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Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
General | Note 1. General The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire” or “Company”) consolidated with the accounts of all subsidiaries and affiliates in which Berkshire holds a controlling financial interest as of the financial statement date. In these notes, the terms “us,” “we” or “our” refer to Berkshire and its consolidated subsidiaries. Reference is made to Berkshire’s most recently issued Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Annual Report”), which includes information necessary or useful to understanding Berkshire’s businesses and financial statement presentations. Our significant accounting policies and practices were presented as Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Annual Report. Financial information in this Quarterly Report reflects all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary to a fair statement of results for the interim periods in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). For several reasons, our results for interim periods may not be indicative of results to be expected for the year. The timing and magnitude of catastrophe losses incurred by insurance subsidiaries and the estimation error inherent to the process of determining liabilities for unpaid losses of insurance subsidiaries can be more significant to results of interim periods than to results for a full year. Changes in market prices of our investments in equity securities and the related changes in unrealized gains and losses will produce significant volatility in our interim and annual earnings. In addition, gains and losses from the periodic revaluation of certain assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies and asset impairment charges may cause significant variations in periodic net earnings. Significant estimates are used in the preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements, including those associated with evaluations of long-lived assets, goodwill and other intangible assets for impairment, expected credit losses on the amounts owed to us and the estimation of certain losses assumed under insurance and reinsurance contracts. These estimates may be subject to significant adjustments in future periods. Changes in macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical events, including changes in international trade policies and tariffs, may negatively affect our operating results and the values of our investments in equity securities and of our operating businesses. We are currently unable to reliably predict the nature, timing or magnitude of the potential economic consequences of any such changes or the impacts on our Consolidated Financial Statements. As described in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in the Annual Report, we reclassified the asset, liability, revenue and expense balances of Pilot Travel Centers LLC (“Pilot”) from the Railroad, Utilities and Energy sections to the Insurance and Other sections of our Consolidated Balance Sheets and Statements of Earnings. Accordingly, we reclassified the Pilot balances in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Earnings for the second quarter and first six months of 2024 from the Railroad, Utilities and Energy section to the Insurance and Other section to conform with current presentations for comparability purposes. These reclassifications had no effect on consolidated revenues, expenses or net earnings from the amounts previously reported. The reclassifications to the amounts previously reported in our Consolidated Statement of Earnings are summarized below (in millions).
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