Berkshire Hathaway 2008 Annual Report Download - page 4

Berkshire’s Corporate Performance vs. the S&P 500
Annual Percentage Change
Year
in Per-Share
Book Value of
Berkshire
(1)
in S&P 500
with Dividends
Included
(2)
Relative
Results
(1)-(2)
1965 ................................................... 23.8 10.0 13.8
1966 ................................................... 20.3 (11.7) 32.0
1967 ................................................... 11.0 30.9 (19.9)
1968 ................................................... 19.0 11.0 8.0
1969 ................................................... 16.2 (8.4) 24.6
1970 ................................................... 12.0 3.9 8.1
1971 ................................................... 16.4 14.6 1.8
1972 ................................................... 21.7 18.9 2.8
1973 ................................................... 4.7 (14.8) 19.5
1974 ................................................... 5.5 (26.4) 31.9
1975 ................................................... 21.9 37.2 (15.3)
1976 ................................................... 59.3 23.6 35.7
1977 ................................................... 31.9 (7.4) 39.3
1978 ................................................... 24.0 6.4 17.6
1979 ................................................... 35.7 18.2 17.5
1980 ................................................... 19.3 32.3 (13.0)
1981 ................................................... 31.4 (5.0) 36.4
1982 ................................................... 40.0 21.4 18.6
1983 ................................................... 32.3 22.4 9.9
1984 ................................................... 13.6 6.1 7.5
1985 ................................................... 48.2 31.6 16.6
1986 ................................................... 26.1 18.6 7.5
1987 ................................................... 19.5 5.1 14.4
1988 ................................................... 20.1 16.6 3.5
1989 ................................................... 44.4 31.7 12.7
1990 ................................................... 7.4 (3.1) 10.5
1991 ................................................... 39.6 30.5 9.1
1992 ................................................... 20.3 7.6 12.7
1993 ................................................... 14.3 10.1 4.2
1994 ................................................... 13.9 1.3 12.6
1995 ................................................... 43.1 37.6 5.5
1996 ................................................... 31.8 23.0 8.8
1997 ................................................... 34.1 33.4 .7
1998 ................................................... 48.3 28.6 19.7
1999 ................................................... .5 21.0 (20.5)
2000 ................................................... 6.5 (9.1) 15.6
2001 ................................................... (6.2) (11.9) 5.7
2002 ................................................... 10.0 (22.1) 32.1
2003 ................................................... 21.0 28.7 (7.7)
2004 ................................................... 10.5 10.9 (.4)
2005 ................................................... 6.4 4.9 1.5
2006 ................................................... 18.4 15.8 2.6
2007 ................................................... 11.0 5.5 5.5
2008 ................................................... (9.6) (37.0) 27.4
Compounded Annual Gain – 1965-2008 ....................... 20.3% 8.9% 11.4
Overall Gain – 1964-2008 .................................. 362,319% 4,276%
Notes: Data are for calendar years with these exceptions: 1965 and 1966, year ended 9/30; 1967, 15 months ended
12/31.
Starting in 1979, accounting rules required insurance companies to value the equity securities they hold at market
rather than at the lower of cost or market, which was previously the requirement. In this table, Berkshire’s results
through 1978 have been restated to conform to the changed rules. In all other respects, the results are calculated using
the numbers originally reported.
The S&P 500 numbers are pre-tax whereas the Berkshire numbers are after-tax. If a corporation such as Berkshire
were simply to have owned the S&P 500 and accrued the appropriate taxes, its results would have lagged the S&P 500
in years when that index showed a positive return, but would have exceeded the S&P 500 in years when the index
showed a negative return. Over the years, the tax costs would have caused the aggregate lag to be substantial.
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