If You’d Invested $10,000 in Berkshire Hathaway 5 Years Ago, Here’s How Much You’d Have Today

Warren Buffett's empire delivers another masterclass in compounding—while traditional finance keeps chasing yesterday's returns.

The Oracle's Crystal Ball

Five years back, dropping ten grand into Berkshire would've netted you serious gains—proving once again that steady beats sexy in the long run. No flashy algorithms, just relentless value hunting.

Old Money, New Lessons

While crypto was mooning and crashing, Buffett's conglomerate quietly stacked wins—because sometimes the smartest move is buying boring businesses that print cash. Who needs decentralized finance when you've got insurance float and railroad monopolies?

The Final Tally

Turns out patience pays better than panic-trading. Another reminder that most 'disruptive' fintech platforms just reinvent fees—while Berkshire keeps cashing checks. Maybe disruption is just owning everything that matters.

Image source: The Motley Fool.

With that in mind, now that Berkshire is a member of the trillion-dollar market cap club, how are its returns?

$10,000 invested in Berkshire five years ago

I won't keep you in suspense. A $10,000 investment in Berkshire Hathaway five years ago WOULD be worth about $22,300 today. That's a 123% total return, or a little more than 17% annualized.

It's also important to note that the(^GSPC 0.48%) produced a total return of 110%, or about 16% annualized, over the same period. And not only did Berkshire beat the market, but it did so with a beta of 0.77, indicating significantly lower volatility than the overall market.

This is exactly what Buffett had hoped would happen when he wrote his 50th anniversary letter -- a performance that marginally beats the market over time, and without too much of a roller-coaster ride.