Berkshire Hathaway vs S&P 500 calculator
Pick a start year from 1965 and an amount, and see what it became by the end of 2025 in Berkshire Hathaway shares and in the S&P 500 with dividends, from Berkshire’s own yearly table.
$1,000 invested from 30 September 1964 to 31 December 2025 became:
- In Berkshire shares
- $60,993,940
- 19.7% a year
- In the S&P 500, with dividends
- $461,610
- 10.5% a year
- Years Berkshire beat the index
- 40 of 61
- It did worse than the index in 21 years
- Berkshire’s worst year
- −48.7%
- 1974, when the index fell 26.4%
Show the letter’s figures for each year
| Year | Berkshire | S&P 500 | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965, year to 30 Sep | +49.5% | +10.0% | Berkshire |
| 1966, year to 30 Sep | −3.4% | −11.7% | Berkshire |
| 1967, 15 months | +13.3% | +30.9% | S&P 500 |
| 1968 | +77.8% | +11.0% | Berkshire |
| 1969 | +19.4% | −8.4% | Berkshire |
| 1970 | −4.6% | +3.9% | S&P 500 |
| 1971 | +80.5% | +14.6% | Berkshire |
| 1972 | +8.1% | +18.9% | S&P 500 |
| 1973 | −2.5% | −14.8% | Berkshire |
| 1974 | −48.7% | −26.4% | S&P 500 |
| 1975 | +2.5% | +37.2% | S&P 500 |
| 1976 | +129.3% | +23.6% | Berkshire |
| 1977 | +46.8% | −7.4% | Berkshire |
| 1978 | +14.5% | +6.4% | Berkshire |
| 1979 | +102.5% | +18.2% | Berkshire |
| 1980 | +32.8% | +32.3% | Berkshire |
| 1981 | +31.8% | −5.0% | Berkshire |
| 1982 | +38.4% | +21.4% | Berkshire |
| 1983 | +69.0% | +22.4% | Berkshire |
| 1984 | −2.7% | +6.1% | S&P 500 |
| 1985 | +93.7% | +31.6% | Berkshire |
| 1986 | +14.2% | +18.6% | S&P 500 |
| 1987 | +4.6% | +5.1% | S&P 500 |
| 1988 | +59.3% | +16.6% | Berkshire |
| 1989 | +84.6% | +31.7% | Berkshire |
| 1990 | −23.1% | −3.1% | S&P 500 |
| 1991 | +35.6% | +30.5% | Berkshire |
| 1992 | +29.8% | +7.6% | Berkshire |
| 1993 | +38.9% | +10.1% | Berkshire |
| 1994 | +25.0% | +1.3% | Berkshire |
| 1995 | +57.4% | +37.6% | Berkshire |
| 1996 | +6.2% | +23.0% | S&P 500 |
| 1997 | +34.9% | +33.4% | Berkshire |
| 1998 | +52.2% | +28.6% | Berkshire |
| 1999 | −19.9% | +21.0% | S&P 500 |
| 2000 | +26.6% | −9.1% | Berkshire |
| 2001 | +6.5% | −11.9% | Berkshire |
| 2002 | −3.8% | −22.1% | Berkshire |
| 2003 | +15.8% | +28.7% | S&P 500 |
| 2004 | +4.3% | +10.9% | S&P 500 |
| 2005 | +0.8% | +4.9% | S&P 500 |
| 2006 | +24.1% | +15.8% | Berkshire |
| 2007 | +28.7% | +5.5% | Berkshire |
| 2008 | −31.8% | −37.0% | Berkshire |
| 2009 | +2.7% | +26.5% | S&P 500 |
| 2010 | +21.4% | +15.1% | Berkshire |
| 2011 | −4.7% | +2.1% | S&P 500 |
| 2012 | +16.8% | +16.0% | Berkshire |
| 2013 | +32.7% | +32.4% | Berkshire |
| 2014 | +27.0% | +13.7% | Berkshire |
| 2015 | −12.5% | +1.4% | S&P 500 |
| 2016 | +23.4% | +12.0% | Berkshire |
| 2017 | +21.9% | +21.8% | Berkshire |
| 2018 | +2.8% | −4.4% | Berkshire |
| 2019 | +11.0% | +31.5% | S&P 500 |
| 2020 | +2.4% | +18.4% | S&P 500 |
| 2021 | +29.6% | +28.7% | Berkshire |
| 2022 | +4.0% | −18.1% | Berkshire |
| 2023 | +15.8% | +26.3% | S&P 500 |
| 2024 | +25.5% | +25.0% | Berkshire |
| 2025 | +10.9% | +17.9% | S&P 500 |
Figures from the table in Berkshire Hathaway’s 2025 letter to shareholders. Berkshire is its share price, as it pays no dividend, and the S&P 500 includes reinvested dividends. Both are before fees and tax. As in the letter, 1965 and 1966 are years to 30 September and 1967 covers the 15 months to 31 December, so starting in 1965 counts from 30 September 1964.
The returns are in US dollars. Choosing pounds only changes the symbol: the calculator ignores the pound’s moves against the dollar, which would change a UK investor’s result. Starting in 1965 uses the letter’s own overall gain; later start years multiply its yearly figures, which are rounded to a tenth of a percent, so they can be slightly out.
Where the figures come from
Every year Berkshire’s letter to shareholders prints a table of how its share price did against the S&P 500 with dividends. The calculator uses the 61 rows in the 2025 letter, dated 28 February 2026. Berkshire hasn’t paid a dividend since 1967, so its share price is the whole return.
From 1965 to 2025 Berkshire grew 19.7% a year and the index 10.5%. That’s $1,000 turning into $60,993,940 in Berkshire, against $461,610 in the S&P 500.
Try a later start year
The gap is much smaller if you start later. From 2006 to 2025, Berkshire grew 11.3% a year against 11.0% for the index. From 2016 to 2025 the index was ahead, 14.8% a year to 14.3%. Buffett and Greg Abel have both said Berkshire’s size makes its early record impossible to repeat.
It wasn’t smooth either. Berkshire beat the index in 40 of the 61 years, and its share price fell 48.7% in 1974 and 31.8% in 2008. The guide covers what Buffett tells most people to buy instead, how professional fund managers do against the index and what that means in the UK and the US.