Saudi Aramco’s net profit in 2023 was 159 trillion. Looking at that number, I thought Berkshire was amazing. Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries earned 50 trillion won last year. That’s 30% of Saudi Arabia’s private business group.

Berkshire’s operating performance was the largest ever. And it has been piling up a ton of cash. Its cash reserves at the end of 2023 were also at a record W223 trillion.

The subsidiaries print the cash, and they’re piling it up, so they don’t seem to have any worries… but if you look inside, it’s a little bit worrying.

The subsidiary as a whole made huge profits, but the railway and power generation business, the other two pillars excluding insurance, grew back. The moat of American railways and private-sector power generation operators does not seem to be the same as in the past.

We’ll have to distribute the accumulated cash somehow to a good place… but will we be able to do it before Grandpa retires?

The March Coffee Pot Longform Artwork compiled Berkshire’s performance from last year’s and shareholder letters. I have been watching Berkshire for 10 years, and as a shareholder and a fan of my father, I have never been more concerned