UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 13F
Form 13F COVER PAGE
Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter: September 30, 2010
Check here if Amendment [_]; Amendment Number:
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This Amendment (Check only one.): [_] is a restatement.
[_] adds new holdings entries.
Institutional Investment Manager Filing this Report:
Name: Markel Corporation
Address: 4521 Highwoods Pkwy
Glen Allen, VA 23060
Form 13F File Number: 28-6647
The institutional investment manager filing this report and the person by whom
it is signed hereby represent that the person signing the report is authorized
to submit it, that all information contained herein is true, correct and
complete, and that it is understood that all required items, statements,
schedules, lists, and tables, are considered integral parts of this form.
Person Signing this Report on Behalf of Reporting Manager:
Name: Thomas S. Gayner
Title: President and Chief Investment Officer
Phone: 804-527-3806
Signature, Place, and Date of Signing:
/s/ Thomas S. Gayner Richmond, VA 11/12/2010
-------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
[Signature] [City, State] [Date]
Report Type (Check only one.):
[X] 13F HOLDINGS REPORT. (Check here if all holdings of this reporting manager
are reported in this report.)
[_] 13F NOTICE. (Check here if no holdings reported are in this report, and all
holdings are reported by other reporting manager(s).)
[_] 13F COMBINATION REPORT. (Check here if a portion of the holdings for this
reporting manager are reported in this report and a portion are reported by
other reporting manager(s).)
Form 13F SUMMARY PAGE
Report Summary:
Number of Other Included Managers: 1
Form 13F Information Table Entry Total: 113
Form 13F Information Table Value Total: $1,673,983
(thousands)
List of Other Included Managers:
Provide a numbered list of the name(s) and Form 13F file number(s) of all
institutional investment managers with respect to which this report is filed,
other than the manager filing this report.
No. Form 13F File Number Name
---- -------------------- --------------------------------------------
1 28-6056 Markel Gayner Asset Management Corporation
FORM 13F INFORMATION TABLE
VOTING AUTHORITY
TITLE OF VALUE SHARES/ SH/ PUT/ INVSTMT OTHER --------------------------
NAME OF ISSUER CLASS CUSIP (x$1000) PRN AMT PRN CALL DSCRETN MANAGERS SOLE SHARED NONE
------------------------------ -------- --------- -------- -------- --- ---- ------- ------------ -------- -------- --------
3M Company COM 88579y101 2601 30000 SH SOLE 30000
10371 119600 SH DEFINED 01 116000 3600
Abbott Laboratories COM 002824100 3657 70000 SH DEFINED 01 69000 1000
Accenture COM G1151C101 425 10000 SH SOLE 10000
4750 111800 SH DEFINED 01 100000 11800
Air Products & Chemicals COM 009158106 464 5600 SH DEFINED 01 5600
Alleghany Corporation COM 017175100 1286 4244 SH SOLE 4244
Altria COM 02209S103 2803 116700 SH DEFINED 01 114500 2200
American Express COM 025816109 420 10000 SH SOLE 10000
16313 388124 SH DEFINED 01 339000 49124
Anheuser-Busch Inbev ADR COM 03524A108 7872 134000 SH DEFINED 01 134000
Automatic Data Processing COM 053015103 18279 434900 SH DEFINED 01 422700 12200
Bank of New York Mellon Corp COM 064058100 79 3019 SH SOLE 3019
5830 223130 SH DEFINED 01 204907 18223
Berkshire Hathaway Class B COM 084670702 31840 385100 SH SOLE 385100
97872 1183740 SH DEFINED 01 1114900 68840
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. COM 084670108 34237 275 SH SOLE 275
77314 621 SH DEFINED 01 585 36
Brookfield Asset Management COM 112585104 8511 300000 SH SOLE 300000
79467 2801077 SH DEFINED 01 2595548 205529
Brown & Brown COM 115236101 3634 180000 SH SOLE 180000
3748 185628 SH DEFINED 01 185628
Brown Forman Class A COM 115637100 17468 283760 SH DEFINED 01 281000 2760
Brown-Forman Class B COM 115637209 4371 70915 SH DEFINED 01 70250 665
Calumet COM 131476103 197 10000 SH SOLE 10000
310 15700 SH DEFINED 01 15000 700
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Campbell Soup Co COM 134429109 2660 74400 SH DEFINED 01 70000 4400
Carmax COM 143130102 4458 160000 SH SOLE 160000
142261 5106299 SH DEFINED 01 4803070 303229
Caterpillar Inc COM 149123101 19300 245300 SH DEFINED 01 239000 6300
Charles Schwab COM 808513105 11802 849100 SH DEFINED 01 790000 59100
Coca Cola Co COM 191216100 3816 65200 SH DEFINED 01 60000 5200
Comcast COM 20030N101 195 10800 SH DEFINED 01 10800
Costco COM 22160K105 322 5000 SH SOLE 5000
2289 35500 SH DEFINED 01 34000 1500
DENTSPLY COM 249030107 1132 35400 SH DEFINED 01 35000 400
Diageo PLC COM 25243Q205 22670 328500 SH SOLE 328500
