================================================================================ 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, 2012 ----------------- Check here if Amendment [ ]; Amendment Number: ____ 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 11/06/2012 ---------------------- ---------------------------- ------------------- [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: 127 ------------- Form 13F Information Table Value Total: $ 2,341,219 ------------- (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 Markel Corporation FORM 13F September 30, 2012 VOTING AUTHORITY VALUE SHARES/ SH/ PUT/ INVSTMT OTHER --------------------- NAME OF ISSUER TITLE OF CLASS CUSIP (X$1000) PRN AMT PRN CALL DSCRETN MANAGERS SOLE SHARED NONE ------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- ------- --- ---- ------- -------- ------- ------ ------ 3M Company COM 88579y101 2773 30000 SH Sole 30000 15998 173100 SH Defined 01 171000 2100 Accenture COM G1151C101 700 10000 SH Sole 10000 7612 108700 SH Defined 01 100000 8700 Air Products & Chemicals COM 009158106 2291 27700 SH Defined 01 24000 3700 Alleghany Corporation COM 017175100 1493 4328 SH Sole 4328 Alliance Holdings GP COM 3908 81500 SH Defined 01 80000 1500 Alpha Natural Resources COM 02076x102 1222 186000 SH Defined 01 185000 1000 American Express COM 025816109 569 10000 SH Sole 10000 20691 363897 SH Defined 01 339000 24897 Anheuser-Busch Inbev ADR COM 03524A108 34493 401501 SH Defined 01 390000 11501 Archer Daniels COM 039483102 34051 1252800 SH Defined 01 1245000 7800 Artio Global Investors COM 04315B107 16968 5694000 SH Defined 01 5683000 11000 Automatic Data Processing COM 053015103 30409 518400 SH Defined 01 507700 10700 Bank of New York Mellon Corp COM 064058100 68 3019 SH Sole 3019 5124 226527 SH Defined 01 214907 11620 Barrett Business Systems COM 068463108 556 20500 SH Defined 01 20000 500 Berkshire Hathaway Class B COM 084670702 42786 485100 SH Sole 485100 95052 1077682 SH Defined 01 1026507 51175 Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. COM 084670108 36492 275 SH Sole 275 107487 810 SH Defined 01 783 27 Brookfield Asset Management COM 112585104 14839 430000 SH Sole 430000 91554 2652960 SH Defined 01 2495548 157412 Brown & Brown COM 115236101 9532 365628 SH Defined 01 365628 Brown Forman Class A COM 115637100 26607 425640 SH Defined 01 421500 4140 Brown-Forman Class B COM 115637209 6941 106372 SH Defined 01 105375 997 Calamos Asset Management COM 12811R104 1513 130000 SH Defined 01 130000 Calumet COM 131476103 320 10000 SH Sole 10000 864 27000 SH Defined 01 25000 2000 Capital One COM 14040H105 10228 179400 SH Defined 01 170000 9400 Carbo Ceramics Inc COM 140781105 9753 155000 SH Defined 01 155000 Carmax COM 143130102 6650 235000 SH Sole 235000 139195 4918535 SH Defined 01 4728070 190465 Caterpillar Inc COM 149123101 21183 246200 SH Defined 01 241000 5200 Charles Schwab COM 808513105 13011 1017705 SH Defined 01 960000 57705 Coca Cola Co COM 191216100 4764 125600 SH Defined 01 120000 5600 Colfax Corporation COM 194014106 39790 1085070 SH Sole 1085070 Consol Energy COM 20854p109 451 15000 SH Defined 01 15000 Costco COM 22160K105 501 5000 SH Sole 5000 3556 35500 SH Defined 01 34000 1500 DENTSPLY COM 249030107 1350 35400 SH Defined 01 35000 400 Dell Inc COM 24702R101 2464 250000 SH Defined 01 250000 Diageo PLC COM 25243Q205 37032 328500 SH Sole 328500 102367 908071 SH Defined 01 861500 46571 Disney COM 254687106 10456 200000 SH Sole 200000 70264 1344002 SH Defined 01 1284500 59502 EOG Resources, Inc. COM 26875p101 9401 83900 SH Defined 01 83500 400 Ecolab COM 278865100 3137 48400 SH Defined 01 48000 400 Emerson Electric COM 291011104 8278 171500 SH Defined 01 158000 13500 Enterprise Products Lmtd Ptnsh COM 293792107 338 6300 SH Defined 01 6300 Expeditors Int'l Wash Inc COM 302130109 3926 108000 SH Defined 01 108000 Exxon Corporation COM 30231G102 18272 199800 SH Sole 199800 57235 625862 SH Defined 01 587000 38862 Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd COM 303901102 103324 267104 SH Sole 267104 4779 12355 SH Defined 01 12355 Federated Investors COM 314211103 207 10000 SH Sole 10000 44421 2147000 SH Defined 01 2124000 23000 Fidelity National Financial COM 31620R105 349 16300 SH Defined 01 16300 1 Markel Corporation FORM 13F September 30, 2012 VOTING AUTHORITY VALUE SHARES/ SH/ PUT/ INVSTMT OTHER --------------------- NAME OF ISSUER TITLE OF CLASS CUSIP (X$1000) PRN AMT PRN CALL DSCRETN MANAGERS SOLE SHARED NONE ------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- ------- --- ---- ------- -------- ------- ------ ------ General Dynamics COM 369550108 26286 397548 SH Defined 01 382000 15548 General Electric COM 369604103 30941 1362450 SH Sole 1362450 23803 1048115 SH Defined 01 942550 105565 Hasbro, Inc COM 418056107 4580 120000 SH Defined 01 120000 Heritage Crystal Clean Inc COM 42726M106 4953 249500 SH Defined 01 249500 Home Depot COM 437076102 1207 20000 SH Sole 20000 56721 939555 SH Defined 01 900000 39555 Illinois Tool Works COM 452308109 14718 247490 SH Defined 01 230000 17490 Intel COM 458140100 1359 60000 SH Sole 60000 17640 778642 SH Defined 01 750000 28642 International Business Machine COM 459200101 2074 10000 SH Sole 10000 2137 10300 SH Defined 01 10000 300 International Game Technology COM 459902102 3272 250000 SH Sole 250000 12112 925324 SH Defined 01 885000 40324 Investors Title Company COM 461804106 14917 228650 SH Defined 01 213300 15350 Johnson and Johnson COM 478160104 19295 280000 SH Sole 280000 20817 302095 SH Defined 01 291700 10395 Lennox International COM 526107107 12259 253500 SH Defined 01 253000 500 Leucadia National Corp COM 527288104 15255 670533 SH Defined 01 650000 20533 Loews Corporation COM 540424108 9931 240700 SH Defined 01 235000 5700 Lowes COM 548661107 2873 95000 SH Sole 95000 14551 481200 SH Defined 01 445000 36200 Marriott International COM 571903202 7115 181965 SH Sole 181965 46983 1201600 SH Defined 01 1101907 99693 Mastercard, Inc COM 57636Q104 1354 3000 SH Defined 01 3000 Mattel COM 577081102 2660 75000 SH Defined 01 75000 McCormick and Company COM 579780206 1055 17000 SH Defined 01 17000 McDonalds COM 580135101 17415 189810 SH Defined 01 181000 8810 Microsoft Corp COM 594918104 23900 803090 SH Defined 01 784000 19090 Monsanto Co COM 61166W101 2831 31100 SH Defined 01 30000 1100 Moody's Corp COM 615369105 1325 30000 SH Defined 01 30000 National Oilwell COM 637071101 8412 105000 SH Defined 01 105000 Natural Resource Partners COM 63900P103 1140 55000 SH Defined 01 55000 Nicholas Financial COM 65373j209 1982 153500 SH Defined 01 153500 Nike COM 654106103 5619 59200 SH Defined 01 59000 200 Norfolk Southern COM 655844108 1362 21400 SH Defined 01 20000 1400 Northern Trust Corp COM 665859104 6498 140000 SH Defined 01 140000 Novo-Nordisk A/S COM 670100205 35996 228100 SH Defined 01 215000 13100 Oracle Corp COM 68389x105 19499 619800 SH Defined 01 588000 31800 Patterson Companies Inc. COM 703395103 5006 146200 SH Defined 01 145000 1200 Paychex COM 704326107 5023 150900 SH Defined 01 150000 900 Peabody Energy COM 704549104 3009 135000 SH Defined 01 135000 Pepsico COM 713448108 8988 127000 SH Defined 01 126300 700 Philip Morris International COM 718172109 10496 116700 SH Defined 01 114500 2200 Plum Creek Lumber MLP COM 729251108 6576 150000 SH Sole 150000 8851 201900 SH Defined 01 200000 1900 Procter & Gamble COM 742718109 1332 19200 SH Defined 01 18000 1200 RLI Corporation COM 749607107 40853 612862 SH Defined 01 598636 14226 SEI Investments Co COM 784117103 2358 110000 SH Defined 01 110000 Schlumberger COM 806857108 10560 146000 SH Defined 01 146000 State Street Corp COM 857477103 1695 40400 SH Defined 01 40400 Sysco Corp COM 871829107 2658 85000 SH Sole 85000 21051 673204 SH Defined 01 610000 63204 T.Rowe Price COM 74144T108 696 11000 SH Sole 11000 15160 239500 SH Defined 01 239000 500 Teva Pharmaceuticals COM 881624209 24668 595700 SH Defined 01 585000 10700 Union First Market Bankshares COM 90662P104 54537 3504920 SH Sole 3504920 United Parcel Service COM 911312106 4976 69520 SH Sole 69520 2 Markel Corporation FORM 13F September 30, 2012 VOTING AUTHORITY VALUE SHARES/ SH/ PUT/ INVSTMT OTHER --------------------- NAME OF ISSUER TITLE OF CLASS CUSIP (X$1000) PRN AMT PRN CALL DSCRETN MANAGERS SOLE SHARED NONE ------------------------------ -------------- --------- -------- ------- --- ---- ------- -------- ------- ------ ------ 48698 680426 SH Defined 01 637980 42446 United Technologies COM 913017109 4196 53600 SH Defined 01 53000 600 Visa COM 92826C839 13576 101100 SH Defined 01 101000 100 Vodafone Group COM 92857w209 570 20000 SH Defined 01 20000 W.P. Carey COM 92930Y107 2205 45000 SH Sole 45000 44619 910600 SH Defined 01 905200 5400 Wal-Mart Stores COM 931142103 8592 116425 SH Sole 116425 73309 993341 SH Defined 01 930575 62766 Walgreen COM 931422109 78348 2150060 SH Defined 01 2115000 35060 Washington Post Co COM 939640108 1924 5300 SH Defined 01 5200 100 Washington Real Estate Investm COM 939653101 247 9200 SH Defined 01 9200 REPORT SUMMARY 127 DATA RECORDS 2341219 1 OTHER MANAGERS ON WHOSE BEHALF REPORT IS FILED 3