Note 17. Common stock

Changes in Berkshire’s issued, treasury and outstanding common stock during the first nine months of 2014 are shown in the table below.


	Class A, $5 Par Value (1,650,000 shares authorized)									Class B, $0.0033 Par Value (3,225,000,000 shares authorized)
	Issued			Treasury			Outstanding			Issued		Treasury			Outstanding
Balance at December 31, 2013		868,616			(9,573	)		859,043			1,178,775,092		(1,408,484	)		1,177,366,608
Conversions of Class A common stock to Class B common stock and exercises of replacement stock options issued in a business acquisition		(22,484	)		—			(22,484	)		35,178,371		—			35,178,371
Treasury shares acquired		—			(2,107	)		(2,107	)		—		(1,278	)		(1,278	)

Balance at September 30, 2014		846,132			(11,680	)		834,452			1,213,953,463		(1,409,762	)		1,212,543,701

Each Class A common share is entitled to one vote per share. Class B common stock possesses dividend and distribution rights equal to one-fifteen-hundredth (1/1,500) of such rights of Class A common stock. Each Class B common share possesses voting rights equivalent to one-ten-thousandth (1/10,000) of the voting rights of a Class A share. Unless otherwise required under Delaware General Corporation Law, Class A and Class B common shares vote as a single class. Each share of Class A common stock is convertible, at the option of the holder, into 1,500 shares of Class B common stock. Class B common stock is not convertible into Class A common stock. On an equivalent Class A common stock basis, there were 1,642,814 shares outstanding as of September 30, 2014 and 1,643,954 shares outstanding as of December 31, 2013. In addition to our common stock, 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock are authorized, but none are issued and outstanding.

Berkshire’s Board of Directors (“Berkshire’s Board”) has approved a common stock repurchase program under which Berkshire may repurchase its Class A and Class B shares at prices no higher than a 20% premium over the book value of the shares. Berkshire may repurchase shares in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. Berkshire’s Board authorization does not specify a maximum number of shares to be repurchased. However, repurchases will not be made if they would reduce Berkshire’s consolidated cash equivalent holdings below $20 billion. The repurchase program does not obligate Berkshire to repurchase any dollar amount or number of Class A or Class B shares and there is no expiration date to the program. There were no share repurchases under the program in the first nine months of 2014. In addition, on June 30, 2014, we exchanged approximately 1.62 million shares of GHC common stock for WPLG whose assets included 2,107 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A Common Stock and 1,278 shares of Class B Common Stock. The Berkshire shares are reflected as treasury stock in our Consolidated Financial Statements.