The Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway

The general take

Bill Ackman recommends The Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway as a deep dive for people willing to put in the work, noting that the author meticulously reviewed all of Buffett's SEC filings and deals across six decades. He frames it as something for serious fans rather than casual readers—"geeks," in his words—but clearly thinks the level of detail and historical analysis is valuable.

About

An authoritative company history of Berkshire Hathaway, fully updated to cover the last five years. Beginning with Berkshire's origins as a struggling textile company, The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway examines the development of the modern-day conglomerate year-by-year and decade-by-decade, as it transforms into what it is today. This comprehensive analysis distils over 10,000 pages of research material, including Warren Buffett’s Chairman’s letters, Berkshire Hathaway annual reports and SEC filings, annual meeting transcripts, subsidiary financials, and more. The analysis of each year is supplemented with Buffett’s own commentary, and examines all important acquisitions, investments, and other capital allocation decisions.

Who said what

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  Bill Ackman👍 Recommends

  …discussing the financial history and investment strategy of berkshire hathaway

  “There's a book, I think it's called The Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway. And that's for geeks. Basically this guy went back and read every 10Q, whatever, he actually went through the filings, looked at every deal that Buffett ever did, and you follow him over a 60 year period of time.”

  All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg — Bill Ackman: Investment Strategy, What the Market is Missing, How AI Breaks Businessesat 19:17

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