How Much You’d Have If You Invested $1K in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway 10 Years Ago
Written by
James Holbach
Edited by
T. Woods
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Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is considered by many to be the world’s best investor. Buffett turned Berkshire Hathaway from a struggling textile company into a massive holding company that has made its investors rich over the years. Many of those who got into the stock early enough are now multimillionaires or even billionaires.
Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 with many early acquisitions and investments in insurance companies like National Indemnity and GEICO, using the “float” — premiums paid by customers that haven’t yet been paid out in claims — to fuel additional investments. Today, Berkshire fully owns dozens of businesses, and the Oracle of Omaha has announced his retirement at the end of 2025; he’s leaving the company in great standing.
So, how rich would you be if you followed in Buffett’s footsteps and invested in Berkshire Hathaway? Keep reading to find out.
What Would $1,000 Be Worth Today?
So, just how much would you have today if you had invested $1,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stock 10 years ago?
Berkshire Hathaway has two classes of stock, A stock and B stock. Buffett famously refused to do stock splits, feeling that keeping the price high encouraged long-term investors, even as the price of a share of A stock grew to incredible heights. The company eventually relented — sort of. They issued B stock, which carries a much lower price and has lower voting rights than A stock.
A single share of A stock traded for around $227,000 ten years ago, putting it well out of reach of your $1,000 budget, so you would have had to invest in the B shares. In May of 2015, those shares traded at about $145.26 — for simplicity’s sake, let’s split the difference and call it an average cost of $145 a share. That works out to just under seven shares.
B shares as of May 15, 2025, are at $507.98 a share, meaning your 6.9 shares would be worth $3,505.06. That sounds pretty good, and it is, as Berkshire beat the market over this ten-year spread.
Final Take To GO: Is Berkshire Hathaway a Buy?
The bottom line is that Berkshire Hathaway is a complex investment, especially now with the pending exit of its prophetic investor and CEO, Warren Buffett. He has gathered a powerhouse collection of diversified operating businesses, and you, as an investor, would be wise to practice the patience that Buffett has shown over the years.
However, even experts are mixed on the analysis, as some consider it overvalued, while others find it a strong buy. Though Berkshire Hathaway’s stock has outperformed the S&P 500, and the company is seen as a safe haven due to its massive cash holdings and diversified portfolio, the stock could be considered overvalued compared to its fair value estimate.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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