All Letters
97 letters spanning 1956–2025. Each letter is cross-referenced with investment concepts, companies mentioned, and key figures.
Partnership Letters
1956 Limited Partnership Agreement
The founding document of Buffett Associates, Ltd., establishing the terms of the partnership. Buffett begins managing money for family and friends with $105,100, outlining his investment philosophy focused on finding undervalued securities.
1957 Letter to Partners
Buffett reviews a strong first full year, outperforming the Dow by a wide margin. He explains his three investment categories — generals, work-outs, and controls — and warns that the market appears generally overvalued. He discusses the importance of judging performance over multi-year periods, not single years.
1958 Letter to Partners
Buffett discusses the Commonwealth Trust Company position — a classic 'generals' investment trading well below conservative business value. He again outperforms the Dow, and explains how he profits from Mr. Market's irrationality without being driven by it.
1959 Letter to Partners
An exceptional year — the partnership substantially outperforms the Dow. Buffett introduces Sanborn Map as a detailed case study in unlocking hidden asset value through shareholder activism.
1960 Letter to Partners
Buffett details the completion of the Sanborn Map investment and its outcome. He emphasizes that the partnership's goal is to beat the Dow by ten or more percentage points in down years, while keeping pace in up years.
1961 Letter to Partners
The partnership takes a majority controlling position in Dempster Mill Manufacturing. Buffett explains the three types of investments (generals, work-outs, controls) in more depth, and credits Benjamin Graham's framework as the intellectual foundation of everything he does.
1961 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
A mid-year update to limited partners covering portfolio developments in July 1961, a period of strong market gains.
1962 Letter to Partners
A difficult year for the market that proves the partnership's resilience. Buffett documents the turnaround at Dempster Mill under new management and discusses the mechanics of managing a control position. He also begins accumulating what will become a significant position.
1962 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
A mid-year update to limited partners in July 1962, during a sharp market decline. Buffett updates on performance and portfolio positioning.
1962 November Letter to Partners
Written November 1, 1962, this letter announces the terms for the 1963 partnership year and updates partners on investment activity.
1963 Letter to Partners
Buffett discusses the American Express salad oil scandal as a work-out opportunity, and explains his thinking on concentration versus diversification. He argues that diversification is protection against ignorance — the knowledgeable investor should concentrate.
1963 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
A substantial mid-year letter (15KB) updating partners on the American Express position and broader portfolio performance in July 1963.
1963 November Letter to Partners
Written in November 1963, this letter announces the terms for the 1964 partnership year.
1964 Letter to Partners
Continued discussion of the American Express position during the salad oil crisis. Buffett explains how he conducted research — talking to employees, customers, and competitors ('scuttlebutt') to confirm the core charge card business remained intact despite the scandal.
1964 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
A mid-year update to limited partners in July 1964, covering portfolio performance and the American Express situation.
1965 Letter to Partners
Buffett takes control of the Berkshire Hathaway textile mill — a decision he would later call his biggest mistake. He also discusses the partnership's evolving strategy as capital under management grows, and warns that his best ideas have already been deployed.
1965 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
A 10.4% first-half gain against the Dow's 0.8%. Buffett announces the partnership's acquisition of a controlling interest — later revealed as Berkshire Hathaway — and explains why a controlled business must be valued as a business, not a stock. He also lampoons the big mutual funds as ducks on a pond, rising and falling with the market's water level.
1965 November Letter to Partners
The year-end administrative packet: the 1966 commitment letter, the updated Ground Rules (with the newly added Rule 7), withdrawal mechanics, and — with the partnership now controlling Berkshire Hathaway — the policy of valuing that control position on assets and earning power rather than market price.
1966 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
The Dow falls 8.7% in the first half while the partnership gains 8.2%. Buffett announces the negotiated purchase of Hochschild, Kohn & Co. — the first entire business the partnership ever bought — and delivers his classic essay against market forecasting: he concentrates on what should happen, not when, and cites Chapter 2 of Graham's The Intelligent Investor as the most important investment text ever written.
1966 Letter to Partners
Buffett is becoming more cautious as valuations rise. He discusses the Disney investment and explains why he expects future partnership returns to be lower than historical rates as the fund grows larger and cheap stocks become scarcer.
