Berkshire Hathaway Roughly Tripled $10,000 in a Decade. Did It Beat the Market?
Key Points$10,000 in Berkshire Hathaway shares in August 2016 has grown to about $33,900.
In 2016, shares of Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) closed at $148.64, representing a $10,000 investment. By 2025, the same number of shares had grown to $504.32. Berkshire Hathaway does not pay dividends, so the entire return is reflected in the share price.
Over the decade, a $10,000 investment in Berkshire Hathaway B shares grew to approximately $33,900. However, when compared to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), which includes dividend reinvestment, the same $10,000 would have grown to about $41,300, reflecting an average annual return of around 15%.
Berkshire Hathaway's growth primarily came from its operating businesses, including insurance, freight, and power. The company's operating earnings more than tripled from $17.6 billion in 2016 to $44.5 billion in 2025. However, the share count decreased by about 13%, leading to a nearly tripling of per-share operating earnings.
Despite this impressive growth, Berkshire Hathaway did not outperform the broader market over the same period. The SPDR S&P 500 Trust grew to about $41,300 on $10,000, about $7,400 more than Berkshire Hathaway. The company's stock is trading near its 52-week high of $537.74, with a market value of about $1.1 trillion, which is roughly 21 times its operating earnings.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Finance's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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