The number of investment shares exchanged in connection with a business acquisition.

No definition available.

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- Definition

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.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks paid or offered to be paid in a business combination.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of consideration transferred, consisting of acquisition-date fair value of assets transferred by the acquirer, liabilities incurred by the acquirer, and equity interest issued by the acquirer.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 30
-Paragraph 7
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- Definition

Amount of tangible or intangible assets, including a business or subsidiary of the acquirer transferred by the entity to the former owners of the acquiree. Excludes cash.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 805
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)(2)
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- Definition

Amount of currency on hand as well as demand deposits with banks or financial institutions, acquired at the acquisition date. Includes other kinds of accounts that have the general characteristics of demand deposits. Also includes short-term, highly liquid investments that are both readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that they present insignificant risk of changes in value because of changes in interest rates.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 20
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-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
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- Definition

Amount recognized as of the acquisition date for the identifiable assets acquired in excess of (less than) the aggregate liabilities assumed.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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-SubTopic 10
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- Definition

Amount of increase in asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized resulting from a business combination.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
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- Definition

The number of businesses acquired by the entity during the period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of business during the period. The cash portion only of the acquisition price.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
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- Definition

Percentage of subsidiary's or equity method investee's stock owned by parent immediately after all stock transactions.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Number of shares that have been repurchased during the period and are being held in treasury.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 505
-SubTopic 10
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Significant business acquisitions - Narrative (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions, CAD in Billions								3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 29, 2016 USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 01, 2014 CAD	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($) shares	Feb. 25, 2014 USD ($) shares	Jan. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($) Business	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of shares exchanged									$ 4,239		$ 2,478
Residual goodwill									17,650	$ 2,563
Precision Castparts Corp. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business acquisition, cash price per share \| $ / shares		$ 235
Aggregate consideration paid for business acquisition		$ 32,700
Cash and cash equivalents acquired		$ 250
Duracell Company [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents acquired	$ 1,807
Duracell Company [Member] \| Procter & Gamble Company [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of shares exchanged	$ 4,200
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive (previously Van Tuyl Group) [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Aggregate consideration paid for acquisitions								$ 4,100
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive (previously Van Tuyl Group) [Member] \| Auto Dealerships [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses \| Business								81
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive (previously Van Tuyl Group) [Member] \| Insurance [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses \| Business								2
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive (previously Van Tuyl Group) [Member] \| Auto Auctions [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses \| Business								2
Berkshire Hathaway Automotive (previously Van Tuyl Group) [Member] \| Distributor of Automotive Fluid Maintenance Products [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses \| Business								1
AltaLink [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Aggregate consideration paid for acquisitions			$ 2,700	CAD 3.1
IMI plc Beverage Dispensing Equipment Manufacturing and Merchandising Operations [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Aggregate consideration paid for acquisitions							$ 1,120
PSPI [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ownership percentage acquired						100.00%
PSPI [Member] \| PSX [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of shares exchanged						$ 1,350
Number of shares exchanged \| shares						17,422,615
WPLG Inc. [Member] \| Graham Holding Company [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of shares exchanged					$ 1,130
Number of shares exchanged \| shares					1,620,190
PSPI and WPLG Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents acquired					$ 778
IMI plc, Phillips Specialty Products Inc. and WPLG Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of identified net assets											2,200
Residual goodwill											1,400
Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Aggregate consideration paid for acquisitions									$ 1,400	$ 1,100	$ 1,800
Class A [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of shares acquired \| shares											2,107
Class A [Member] \| WPLG Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of shares acquired \| shares					2,107						2,107
Class B [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of shares acquired \| shares											1,278
Class B [Member] \| WPLG Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of shares acquired \| shares					1,278						1,278