1967 Letter to Partners
Berkshire acquires National Indemnity and enters the insurance business. Buffett explains the economics of insurance float for the first time. He is increasingly concerned that performance expectations from partners are unrealistically high.
1967 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
A 21% first-half gain against the Dow's 11.4%. Buffett reports satisfactory progress at Diversified Retailing but delivers a candid early verdict on Berkshire Hathaway's textile business: no loss in underlying value, yet no prospect of a good return on the assets employed. He also previews the October letter that will revise the partnership's Ground Rules.
1967 October Letter to Partners
A major special letter in which Buffett lowers the partnership's stated objective from a ten-percentage-point annual edge over the Dow to the lesser of 9% or a five-point edge. The market has grown more speculative, quantitative bargains scarcer, and his own appetite for total immersion has waned — but he will not abandon an approach he understands to chase profits he doesn't.
1968 Mid-Year Letter to Partners
A 16% first-half gain against a flat Dow. Buffett credits the managers of the four controlled businesses — Chace, Kohn, Ringwalt, and Rosner — and issues his sharpest warning yet about the 'chain-letter type stock-promotion vogue' sweeping Wall Street, a mania of accounting distortions he predicts will loom large in the financial history of the era.
1968 Letter to Partners
The partnership's best absolute year ever, but Buffett grows more uncomfortable with a speculative market. He signals he may close the partnership because he cannot find enough cheap securities and feels increasingly out of step with the 'go-go' investment culture.
1969 May Letter to Partners
The famous retirement letter. Buffett announces his intention to liquidate the partnership: quantitative bargains have dried up over twenty years, $100 million of assets shrinks his universe further, and the market has turned short-term and speculative. He pledges an alternative money manager for partners and the option to keep proportional interests in Berkshire Hathaway and Diversified Retailing.
1969 October Letter to Partners
Buffett maps the liquidation calendar and introduces Bill Ruane of Ruane, Cunniff & Stires — the manager he ranks highest on integrity and ability — as his recommendation for partners' money. He then delivers a landmark verdict: for the first time in his career, passive tax-free bonds at 6.5% look fully equivalent to the after-tax expectations of professionally managed stocks.
1969 December Letter to Partners
An owner's briefing on the two companies partners are about to hold directly. Diversified Retailing has just sold Hochschild Kohn for about $11 million; Berkshire's textile operation 'cannot be judged a satisfactory business,' but its insurance and bank are first-class with roughly $32 per share of tangible assets earning about $4. Buffett expects both to compound intrinsic value at about 10% annually.
1969 Letter to Partners
The year-end letter finalizes the January cash distribution (about 64% of capital) and reports a small overall gain for 1969 as liquidation proceeds — with Buffett 'delighted' at the timing of the exit. The appended February 1970 finale is his primer on tax-free bond investing for partners redeploying their proceeds.
Berkshire Letters
1965 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire Hathaway's first annual letter after Buffett assumed control. Written by Malcolm Chace and Kenneth Chace, it reports a dramatic earnings recovery ($2.3M vs $125K the prior year) driven by plant closures and cost reduction in textiles.
1966 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett's first full year shaping Berkshire's direction. The letter discusses challenging textile markets, the restoration of financial strength after years of losses, and the beginning of a search for acquisitions beyond textiles. A first dividend is declared.
1967 Letter to Shareholders
The acquisition of National Indemnity Company marks Berkshire's decisive pivot away from textiles. Buffett describes the insurance business's underwriting discipline and the financial logic behind deploying insurance float into equities.
1968 Letter to Shareholders
Earnings improve in both textiles and insurance. Buffett begins the exit from unprofitable textile operations (Box Loom division phased out) and acquires Sun Newspapers — an early media investment reflecting his conviction in durable franchise businesses.
1969 Letter to Shareholders
The four-year diversification strategy bears fruit: a 10%+ return on equity despite only 5% from textiles. The acquisition of Illinois National Bank & Trust of Rockford demonstrates Buffett's model of deploying insurance-generated capital into premier banks.
1970 Letter to Shareholders
A watershed year: Berkshire's diversified operations — insurance, banking, and a newspaper — each outperform textiles dramatically. Buffett describes the vastly different earning power of each business and the capital-light model that insurance and banking enable.