63943 926571 SH DEFINED 01 861500 65071
Disney COM 254687106 6620 200000 SH SOLE 200000
42659 1288789 SH DEFINED 01 1202500 86289
EOG Resources, Inc. COM 26875p101 3626 39000 SH DEFINED 01 39000
Emerson Electric COM 291011104 9184 174400 SH DEFINED 01 158000 16400
Enterprise GP Holdings COM 293716106 587 10000 SH SOLE 10000
9231 157200 SH DEFINED 01 150000 7200
Exxon Corporation COM 30231G102 12346 199800 SH SOLE 199800
27215 440446 SH DEFINED 01 403000 37446
Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd COM 303901102 113771 279459 SH SOLE 279459
Federated Investors COM 314211103 228 10000 SH SOLE 10000
4950 217500 SH DEFINED 01 216000 1500
Fidelity National Financial COM 31620R105 7366 468850 SH SOLE 468850
20184 1284815 SH DEFINED 01 1194150 90665
Forest City Enterprises Class COM 345550107 248 19367 SH DEFINED 01 19367
Fortune Brands COM 349631101 2260 45900 SH DEFINED 01 45000 900
General Dynamics COM 369550108 24510 390218 SH DEFINED 01 370000 20218
General Electric COM 369604103 4794 295000 SH SOLE 295000
54334 3343649 SH DEFINED 01 3160000 183649
Heritage Crystal Clean Inc COM 42726M106 2383 239500 SH DEFINED 01 239500
Home Depot COM 437076102 634 20000 SH SOLE 20000
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30007 947199 SH DEFINED 01 900000 47199
ITC Holdings Corp COM 465685105 10782 173200 SH DEFINED 01 173000 200
Illinois Tool Works COM 452308109 11423 242949 SH DEFINED 01 220000 22949
Intel COM 458140100 1152 60000 SH SOLE 60000
3705 192992 SH DEFINED 01 170000 22992
International Business Machine COM 459200101 1341 10000 SH SOLE 10000
1408 10500 SH DEFINED 01 10000 500
International Game Technology COM 459902102 3612 250000 SH SOLE 250000
13001 899734 SH DEFINED 01 820000 79734
Investors Title Company COM 461804106 7458 228850 SH DEFINED 01 213300 15550
Johnson and Johnson COM 478160104 17349 280000 SH SOLE 280000
17206 277695 SH DEFINED 01 262200 15495
Leucadia National Corp COM 527288104 13898 588400 SH DEFINED 01 575000 13400
Lowes COM 548661107 2118 95000 SH SOLE 95000
4777 214300 SH DEFINED 01 170000 44300
Marriott International COM 571903202 6520 181965 SH SOLE 181965
44371 1238387 SH DEFINED 01 1101907 136480
McDonalds COM 580135101 14362 192753 SH DEFINED 01 181000 11753
Microsoft COM 594918104 2505 102290 SH DEFINED 01 90000 12290
National Oilwell COM 637071101 3647 82000 SH DEFINED 01 82000
Nestle ADR COM 641069406 5364 100100 SH DEFINED 01 100000 100
Nike COM 654106103 4023 50200 SH DEFINED 01 50000 200
Northern Trust Corp COM 665859104 6754 140000 SH DEFINED 01 140000
Novo-Nordisk A/S COM 670100205 22725 230850 SH DEFINED 01 215000 15850
NuStar GP Holdings COM 67059L102 19853 585300 SH DEFINED 01 576500 8800
Patterson Companies Inc. COM 703395103 3982 139000 SH DEFINED 01 135000 4000
Paychex COM 704326107 1399 50900 SH DEFINED 01 50000 900
Pepsico COM 713448108 4451 67000 SH DEFINED 01 66300 700
Philip Morris International COM 718172109 6538 116700 SH DEFINED 01 114500 2200
Plum Creek Lumber MLP COM 729251108 5295 150000 SH SOLE 150000
7240 205100 SH DEFINED 01 200000 5100
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Pool Corp COM 73278L105 1907 95000 SH DEFINED 01 95000
Prepaid Legal Services COM 740065107 937 15000 SH DEFINED 01 15000
Procter & Gamble COM 742718109 3802 63400 SH DEFINED 01 62000 1400
RLI Corporation COM 749607107 34972 617666 SH DEFINED 01 598636 19030
Schlumberger COM 806857108 4085 66300 SH DEFINED 01 65000 1300
State Street Corp COM 857477103 1521 40400 SH DEFINED 01 40400
Sysco Corp COM 871829107 2424 85000 SH SOLE 85000
20536 720072 SH DEFINED 01 640000 80072
T.Rowe Price COM 74144T108 551 11000 SH SOLE 11000
9237 184500 SH DEFINED 01 184000 500
Teva Pharmaceuticals COM 881624209 4721 89500 SH DEFINED 01 84000 5500
Union First Market Bankshares COM 90662P104 45774 3504920 SH SOLE 3504920
United Parcel Service COM 911312106 4636 69520 SH SOLE 69520
42444 636438 SH DEFINED 01 583480 52958
W.P. Carey COM 92930Y107 1303 45000 SH SOLE 45000
26631 919900 SH DEFINED 01 905200 14700
Wal-Mart Stores COM 931142103 6231 116425 SH SOLE 116425
43692 816370 SH DEFINED 01 743575 72795
Walgreen COM 931422109 7439 222060 SH DEFINED 01 220000 2060
Washington Post Co COM 939640108 2157 5400 SH DEFINED 01 5200 200
Washington Real Estate Investm COM 939653101 12929 407475 SH DEFINED 01 390300 17175
White Mountains COM G9618E107 10320 33456 SH SOLE 33456
14829 48074 SH DEFINED 01 48074
Level 3 Communications CONV 52729NBM1 16537 15000000 PRN SOLE 15000000
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REPORT SUMMARY 113 DATA RECORDS 1673983 1 OTHER MANAGERS ON WHOSE BEHALF REPORT IS FILED.
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