the other then replied how happy are they jimmy ronnie and in the case above the response is happier than christopher columbus with speedboats cash the stack of cash that represents the money you could have saved by switching to geico . there are also geico ads that feature stories from geico customers about situations in which the company assisted them but are translated by celebrities like little richard and joan rivers . film trailer announcer don lafontaine appeared in one such ad shortly before his death . the tag announcer for these spots was d.c. douglas . geico is also an official sponsor of the national hockey league and themed commercials for that always feature members of the hometown washington capitals . motorsports edit 13 geico chevrolet ss driven by casey mears during 2015 toyota save mart 350 qualifying geico has long been involved in motorsports sponsorships . since 2008 the company has sponsored the germain racing team first in the nascar nationwide series with mike wallace and later in the nascar sprint cup series with max papis and casey mears . mears has driven the 13 geico car since the fall of 2010 . competition edit geico s major competitors include amica mutual insurance liberty mutual insurance state farm allstate 21st century insurance reliance partners progressive nationwide insurance and united services automobile association . see also edit list of united states insurance companies references edit revenue premiums written 2004 from berkshire hathaway 10 k. u.s. securities and exchange commission december 31 2004 . accessed 17 december 2009 . https www.geico.com about corporate at a glance yerak becky june 13 2013 . geico tops allstate as nation s no. 2 auto insurer in 1q . chicago tribune . geico history an american success story . geico official site . accessed 18 december 2009 . leo goodwin financier son of founder of geico . the washington post . january 18 1978 . a b fowler glenn . david lloyd kreeger dead at 81 ; insurance official and arts patron . the new york times . retrieved 14 may 2015 . jones william h. june 8 1978 . investors may get geico settlement . the washington post . 74 . geico berkshire hathaway . forbes . retrieved august 8 2015 . http www.sfgate.com business article leaked transcript shows geico s stance against 5910113.php https www.geico.com information aboutinsurance ridesharing faq geico success highlights advertising dollars vs. agent commissions debate . insurance journal . october 22 2013 . external links edit official website official blog v t e berkshire hathaway board of directors warren buffett chairman and ceo charlie munger howard graham buffett susan decker bill gates david gottesman charlotte guyman donald keough thomas murphy ronald olson walter scott jr. insurance applied underwriters berkshire hathaway assurance berkshire hathaway homestate companies kansas bankers surety company berkshire hathaway specialty insurance boatus central states indemnity gateway underwriters agency geico gen re medical protective national indemnity company guard insurance seaworthy insurance company united states liability insurance group materials and construction acme brick benjamin moore & co. charter brokerage clayton homes international metalworking companies johns manville lubrizol marmon marmon herrington procor union tank car company mitek mouser electronics precision castparts corp. shaw industries tti furniture cort business services jordan s furniture larson juhl nebraska furniture mart rc willey home furnishings star furniture apparel brooks sports fruit of the loom russell vanity fair fechheimer brothers garanimals h.h. brown shoe group acme boots justin brands louis transportation berkshire hathaway automotive burlington northern santa fe corporation flightsafety international forest river marquis jet mclane netjets netjets europe utlx xtra lease food ctb international international dairy queen dairy queen karmelkorn orange julius kraft heinz the pampered chef