1971 Letter to Shareholders
Operating earnings exceed 14% of shareholders' equity — well above American industry average — despite poor textile results. Buffett explains why the redeployment of capital from textiles into insurance five years earlier was the single most important decision.
1972 Letter to Shareholders
The best year yet: 19.8% return on equity. Since Buffett assumed control in 1965, book value per share has grown from $19.46 to $69.72 — about 16.5% compounded annually — with no new capital raised. A masterclass on return on capital without dilution.
1973 Letter to Shareholders
Insurance competition intensifies and underwriting profits compress. Buffett discusses the cyclical nature of insurance pricing and explains his discipline: write profitably or don't write at all. Berkshire continues to refuse volume for its own sake.
1974 Letter to Shareholders
A difficult year: catastrophic losses in insurance drag results down. The stock market crashes to historic lows. Yet Buffett remains strategically patient — shrinking insurance volume when pricing is inadequate and positioning for the coming recovery.
1975 Letter to Shareholders
Still challenging but improvement visible. Hard market conditions in insurance create opportunity for disciplined underwriters. Buffett explains why Berkshire's financial strength — maintained precisely when others are weakest — is its competitive advantage.
1976 Letter to Shareholders
A spectacular rebound: insurance underwriting profits surge as the market hardens. Buffett describes the cyclical nature of insurance and why capacity discipline during downturns creates exceptional profits during recovery. Berkshire's GEICO investment is also disclosed.
1977 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett's first letter as Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway after restructuring. He discusses the acquisition of The Buffalo Evening News and lays out his framework for judging business quality: return on equity without leverage.
1978 Letter to Shareholders
A detailed treatment of insurance economics and the concept of float. Buffett introduces Charlie Munger as Vice Chairman and discusses Berkshire's decentralized management philosophy.
1979 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett discusses the corrosive effect of inflation on business returns and introduces his framework for evaluating whether a business truly creates wealth for shareholders after accounting for inflation.
1980 Letter to Shareholders
Continued discussion of GEICO's remarkable recovery from near-bankruptcy. Buffett marvels at what CEO Jack Byrne accomplished through underwriting discipline and explains what the GEICO franchise means for Berkshire's future.
1981 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire's insurance businesses generate record float. Buffett discusses the economics of low-cost insurance operations and his framework for evaluating whether underwriting creates or destroys value.
1982 Letter to Shareholders
A pivotal year as Berkshire prepares to acquire Nebraska Furniture Mart. Buffett discusses intrinsic value versus book value and the growing divergence between the two.
1983 Letter to Shareholders
One of Buffett's most comprehensive letters. He acquires Nebraska Furniture Mart, discusses the economics of consumer franchise businesses in depth (using See's Candies as the central example), introduces Berkshire's acquisition criteria, and delivers a rigorous treatment of the economic goodwill concept.
1984 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett publishes 'The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville' (originally a Columbia lecture) as an appendix. He defends value investing against efficient market theory by profiling decades-long records of Graham disciples including Walter Schloss.
1985 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire invests in Capital Cities/ABC and closes the textile operations. Buffett writes candidly about the textile failure — a lesson in not continuing to throw capital at uncompetitive businesses simply because of sunk costs.
1986 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett introduces the concept of 'owner earnings' — his preferred alternative to GAAP earnings for measuring true economic performance. He also explains why Ajit Jain's arrival transforms Berkshire's insurance prospects.
1987 Letter to Shareholders
The year of Black Monday (October 1987 crash). Buffett discusses market psychology, uses the Mr. Market allegory most memorably, and explains why volatility is opportunity rather than risk. He discusses Berkshire's investment in Salomon Brothers.
1988 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire begins accumulating Coca-Cola stock. Buffett reveals the position and explains why Coca-Cola represents the ideal consumer franchise — pricing power, global distribution, and the ability to grow without heavy capital reinvestment.
1989 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire's 25th anniversary letter contains Buffett's famous list of his biggest mistakes. He introduces the concept of 'institutional imperative' and discusses investments in Gillette, USAir (already a regret), and Borsheim's. The letter is unusually self-critical and candid.
1990 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett introduces the concept of 'look-through earnings' to help shareholders understand Berkshire's true earning power, which GAAP significantly understates. He begins the Wells Fargo investment at depressed prices.
