Last year Berkshire Hathaway stock went up 4% while the S&P 500 (including dividends) fell 18%. Berkshire is not always a port in the storm, but it has always made it out of the storm by focusing on the most important things: Free cash flow, profitability, diversification and quality of management. This is how a conglomerate with just a few dozen people in the home office can invest in hundreds of businesses with thousands of employees and endure over the course of half a century (and, let’s hope, beyond).
As a long-time shareholder of Berkshire, I am happy to receive and share this year’s letter from our chairman, Mr. Warren Buffett.
