Notes payable and other borrowings (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Insurance and Other [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

Notes payable and other borrowings are summarized below (in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges shown in the following tables are based on borrowings as of March 31, 2013.

	Weighted Average Interest Rate
				March 31, 2013		December 31, 2012
Insurance and other:
Issued by Berkshire parent company due 2013-2047		2.7	%	$	8,309	$	8,323
Short-term subsidiary borrowings		0.3	%		1,354		1,416
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2013-2035		6.0	%		3,736		3,796
				$	13,399	$	13,535

Finance and Financial Products [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

	Weighted Average Interest Rate			March 31,		December 31,
				2013		2012
Finance and financial products:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”) due 2013-2042		4.0	%	$	11,194	$	11,186
Issued by other subsidiaries due 2013-2036		4.9	%		1,766		1,859
				$	12,960	$	13,045

Railroad, Utilities and Energy [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

	Weighted Average Interest Rate
				March 31, 2013		December 31, 2012
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Issued by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company (“MidAmerican”) and its subsidiaries:
MidAmerican senior unsecured debt due 2014-2037		6.3	%	$	4,621	$	4,621
Subsidiary and other debt due 2013-2042		5.0	%		16,318		17,002
Issued by BNSF due 2013-2097		5.3	%		15,951		14,533
				$	36,890	$	36,156