1991 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett discusses the Salomon Brothers crisis and his role as interim chairman — delivering one of his most famous management lessons. He also elaborates on franchise value using See's Candies, H.H. Brown, and the Buffalo News.
1992 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett discusses the economics of franchise businesses and explains why some companies can earn extraordinary returns on equity for decades through intangible competitive advantages.
1993 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett reflects on the Dexter Shoe acquisition — already recognized as a mistake — and discusses circle of competence in depth. He acquires Dexter Shoe using stock, which he will later call his all-time worst deal.
1994 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett's masterwork annual letter. He provides a comprehensive framework covering intrinsic value, book value, look-through earnings, the economics of his insurance operations, and the logic behind Berkshire's management structure. Widely considered the single best letter for understanding Berkshire's philosophy.
1995 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire acquires the remaining 49% of GEICO for $2.3 billion. Buffett discusses the Capital Cities/ABC sale to Disney and the logic of holding wonderful businesses indefinitely.
1996 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire issues B-shares and publishes the Owner's Manual. GEICO grows its policyholder count dramatically. Buffett comprehensively explains why the combination of insurance float and excellent businesses is uniquely powerful.
1997 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire acquires General Re, a major reinsurance company. Buffett discusses the economics of reinsurance and the challenge of integrating a large operation with a complex derivatives book.
1998 Letter to Shareholders
The General Re integration reveals problems with its derivatives book. Buffett begins articulating his concerns about derivatives as systemic financial risks. He discusses Berkshire's long-term concern about the US current account deficit.
1999 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett's worst relative year as Berkshire badly underperforms the tech-bubble market. He publishes a study of stock market history showing why the extraordinary returns of the 1980s and 1990s cannot be repeated.
2000 Letter to Shareholders
Written after the dot-com crash, Buffett discusses the dangers of irrational exuberance and the importance of valuation discipline. He explains why Berkshire did not participate in the tech bubble and why this appeared to be a missed opportunity that was actually sound judgment.
2001 Letter to Shareholders
The September 11 attacks cost Berkshire's insurance operations approximately $2.3 billion. Buffett discusses the insurance implications and the danger of not charging adequate premiums for catastrophe risk.
2002 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett's extended warning about derivatives — 'financial weapons of mass destruction.' He also discusses the General Re remediation and acquisition of Clayton Homes and The Pampered Chef.
2003 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire acquires Clayton Homes and McLane Company. Buffett discusses the economics of manufactured housing and his views on mortgage lending practices.
2004 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett discusses Berkshire's insurance profitability, Ajit Jain's role in building the reinsurance operation, and the growing problem of pension accounting in corporate America.
2005 Letter to Shareholders
Hurricane Katrina produces record insurance industry losses, but Berkshire's catastrophe operations perform well due to disciplined underwriting. Buffett discusses the long-term competitive advantage of Berkshire's insurance culture.
2006 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire's best underwriting year on record. Buffett discusses the PacifiCorp acquisition, Berkshire's growing energy business, and the long-term appeal of regulated utilities as compounding machines.
2007 Letter to Shareholders
Written just before the financial crisis fully erupted. Buffett discusses moat durability, provides a retrospective on See's Candies' 35-year returns, and signals growing concern about the credit market excesses.
2008 Letter to Shareholders
The financial crisis letter. Buffett explains Berkshire's financial crisis investments, his column 'Buy American. I Am.' and the logic of acting when others are panicking. He discusses derivative risks and Berkshire's safety during the turmoil.
2009 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire acquires BNSF Railroad for $26 billion — Buffett's 'all-in' bet on America's economic future. He discusses the irreplaceable infrastructure value of America's rail network.
2010 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett discusses the BNSF Railroad acquisition — his bet on America's infrastructure — and addresses the Sokol affair (a board member's improper pre-announcement stock purchase) with characteristic directness.
2011 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett makes a major investment in IBM stock and discusses his evolving view on technology companies with durable competitive advantages. He addresses Berkshire's housing and real estate businesses.
2012 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire repurchases shares for the first time at a specific book value threshold. Buffett makes the definitive case for stock repurchases as value creation when shares trade below intrinsic value.
2013 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire acquires H.J. Heinz with 3G Capital. Buffett discusses the long-term economics of consumer staples brands and why patient holding of exceptional franchises beats trading.
