Contingencies and Commitments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Contingencies and Commitments

(25) Contingencies and Commitments

We are parties in a variety of legal actions that routinely arise out of the normal course of business, including legal actions seeking to establish liability directly through insurance contracts or indirectly through reinsurance contracts issued by Berkshire subsidiaries. Plaintiffs occasionally seek punitive or exemplary damages. We do not believe that such normal and routine litigation will have a material effect on our financial condition or results of operations. Berkshire and certain of its subsidiaries are also involved in other kinds of legal actions, some of which assert or may assert claims or seek to impose fines and penalties. We believe that any liability that may arise as a result of other pending legal actions will not have a material effect on our consolidated financial condition or results of operations.

Our subsidiaries regularly make commitments in the ordinary course of business to purchase goods and services used in their businesses. As of December 31, 2020, estimated future payments under such arrangements were as follows: $14.6 billion in 2021, $4.5 billion in 2022, $3.4 billion in 2023, $2.8 billion in 2024, $3.1 billion in 2025 and $20.0 billion after 2025. The most significant of these relate to our railroad, utilities and energy businesses and our shared aircraft ownership and leasing business.

Pursuant to the terms of agreements with noncontrolling shareholders in our less than wholly-owned subsidiaries, we may be obligated to acquire their equity interests. If we had acquired all outstanding noncontrolling interests as of December 31, 2020, we estimate the cost would have been approximately $6.3 billion. However, the timing and the amount of any such future payments that might be required are contingent on future actions of the noncontrolling owners.