Berkshire Beyond Buffett summary

Berkshire Hathaway’s culture is made up of core values, which are spelled out by the individual letters in BERKSHIRE: that is, for every letter, there’s a corresponding value.  

Let’s explore the acronym’s first two letters to learn the firm’s two most important values.

A good reputation goes a long way, and not just in terms of maintaining a friendship. Even a company’s finances can benefit from a company’s good rep in an industry.

Importantly, investing in the value of reputation – the “R” in BERKSHIRE – has paid off for Berkshire Hathaway companies.

As an entrepreneur in the field of acquisitions, Warren Buffett showed how a small business could transform into a huge corporation.

It’s no surprise that this entrepreneurial spirit still fuels Berkshire Hathaway’s company culture.

Over some 50 years, Berkshire Hathaway has acquired dozens of companies, and the value of each has increased over time.

How has the firm managed to do this? Because the company’s subsidiaries do a lot of acquiring, and are successful at it, too. They have investor savvy, the “I” in BERKSHIRE.

It’s the question on everyone’s mind: what happens to Berkshire when Warren Buffett passes away?

Many people fear that losing Buffett could mean the end of Berkshire Hathaway. But keeping in mind the company’s core value of eternality – the “E” in BERKSHIRE – Buffett has developed his company’s culture and practices in a way that will see Berkshire Hathaway endure long after he is gone.

In the mid-1990s, financial analysts mulled the question whether holding company Marmon Group would fall apart after its founders, Jay and Robert Pritzker, passed away.

Today the financial community is  confronting a similar question as it attempts to divine the fate of Berkshire Hathaway, considering that Warren Buffett in 2015 will turn 85 years old.