Notes payable and other borrowings (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Principal payments disclosure

Principal repayments expected during each of the next five years are as follows (in millions).

	2012		2013		2014		2015		2016
Insurance and other	$	3,390	$	2,725	$	1,345	$	1,918	$	869
Railroad, utilities and energy		2,567		1,774		1,618		713		681
Finance and financial products		3,155		3,661		1,335		1,656		205
	$	9,112	$	8,160	$	4,298	$	4,287	$	1,755

Insurance and Other [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

Notes payable and other borrowings are summarized below (in millions). The average interest rates shown in the following tables are the weighted average interest rates on outstanding debt as of December 31, 2011. Maturity date ranges are based on borrowings as of December 31, 2011.

	Average Interest  Rate			December 31,
				2011		2010
Insurance and other:
Issued by Berkshire parent company due 2012-2047		2.0	%	$	8,287	$	8,360
Short-term subsidiary borrowings		0.2	%		1,490		1,682
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2012-2036		5.9	%		3,991		2,429
				$	13,768	$	12,471

Railroad, Utilities and Energy [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

	Average Interest  Rate			December 31,
				2011		2010
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Issued by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (“MidAmerican”) and its subsidiaries:
MidAmerican senior unsecured debt due 2012-2037		6.1	%	$	5,363	$	5,371
Subsidiary and other debt due 2012-2039		5.2	%		14,552		14,275
Issued by BNSF due 2012-2097		5.9	%		12,665		11,980
				$	32,580	$	31,626

Finance and Financial Products [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

	Average Interest  Rate			December 31,
				2011		2010
Finance and financial products:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”) due 2012-2040		4.4	%	$	11,531	$	11,535
Issued by other subsidiaries due 2012-2036		4.8	%		2,505		2,942
				$	14,036	$	14,477