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Business segment data (Tables)
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
Schedule of revenues, earnings before income taxes, interest expense, income tax expense, capital expenditures, depreciation, goodwill and identifiable assets by segment

A disaggregation of our consolidated data for each of the three most recent years is presented as follows (in millions).

 

 

 

Revenues

 

 

Earnings before income taxes

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

Operating Businesses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insurance:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Underwriting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GEICO

 

$

35,093

 

 

$

35,572

 

 

$

33,363

 

 

$

3,428

 

 

$

1,506

 

 

$

2,449

 

Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group

 

 

9,615

 

 

 

9,165

 

 

 

8,111

 

 

 

110

 

 

 

383

 

 

 

670

 

Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group

 

 

18,693

 

 

 

16,341

 

 

 

15,944

 

 

 

(2,700

)

 

 

(1,472

)

 

 

(1,109

)

Insurance underwriting

 

 

63,401

 

 

 

61,078

 

 

 

57,418

 

 

 

838

 

 

 

417

 

 

 

2,010

 

Investment income

 

 

5,960

 

 

 

6,615

 

 

 

5,518

 

 

 

5,949

 

 

 

6,600

 

 

 

5,503

 

Total insurance

 

 

69,361

 

 

 

67,693

 

 

 

62,936

 

 

 

6,787

 

 

 

7,017

 

 

 

7,513

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BNSF

 

 

20,869

 

 

 

23,515

 

 

 

23,855

 

 

 

6,792

 

 

 

7,250

 

 

 

6,863

 

Berkshire Hathaway Energy

 

 

21,031

 

 

 

20,114

 

 

 

19,987

 

 

 

2,479

 

 

 

2,618

 

 

 

2,472

 

Manufacturing

 

 

59,079

 

 

 

62,730

 

 

 

61,883

 

 

 

8,010

 

 

 

9,522

 

 

 

9,366

 

McLane Company

 

 

46,840

 

 

 

50,458

 

 

 

49,987

 

 

 

251

 

 

 

288

 

 

 

246

 

Service and retailing

 

 

28,178

 

 

 

29,487

 

 

 

28,939

 

 

 

2,628

 

 

 

2,555

 

 

 

2,696

 

 

 

 

245,358

 

 

 

253,997

 

 

 

247,587

 

 

 

26,947

 

 

 

29,250

 

 

 

29,156

 

Reconciliation to consolidated amount

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment and derivative gains/losses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

40,746

 

 

 

72,607

 

 

 

(22,455

)

Interest expense, not allocated to segments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(483

)

 

 

(416

)

 

 

(458

)

Equity method investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

726

 

 

 

1,176

 

 

 

(2,167

)

Goodwill and intangible asset impairments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(10,671

)

 

 

(96

)

 

 

(382

)

Corporate, eliminations and other

 

 

152

 

 

 

619

 

 

 

250

 

 

 

(1,572

)

 

 

175

 

 

 

307

 

 

 

$

245,510

 

 

$

254,616

 

 

$

247,837

 

 

$

55,693

 

 

$

102,696

 

 

$

4,001

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense

 

 

Income tax expense

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

Operating Businesses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insurance

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

1,089

 

 

$

1,166

 

 

$

1,374

 

BNSF

 

 

1,037

 

 

 

1,070

 

 

 

1,041

 

 

 

1,631

 

 

 

1,769

 

 

 

1,644

 

Berkshire Hathaway Energy

 

 

1,941

 

 

 

1,835

 

 

 

1,777

 

 

 

(1,010

)

 

 

(526

)

 

 

(452

)

Manufacturing

 

 

737

 

 

 

752

 

 

 

690

 

 

 

1,795

 

 

 

2,253

 

 

 

2,188

 

McLane Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15

 

 

 

71

 

 

 

71

 

 

 

59

 

Service and retailing

 

 

61

 

 

 

86

 

 

 

91

 

 

 

669

 

 

 

603

 

 

 

634

 

 

 

 

3,776

 

 

 

3,743

 

 

 

3,614

 

 

 

4,245

 

 

 

5,336

 

 

 

5,447

 

Reconciliation to consolidated amount

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Investment and derivative gains/losses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8,855

 

 

 

15,159

 

 

 

(4,673

)

Interest expense, not allocated to segments

 

 

483

 

 

 

416

 

 

 

458

 

 

 

(102

)

 

 

(88

)

 

 

(96

)

Equity method investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

57

 

 

 

148

 

 

 

(753

)

Corporate, eliminations and other

 

 

(176

)

 

 

(198

)

 

 

(219

)

 

 

(615

)

 

 

349

 

 

 

(246

)

 

 

$

4,083

 

 

$

3,961

 

 

$

3,853

 

 

$

12,440

 

 

$

20,904

 

 

$

(321

)

 

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Continued)

(27)

Business segment data (Continued)

 

 

 

Capital expenditures

 

 

Depreciation of tangible assets

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

Operating Businesses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insurance

 

$

50

 

 

$

108

 

 

$

130

 

 

$

74

 

 

$

82

 

 

$

79

 

BNSF

 

 

3,063

 

 

 

3,608

 

 

 

3,187

 

 

 

2,423

 

 

 

2,350

 

 

 

2,268

 

Berkshire Hathaway Energy

 

 

6,765

 

 

 

7,364

 

 

 

6,241

 

 

 

3,376

 

 

 

2,947

 

 

 

2,830

 

Manufacturing

 

 

2,133

 

 

 

2,981

 

 

 

3,116

 

 

 

2,026

 

 

 

1,951

 

 

 

1,890

 

McLane Company

 

 

98

 

 

 

158

 

 

 

276

 

 

 

204

 

 

 

225

 

 

 

204

 

Service and retailing

 

 

903

 

 

 

1,760

 

 

 

1,587

 

 

 

1,216

 

 

 

1,192

 

 

 

1,115

 

 

 

$

13,012

 

 

$

15,979

 

 

$

14,537

 

 

$

9,319

 

 

$

8,747

 

 

$

8,386

 

 

 

 

 

Goodwill at year-end

 

 

Identifiable assets at year-end

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

Operating Businesses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Insurance

 

$

15,224

 

 

$

15,289

 

 

$

15,289

 

 

$

399,169

 

 

$

364,550

 

 

$

289,746

 

BNSF

 

 

14,851

 

 

 

14,851

 

 

 

14,851

 

 

 

73,809

 

 

 

73,699

 

 

 

70,242

 

Berkshire Hathaway Energy

 

 

11,763

 

 

 

9,979

 

 

 

9,851

 

 

 

109,286

 

 

 

88,651

 

 

 

80,543

 

Manufacturing

 

 

25,512

 

 

 

34,800

 

 

 

34,019

 

 

 

104,318

 

 

 

104,437

 

 

 

99,912

 

McLane Company

 

 

232

 

 

 

734

 

 

 

734

 

 

 

6,771

 

 

 

6,872

 

 

 

6,243

 

Service and retailing

 

 

6,152

 

 

 

6,229

 

 

 

6,281

 

 

 

26,173

 

 

 

26,494

 

 

 

24,724

 

 

 

$

73,734

 

 

$

81,882

 

 

$

81,025

 

 

 

719,526

 

 

 

664,703

 

 

 

571,410

 

Reconciliation to consolidated amount

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corporate and other

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

80,469

 

 

 

71,144

 

 

 

55,359

 

Goodwill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

73,734

 

 

 

81,882

 

 

 

81,025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

873,729

 

 

$

817,729

 

 

$

707,794

 

Schedule of premiums written and earned

Property/casualty and life/health insurance premiums written and earned are summarized below (in millions).

 

 

 

Property/Casualty

 

 

Life/Health

 

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

 

2020

 

 

2019

 

 

2018

 

Premiums Written:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct

 

$

47,838

 

 

$

47,578

 

 

$

44,513

 

 

$

510

 

 

$

839

 

 

$

1,111

 

Assumed

 

 

11,533

 

 

 

10,214

 

 

 

8,970

 

 

 

5,960

 

 

 

5,046

 

 

 

5,540

 

Ceded

 

 

(898

)

 

 

(821

)

 

 

(869

)

 

 

(42

)

 

 

(45

)

 

 

(49

)

 

 

$

58,473

 

 

$

56,971

 

 

$

52,614

 

 

$

6,428

 

 

$

5,840

 

 

$

6,602

 

Premiums Earned:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Direct

 

$

46,418

 

 

$

46,540

 

 

$

43,095

 

 

$

510

 

 

$

839

 

 

$

1,111

 

Assumed

 

 

11,449

 

 

 

9,643

 

 

 

8,649

 

 

 

5,973

 

 

 

4,952

 

 

 

5,438

 

Ceded

 

 

(907

)

 

 

(851

)

 

 

(825

)

 

 

(42

)

 

 

(45

)

 

 

(50

)

 

 

$

56,960

 

 

$

55,332

 

 

$

50,919

 

 

$

6,441

 

 

$

5,746

 

 

$

6,499

 

Schedule of insurance premiums written by geographic region

Insurance premiums written by geographic region (based upon the domicile of the insured or reinsured) are summarized below (in millions).

 

 

Property/Casualty

 

 

Life/Health

 

 

2020

 

2019

 

2018

 

 

2020

 

2019

 

2018

 

United States

$

50,250

 

$

50,529

 

$

46,146

 

 

$

2,820

 

$

2,553

 

$

3,598

 

Western Europe

 

3,751

 

 

2,535

 

 

2,157

 

 

 

1,120

 

 

908

 

 

939

 

Asia Pacific

 

3,410

 

 

3,114

 

 

3,726

 

 

 

1,652

 

 

1,582

 

 

1,361

 

All other

 

1,062

 

 

793

 

 

585

 

 

 

836

 

 

797

 

 

704

 

 

$

58,473

 

$

56,971

 

$

52,614

 

 

$

6,428

 

$

5,840

 

$

6,602