The Meltdown

Buffett's Worst Year Ever

Berkshire Hathaway posts record loss.

Even finance’s superman is not immune to our current troubles: In 2008, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway recorded its worst year ever. According to The Wall Street Journal, “The company's net fell to $4.99 billion from $13.21 billion in 2007.” The company’s share price also fell 9.6 percent—better than the S&P average but still only the second time ever that the company’s share price has declined in a year since Buffett took it over in 1965. Bloomberg, meanwhile, flags another startling statistic: In the fourth quarter, Berkshire Hathaway’s net income fell a startling 96 percent from 2007 to 2008, to $117 million from $2.95 billion.