Pension and Postretirement Plans (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014 Pension Plan [Member] companies	Jun. 30, 2013 Pension Plan [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Pension Plan [Member] companies	Jun. 30, 2013 Pension Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Pension Plan [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Pension Plan [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Pension Plan [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Pension Plan [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Pension Plan [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Pension Plan [Member] Washington Post Newspaper [Member] Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Pension Plan [Member] Washington Post Newspaper [Member] Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Pension Plan [Member] Washington Post Newspaper [Member] Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Pension Plan [Member] Washington Post Newspaper [Member] Special Separation Benefits [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Pension Plan [Member] Corporate Office [Member] Separation Incentive Program [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member] Daily Herald [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Berkshire Hathaway Common Stock [Member] Pension Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Berkshire Hathaway Common Stock [Member] Pension Plan [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Single Equity Concentration [Member] Pension Plan [Member] Investment	Dec. 31, 2013 Single Equity Concentration [Member] Pension Plan [Member] Investment	Jun. 30, 2014 Foreign Investments [Member] Pension Plan [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Fixed income securities [Member] Pension Plan [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Concentration In Single Entity, Type Of Industry, Foreign Country Or Individual Fund [Member] Defined Benefit Plan Assets Total [Member] Pension Plan [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Geographic Concentration [Member] Foreign Investments [Member] Pension Plan [Member] campus	Dec. 31, 2013 Geographic Concentration [Member] Foreign Investments [Member] Pension Plan [Member] country
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)			$ (34,433,000)	$ 8,582,000	$ (17,833,000)	$ 4,192,000	$ (34,433,000)	$ 8,582,000		$ 100,000	$ 6,800,000	$ 200,000	$ 13,900,000						$ 1,845,000	$ 2,177,000	$ 3,690,000	$ 4,354,000	$ 100,000	$ 300,000	$ 200,000	$ 600,000	$ 23,000	$ (575,000)	$ 45,000	$ (1,239,000)	$ 800,000	$ 1,400,000
Total Cost (Benefit)	(17,919,000)	(2,601,000)	(30,107,000)	(5,274,000)	(17,833,000)	12,634,000	(29,943,000)	31,282,000																			23,000	(575,000)	45,000	(4,710,000)
Early retirement program expense			4,490,000	22,700,000	0	8,442,000	4,490,000	22,700,000						8,400,000	12,000,000	20,400,000	2,300,000	4,500,000
Number of investment companies actively managing plan assets					2		2
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, equity securities																																						24.00%
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, singular equity security, without prior approval by plan administrator																																		20.00%		10.00%
Defined benefit plan, target allocation percentage of assets, fixed-income securities, range minimum																																							10.00%
Minimum percentage of plan assets considered as significant concentrations in pension plans																																								10.00%
Amount of plan assets managed internally by company							0
Settlement gain																																	3,500,000
Value of investments																																				410,500,000	382,100,000				429,300,000	398,900,000
Percentage of total plan assets					100.00%		100.00%		100.00%																											17.00%	16.00%				18.00%	17.00%
Value of related party investments																																		$ 222,500,000	$ 208,400,000
Number of investments the company's pension plan held which individually exceed 10% of total plan assets																																				1	1
Number of foreign countries for which the companys pension plan holds investments that exceed 10% of total plan assets																																									1	1