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Equity method investments | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2023
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures [Abstract] |
Equity method investments | (5) Equity method investments Berkshire and its subsidiaries hold investments in certain businesses that are accounted for pursuant to the equity method. Currently, the most significant of these are our investments in the common stock of The Kraft Heinz Company (“Kraft Heinz”) and Occidental. As of December 31, 2023, we owned 26.7% of the Kraft Heinz outstanding common stock and 27.8% of the outstanding Occidental common stock, which excluded the potential effect of the exercise of the Occidental common stock warrants. Kraft Heinz manufactures and markets food and beverage products, including condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee and other grocery products. Occidental is an international energy company, whose activities include oil and natural gas exploration, development and production, and chemicals manufacturing businesses. Occidental’s financial information is not available in time for concurrent reporting in our Consolidated Financial Statements. Therefore, we report the equity method effects for Occidental on a one-quarter lag. The common stock of Kraft Heinz and Occidental are publicly traded. The fair values and carrying values of these two investments in addition to the carrying values of our other significant equity method investments are summarized as follows (in millions).
| Carrying Value |  |  | Fair Value |
| December 31, |  |  | December 31, |
| 2023 |  |  | 2022 |  |  | 2023 |  |  | 2022 |
Kraft Heinz | $ | 13,230 |  |  | $ | 12,937 |  |  | $ | 12,035 |  |  | $ | 13,249 |
Occidental |  | 15,410 |  |  |  | 11,484 |  |  |  | 14,552 |  |  |  | 12,242 |
Other |  | 426 |  |  |  | 3,629 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| $ | 29,066 |  |  | $ | 28,050 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
As of December 31, 2023, the excess of our carrying values over the fair values of our investments in Kraft Heinz and Occidental were 9% and 6%, respectively, of the carrying values. We evaluated our investments in Kraft Heinz and Occidental for other-than-temporary impairment as of December 31, 2023, and based on the prevailing facts and circumstances, concluded the recognition of impairment charges in earnings were not required. Our other significant equity method investments included our 50% interest in Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC (“Berkadia”), in which Jefferies Financial Group (“Jefferies”) owns the other 50% interest, and PTC through January 31, 2023. Berkadia engages in mortgage banking, investment sales and servicing of commercial/multi-family real estate loans. Berkadia’s commercial paper borrowing capacity (currently limited to $1.5 billion) is supported by a surety policy issued by a Berkshire insurance subsidiary. Jefferies is obligated to indemnify us for one-half of any losses incurred under the policy. Beginning February 1, 2023, we ceased accounting for PTC under the equity method and began consolidating PTC for financial reporting purposes. Our investment in PTC under the equity method was $3.2 billion at December 31, 2022. Equity method earnings attributable to PTC were $105 million in 2023, $812 million in 2022 and $474 million in 2021. As of December 31, 2023, the carrying values of our investments in Kraft Heinz and Berkadia approximated our share of shareowners’ equity of each of these entities. The carrying value of our investment in Occidental common stock exceeded our share of its shareholders’ equity as of September 30, 2023 by approximately $9.6 billion. Based upon the limited information available to us, we concluded the excess represents goodwill. Our earnings and distributions received from equity method investments are summarized in the following table (in millions). The earnings we recorded in 2023 for Occidental included our share of its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2022 and first nine months of 2023. The earnings we recorded in 2022 for Occidental included our share of its earnings from August 4, 2022 through September 30, 2022.
| Equity in Earnings |  |  | Distributions Received |
| Year ended December 31, |  |  | Year ended December 31, |
| 2023 |  |  | 2022 |  |  | 2021 |  |  | 2023 |  |  | 2022 |  |  | 2021 |
Kraft Heinz | $ | 758 |  |  | $ | 628 |  |  | $ | 269 |  |  | $ | 521 |  |  | $ | 521 |  |  | $ | 521 |
Occidental |  | 1,077 |  |  |  | 323 |  |  |  | — |  |  |  | 142 |  |  |  | 24 |  |  |  | — |
Other |  | 138 |  |  |  | 912 |  |  |  | 617 |  |  |  | 58 |  |  |  | 284 |  |  |  | 1,057 |
| $ | 1,973 |  |  | $ | 1,863 |  |  | $ | 886 |  |  | $ | 721 |  |  | $ | 829 |  |  | $ | 1,578 |
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (5) Equity method investments Summarized consolidated financial information of Kraft Heinz follows (in millions).
| December 30, 2023 |  |  | December 31, 2022 |
Assets | $ | 90,339 |  |  | $ | 90,513 |
Liabilities |  | 40,617 |  |  |  | 41,643 |
| Year ended |
| December 30, 2023 |  |  | December 31, 2022 |  |  | December 25, 2021 |
Sales | $ | 26,640 |  |  | $ | 26,485 |  |  | $ | 26,042 |
Net earnings attributable to Kraft Heinz common shareholders |  | 2,855 |  |  |  | 2,363 |  |  |  | 1,012 |
Summarized consolidated financial information of Occidental follows (in millions).
| September 30, 2023 |  |  | December 31, 2022 |
Assets | $ | 71,827 |  |  | $ | 72,609 |
Liabilities |  | 42,515 |  |  |  | 42,524 |
|  | Twelve months ending September 30, 2023 |
Total revenues and other income |  | $ | 29,715 |
Net earnings attributable to Occidental common shareholders |  |  | 4,471 |

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- Definition The entire disclosure for equity method investments and joint ventures. Equity method investments are investments that give the investor the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of an investee. Joint ventures are entities owned and operated by a small group of businesses as a separate and specific business or project for the mutual benefit of the members of the group. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (a)(3) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147481687/323-10-50-3 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Topic 323 -SubTopic 10 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -Subparagraph (d) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147481687/323-10-50-3 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/recommendedDisclosureRef -Topic 323 -SubTopic 740 -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (f) -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//1943274/2147481543/323-740-50-2 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 323 -Publisher FASB -URI https://asc.fasb.org//323/tableOfContent + Details
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