The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought Berkshire Hathaway in 2009?
Buffett's conglomerate opened 2009 near $66 (B-shares) with the financial crisis still raging and even Berkshire's float looking shaky. Doing nothing but holding the ultimate do-nothing stock through the panic was its own quiet kind of fortune.
$100 on 2009-01-02, worth today
US$736
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of Berkshire Hathaway bought at 2009's open (US$66.46) is worth US$736 — 7.36×.
total return · dividends reinvested · USD
How much would $100 of Berkshire Hathaway bought in 2009 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| US$100 | US$736 | 7.36× |
| US$1,000 | US$7,362 | 7.36× |
| US$10,000 | US$73,616 | 7.36× |
Lump sum on the year's first trading day, total return (dividends reinvested, splits adjusted), valued at the latest close. Past performance isn't a promise — it's a taunt.
What did Berkshire Hathaway do in 2009?
Opened
US$66.46
2009-01-02
Peaked
US$70.80
2009-08-07
Bottomed
US$46.00
2009-03-05
Closed
US$65.72
2009-12-31
Levels are dividend-adjusted, so historical figures look lower than the headline price of the day — that's the total-return lens, and it's the honest one.
Would steady buying have beaten going all in?
US$91,100 deployed as $100 a week from 2009-01-02, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | US$670,639 |
| Steady weekly buys | US$308,496 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | US$233,940 |
| Traded it perfectly | US$339,778 |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
The same $1,000, elsewhere
$1,000 at 2009's open, each valued at the latest close. Hindsight remains undefeated.
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