“To the
Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.:
Berkshire’s
gain in net worth during 2017 was $65.3 billion, which increased the per-share
book value of both our Class A and Class B stock by 23%. Over the last 53 years
(that is, since present management took over), per share book value has grown
from $19 to $211,750, a rate of 19.1% compounded annually.
The format
of that opening paragraph has been standard for 30 years. But 2017 was far from standard: A large
portion of our gain did not come from anything we accomplished at Berkshire.
The $65
billion gain is nonetheless real – rest assured of that. But only $36 billion
came from Berkshire’s operations. The remaining $29 billion was delivered to us
in December when Congress rewrote the U.S. Tax Code.”
Here's a link to Berkshire Hathaway's 2017 Annual Report
