Significant business acquisitions - Pro forma consolidated earnings data (Detail) - AltaLink and Berkshire Hathaway Automotive [Member] $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 203,514
Net earnings attributable to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders	$ 20,048
Net earnings per equivalent Class A common share attributable to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders \| $ / shares	$ 12,199

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.

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- Definition

The pro forma basic net income per share for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(2)-(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56956515&loc=d3e1392-128463

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- Definition

The pro forma net Income or Loss for the period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of a period.

+ References

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The pro forma revenue for a period as if the business combination or combinations had been completed at the beginning of the period.

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