Synopsis
Wall Street loves the fees that deal-making generates, and the press loves the stories that colorful promoters provide, Buffett said. Charlie and I would be less than human if we did not feel a special kinship with our fifthbucket: the million-plus individual investors who simply trust us.
Warren Buffett released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday. Read the full text here:
To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc:
Berkshire earned $42.5 billion in 2020 according to generally accepted accounting principles (commonly called GAAP). The four components of that figure are $21.9 billion of operating earnings, $4.9 billion of realized capital gains, a $26.7 billion gain from an increase in the amount of net unrealized capital gains that exist in the stocks we hold and, finally, an $11 billion loss from a write-down in the value of a few subsidiary and affiliate businesses that we own. All items are stated on an after-tax basis.