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Case HBS Case Collection August 2018 (Revised April 2019) Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A) |
In May 2018, Berkshire Hathaway announced an unprecedented loss of more than $1 billion for the first quarter of 2018. Warren Buffett blamed this loss on the new accounting rules for equity securities which he criticized. In the case ‘Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.’ students will evaluate the impact of a new rule related to the fair value accounting as it pertains to Berkshire Hathaway and Alphabet. Students will debate the topic of relevance and reliability in fair value accounting as compared to historical cost accounting and discuss the intended purposes of the balance sheet and income statement (with particular attention to net income). Students will also have a chance to review the business model of Berkshire Hathaway to debate how to measure and report the economic performance of Berkshire Hathaway.
Keywords: equity securities; FASB; Fair Value Accounting; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Financial Services Industry;
Heese, Jonas, Suraj Srinivasan, Francois Brochet, and Christine Johnson. "Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A)." Harvard Business School Case 119-030, August 2018. (Revised April 2019.)
