Equity method investments - Summary of carrying value and fair value of investments (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2026	Dec. 31, 2025
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Carrying Value	$ 19,951	$ 19,978
Kraft Heinz [Member]
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Carrying Value	8,689	8,634
Fair Value	7,324	7,897
Occidental [Member]
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Carrying Value	10,808	10,894
Fair Value	17,221	10,894
Berkadia [Member]
Schedule of Equity Method Investments [Line Items]
Carrying Value	$ 454	$ 450

This item represents the carrying amount on the entity's balance sheet of its investment in common stock of an equity method investee. This is not an indicator of the fair value of the investment, rather it is the initial cost adjusted for the entity's share of earnings and losses of the investee, adjusted for any distributions (dividends) and other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses recognized.

- 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.

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BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC 10-Q