The Bureau of Historic Losses · Counterfactual Division
What if you'd bought Berkshire Hathaway in 2020?
Pandemic year, and the knock on Berkshire was that it had grown too big and too cash-heavy to beat the index anymore. Buying the 'past-its-prime' compounder around $225 (B-shares) tested that thesis — and the thesis lost.
$100 on 2020-01-02, worth today
US$214
As of 2026-06-12, $100 of Berkshire Hathaway bought at 2020's open (US$228.39) is worth US$214 — 2.14×.
total return · dividends reinvested · USD
How much would $100 of Berkshire Hathaway bought in 2020 be worth today?
| You'd have put in | You'd have now | Multiple |
|---|---|---|
| US$100 | US$214 | 2.14× |
| US$1,000 | US$2,142 | 2.14× |
| US$10,000 | US$21,422 | 2.14× |
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 2020?
Opened
US$228.39
2020-01-02
Peaked
US$233.92
2020-11-24
Bottomed
US$162.13
2020-03-23
Closed
US$231.87
2020-12-31
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$33,700 deployed as $100 a week from 2020-01-02, under four temperaments — same money, different nerves.
| All in on day one | US$72,191 |
| Steady weekly buys | US$51,712 |
| Sold dips, rebought rallies | US$47,850 |
| Traded it perfectly | US$56,454 |
“Traded it perfectly” requires knowing the future. Nobody knew the future.
The same $1,000, elsewhere
$1,000 at 2020's open, each valued at the latest close. Hindsight remains undefeated.
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