2014 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire's 50th anniversary. Features Buffett's retrospective essay and Charlie Munger's companion piece — a meditation on what made Berkshire exceptional and why its culture will endure beyond its founders.
2015 Letter to Shareholders
Berkshire acquires Precision Castparts — the largest acquisition in its history at the time. Buffett discusses industrial manufacturing economics and the long-term case for equity ownership over bonds.
2016 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett begins accumulating Apple stock and defends the investment. He argues Apple is a consumer products company with exceptional brand loyalty rather than a conventional technology company.
2017 Letter to Shareholders
US tax reform dramatically increases Berkshire's book value. Buffett explains the difference between book value and intrinsic value and why the tax reform's benefit is largely a one-time accounting gain rather than a change in earning power.
2018 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett officially designates Greg Abel and Ajit Jain as Vice Chairmen — signaling the succession plan. He explains Berkshire's internal reporting change and makes the case for holding equities versus bonds in an inflationary world.
2019 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett ends the use of book value as Berkshire's primary benchmark, arguing intrinsic value has diverged significantly upward. He celebrates Berkshire's 54 years and discusses the role of retained earnings in building wealth.
2020 Letter to Shareholders
COVID-19 creates unprecedented disruption across Berkshire's businesses. Buffett discusses the resilience of Berkshire's structure, the logic behind selling airline stocks, and his enduring conviction in America's long-term future.
2021 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett celebrates the American tailwind — America's extraordinary economic achievement since 1942 — and explains how Berkshire participates in it as a microcosm of American enterprise. He discusses BNSF and BHE as core pillars.
2022 Letter to Shareholders
A major year for Berkshire repurchases and energy investments. Buffett makes a substantial investment in Occidental Petroleum and discusses the compounding effects of patient capital allocation.
2023 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett's first letter without Charlie Munger (who passed in November 2023). A moving tribute to Munger's intellectual partnership and its role in shaping Berkshire. Buffett discusses Apple's centrality to Berkshire's value, Berkshire's cash position, and the succession picture.
2024 Letter to Shareholders
Buffett's final letter as Berkshire's CEO before transitioning the CEO role to Greg Abel. He reflects on the long arc of Berkshire's history and his confidence in Abel's leadership.
2025 Letter to Shareholders
A landmark transition letter: Greg Abel's first as Berkshire's CEO, with Warren Buffett remaining as Chairman. Abel reflects on Buffett's 60-year legacy, his stewardship philosophy, and the values and culture that will guide Berkshire into its next chapter. The letter affirms that shareholder capital is held in trust — not owned — and that the principles Buffett established will endure.
Special Documents
The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville
Buffett's landmark essay defending value investing as a coherent, replicable framework rather than random luck. He profiles eight investors who all learned from Ben Graham and all beat the market over long periods — statistically impossible under the efficient market hypothesis.
An Owner's Manual
Written when Berkshire created B-shares, Buffett published this comprehensive document outlining 15 owner-related business principles — the foundational articulation of Berkshire's unique shareholder relationships and management philosophy.
Warren Buffett on the Stock Market (Fortune, 2001)
Buffett's analysis of the long-term relationship between corporate profits, interest rates, and equity valuations. He argues that the returns of the 1980–2000 bull market were mathematically impossible to repeat and explains the two key variables that drive long-term market returns.
Buy American. I Am. (NYT Op-Ed)
Buffett's famous op-ed published at the height of the financial crisis, explaining why he was personally buying American stocks and why the crisis represented the buying opportunity of a generation.
Berkshire — The Past, Present and Future
Buffett's landmark 50th anniversary essay reflecting on Berkshire's transformation from a failing textile mill to a diversified conglomerate. A comprehensive account of the company's history, culture, and the principles that shaped its success.
Vice Chairman's Thoughts — Past and Future
Charlie Munger's companion essay to Buffett's 50th anniversary piece. Munger reflects on the critical decisions that shaped Berkshire, the role of rational temperament, and his own intellectual partnership with Buffett.
Thanksgiving Message 2025
Buffett's Thanksgiving message to Berkshire shareholders, reflecting on gratitude, the durability of American enterprise, and the principles that have guided his investment philosophy over seven decades.