Warren Buffett Portfolio Performance History

Berkshire Hathaway performance history (1980 - 2012)

Warren Buffett, the oracle of Omaha, who turned the loss making textile company Berkshire Hathaway into the world's largest holding company, follows the value investing strategy of Benjamin Graham. 

Buffett prefers to acquire great companies trading at a discount to their intrinsic value, and  hold them for a very long time. He only invests in businesses that he understands.  Using simple investing strategies he has outperformed S&P 500 by wide margin. 

Below is the brief snapshot of returns generated by Berkshire Hathaway over 5 years, 10 years and since inception.

Use the following link to download the year wise performance comparison table of Warren Buffett Portfolio and S&P 500. Warren Buffett Performance

Warren Buffett Letter to Shareholders 2011 - 2012 : PDF

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman, Mr. Buffett, sends an annual letter to all of its shareholders and he has been doing this every year since 1977. 

The letter is very informative and Warren Buffett don't forget to highlight his mistakes in the letter (if any), which is a part of a leadership style that has helped him build a company with 270,000 workers and draw crowds of more than 20,000 to hear him speak during annual general meeting. “A friend once asked me: If you’re so rich, why aren’t you smart?” Warren Buffett, said in a letter accompanying the 1996 annual report. 

If you are looking to read some or all of those letters then use the link to download them in PDF format: