Text and the listed reports were reviewed on October 30, 2026. The material covers through year-end 2025 and supports discussion of ownership and funding costs at that time. Current operations require subsequent filings; long-term return attribution requires further analysis.
Understanding Buffett’s investment approach
- Buffett has names such as the Oracle of Omaha and the god of stocks. Understanding his approach also requires examining how Berkshire owns businesses and allocates capital.
- Berkshire invests both through controlling ownership and minority stakes. Its 2024 shareholder letter explains that it controls many businesses, usually owning 100%; there were 189 subsidiaries at the time. It also held minority stakes in large companies worth about $272 billion at the end of 2024. Buffett wrote that the choice between control and minority ownership depends on which makes better use of capital.
The US setting and Berkshire’s operating conditions
- I consider both the US setting and Berkshire’s operating model when reading its long-term results.
- In his 2024 shareholder letter, Buffett wrote that Berkshire could not have achieved the same results outside the United States. The letter discusses US savings, capital allocation and long-term compounding.
- Insurance float helps explain Berkshire’s sources of capital. The 2024 letter reports growth from $46 billion to $171 billion over the preceding twenty years. The 2025 annual report records about $176 billion at year-end 2025 and a negative average cost of float in each year from 2023 to 2025, reflecting overall underwriting profits. Those figures describe float’s scale and cost. A separate attribution is needed to explain Berkshire’s long-term returns.
References
- Warren E. Buffett. 2024 Letter to Shareholders. Berkshire Hathaway, published in 2025. See Where Your Money Is, the US discussion and the property-casualty insurance section for ownership forms, the year-end 2024 $272 billion portfolio and float growth.
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 2025 Annual Report, published in 2026. See Insurance Investment Income, report page K-42, for year-end float and its cost from 2023 to 2025.
The sources support the operating figures and statements about the US setting. Figures retain their historical dates. Current scale requires subsequent disclosures.
