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Re:Annual Letter to Berkshire Shareholders (2019) [pdf] by danfoxley on Saturday February 22, 2020 @02:04PM (#22392660)
From the bottom of the first page in the report: Overall Gain – 1964-2019 .................................................... Berkshire: 2,744,062% S&P: 19,784%

Huh? 2 million percent vs. 19k ?

Re:Annual Letter to Berkshire Shareholders (2019) [pdf] by kragen on Saturday February 22, 2020 @02:28PM (#22392803)
Yes, that is correct. Berkshire stock is worth 27440 times as much, in nominal dollars, as it was in 1964. Meanwhile, a hypothetical no-load S&P index fund would be worth 198 times as much, again in nominal dollars. That is why Warren Buffett became the world's richest person (for a while; later he hired Bill Gates to help him give his money away) and his shareholder letter is on the front page of HN. If you hadn't heard of him before, congratulations! You're one of today's lucky ten thousand!
Re:Annual Letter to Berkshire Shareholders (2019) [pdf] by sethev on Saturday February 22, 2020 @02:27PM (#22392793)
Yeah, people who invested any money in Berkshire in 1964 are very rich now (if they didn't sell). People who invested in S&P in 1964 are not as rich.
Re:Annual Letter to Berkshire Shareholders (2019) [pdf] by roenxi on Saturday February 22, 2020 @04:08PM (#22393326)
Although interestingly heir performance in the last 10 years has roughly matched/slightly lagged the S&P index.

Tough game managing that much money.

Re:Annual Letter to Berkshire Shareholders (2019) [pdf] by robocat on Saturday February 22, 2020 @05:53PM (#22393886)
10 years ago they were avoiding tech stocks, and I think they mostly still do.

Perhaps matching S&P without investing in some of the biggest gains is quite a notable outcome?