Berkshire Hathaway 2004 Annual Report Download - page 80

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79
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.
COMMON STOCK
General
Berkshire has two classes of common stock designated Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock.
Each share of Class A Common Stock is convertible, at the option of the holder, into 30 shares of Class B Common
Stock. Shares of Class B Common Stock are not convertible into shares of Class A Common Stock.
Stock Transfer Agent
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., P. O. Box 64854, St. Paul, MN 55164-0854 serves as Transfer Agent and Registrar for
the Company’ s common stock. Correspondence may be directed to Wells Fargo at the address indicated or at
wellsfargo.com/shareownerservices. Telephone inquiries should be directed to the Shareowner Relations Department
at 1-877-602-7411 between 7:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. Central Time. Certificates for re-issue or transfer should be
directed to the Transfer Department at the address indicated.
Shareholders of record wishing to convert Class A Common Stock into Class B Common Stock may contact
Wells Fargo in writing. Along with the underlying stock certificate, shareholders should provide Wells Fargo with
specific written instructions regarding the number of shares to be converted and the manner in which the Class B shares
are to be registered. We recommend that you use certified or registered mail when delivering the stock certificates and
written instructions.
If Class A shares are held in “street name,” shareholders wishing to convert all or a portion of their holding
should contact their broker or bank nominee. It will be necessary for the nominee to make the request for conversion.
Shareholders
Berkshire had approximately 6,400 record holders of its Class A Common Stock and 14,700 record holders of its
Class B Common Stock at March 2, 2005. Record owners included nominees holding at least 500,000 shares of Class
A Common Stock and 7,500,000 shares of Class B Common Stock on behalf of beneficial-but-not-of-record owners.
Price Range of Common Stock
Berkshire’ s Class A and Class B Common Stock are listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange, trading
symbol: BRK.A and BRK.B. The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices per share, as reported on the
New York Stock Exchange Composite List during the periods indicated:
2004 2003
Class A Class B Class A Class B
Hi
g
hLow Hi
g
hLow Hi
g
hLow Hi
g
hLow
First Quarte
r
$95,700 $84,000 $3,195 $2,795 $73,005 $60,600 $2,437 $2,015
Second Quarte
r
95,650 85,100 3,189 2,830 75,500 64,305 2,514 2,141
Third Quarte
r
90,750 83,400 3,024 2,782 76,400 70,900 2,549 2,367
Fourth Quarte
r
89,500 81,150 2,994 2,685 84,700 75,150 2,824 2,496
Dividends
Berkshire has not declared a cash dividend since 1967.
NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE MATTERS
As a listed Company with the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), Berkshire is subject to certain Corporate
Governance standards as required by the NYSE and/or the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Among
other requirements, Berkshire’ s CEO, as required by Section 303A.12(a) of the NYSE Listed Company Manual, must
certify to the NYSE each year whether or not he is aware of any violations by the Company of NYSE Corporate
Governance listing standards as of the date of the certification. On May 17, 2004, Berkshire’ s CEO Warren E. Buffett,
submitted such a certification to the NYSE which stated that he was not aware of any violation by Berkshire of the
NYSE Corporate Governance listing standards.
On March 12, 2004, Berkshire filed its 2003 Form 10-K with the SEC, which included as Exhibits 31.1 and 31.2
the required CEO and CFO Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section 302 certifications. As of March 5, 2005, Berkshire has not
filed its 2004 Form 10-K.