Pension and Postretirement Plans (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) campus Investment companies	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) campus Investment companies	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) country Investment
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)				$ (22,872,000)	$ (34,433,000)
Total Cost (Benefit)	$ (11,440,000)	$ (17,919,000)		(22,872,000)	(30,107,000)
Early retirement program expense				0	4,490,000
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)	(11,440,000)	(17,833,000)		(22,872,000)	(34,433,000)
Total Cost (Benefit)	(11,440,000)	(17,833,000)		(22,872,000)	(29,943,000)
Early retirement program expense	$ 0	0		$ 0	4,490,000
Number of investment companies actively managing plan assets | companies	2			2
Amount of plan assets managed internally by company				$ 0
Percentage of total plan assets	100.00%			100.00%		100.00%
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)		100,000			200,000
Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] | Corporate Office [Member] | Separation Incentive Program [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Early retirement program expense			$ 4,500,000
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)	$ 2,635,000	1,845,000		$ 5,271,000	3,690,000
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] | Discontinued Operations [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)		100,000			200,000
Other Postretirement Plans [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)	283,000	$ 23,000		$ 566,000	$ 45,000
Berkshire Hathaway Common Stock [Member] | Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, singular equity security, without prior approval by plan administrator				20.00%
Single Equity Concentration [Member] | Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, singular equity security, without prior approval by plan administrator				10.00%
Value of investments	$ 723,100,000			$ 723,100,000		$ 730,600,000
Percentage of total plan assets	27.00%			27.00%		30.00%
Number of investments the company's pension plan held which individually exceed 10% of total plan assets | Investment	1			1		2
Foreign Investments [Member] | Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, equity securities				24.00%
Fixed income securities [Member] | Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plan, target allocation percentage of assets, fixed-income securities, range minimum				10.00%
Concentration In Single Entity, Type Of Industry, Foreign Country Or Individual Fund [Member] | Defined Benefit Plan Assets Total [Member] | Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Minimum percentage of plan assets considered as significant concentrations in pension plans				10.00%
Geographic Concentration [Member] | Foreign Investments [Member] | Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Value of investments	$ 725,000,000			$ 725,000,000		$ 468,000,000
Percentage of total plan assets	27.00%			27.00%		19.00%
Number of foreign countries for which the companys pension plan holds investments that exceed 10% of total plan assets	1			1		1