Notes payable and other borrowings (Tables)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

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, 2017.

	Weighted Average Interest Rate	March 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Insurance and other:
Issued by Berkshire due 2017-2047	2.1%		$17,845		$17,703
Short-term subsidiary borrowings	2.7%		2,135		2,094
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2017-2045	4.0%		7,436		7,378
			$27,416		$27,175

Railroad, Utilities and Energy [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (“BHE”) and its subsidiaries:
BHE senior unsecured debt due 2017-2045		5.1%	$	7,819	$	7,818
Subsidiary and other debt due 2017-2064		4.7%		29,865		29,223
Issued by BNSF due 2017-2097		4.8%		23,241		22,044
			$	60,925	$	59,085

Finance and Financial Products [Member]

Schedule of short and long term outstanding debt disclosure

	Weighted Average Interest Rate		March 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Finance and financial products:
Issued by Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”) due 2017-2043		2.6%	$	14,672	$	14,423
Issued by other subsidiaries due 2017-2036		4.9%		943		961
			$	15,615	$	15,384