Pension and Postretirement Plans (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] companies	Sep. 30, 2013 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] companies	Sep. 30, 2013 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Washington Post Newspaper [Member] Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Washington Post Newspaper [Member] Special Separation Benefits [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Corporate Office [Member] Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member]	Mar. 31, 2014 Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Corporate Office [Member] Separation Incentive Program [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member] Corporate Office [Member] Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Other Postretirement Plans [Member] Daily Herald [Member] Discontinued Operations [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Berkshire Hathaway Common Stock [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Single Equity Concentration [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Investment	Dec. 31, 2013 Single Equity Concentration [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] Investment	Sep. 30, 2014 Foreign Investments [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Fixed income securities [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Single Equity Concentration [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Single Equity Concentration [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Concentration In Single Entity, Type Of Industry, Foreign Country Or Individual Fund [Member] Defined Benefit Plan Assets Total [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2014 Geographic Concentration [Member] Foreign Investments [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] campus	Dec. 31, 2013 Geographic Concentration [Member] Foreign Investments [Member] Defined Benefit Pension Plan [Member] country
Retirement Benefits Disclosure [Line Items]
Net Periodic Cost (Benefit)			$ (51,637,000)	$ 11,425,000	$ (17,204,000)	$ 2,843,000	$ (51,637,000)	$ 11,425,000		$ 5,500,000	$ 200,000	$ 19,400,000					$ 1,845,000	$ 2,177,000	$ 5,535,000	$ 6,531,000	$ 300,000	$ 200,000	$ 900,000		$ 22,000	$ (574,000)	$ 67,000	$ (1,813,000)	$ 1,500,000	$ 2,900,000
Total Cost (Benefit)	(13,320,000)	(2,687,000)	(43,426,000)	(7,961,000)	(13,320,000)	2,843,000	(43,263,000)	34,125,000									4,267,000	2,177,000	7,957,000	6,531,000					22,000	(574,000)	67,000	(5,284,000)
Early retirement program expense			8,374,000	22,700,000	3,884,000	0	8,374,000	22,700,000					20,400,000	2,300,000	3,900,000	4,500,000	2,422,000	0	2,422,000	0				2,400,000
Number of investment companies actively managing plan assets					2		2
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, equity securities																																			24.00%
Defined benefit plan, target allocation maximum percentage of assets, singular equity security, without prior approval by plan administrator																																20.00%	10.00%
Defined benefit plan, target allocation percentage of assets, fixed-income securities, range minimum																																				10.00%
Minimum percentage of plan assets considered as significant concentrations in pension plans																																							10.00%
Amount of plan assets managed internally by company							0
Settlement gain																															3,500,000
Value of investments																																					$ 669,500,000	$ 590,600,000		$ 434,300,000	$ 398,900,000
Percentage of total plan assets					100.00%		100.00%		100.00%																												29.00%	25.00%		19.00%	17.00%
Number of investments the company's pension plan held which individually exceed 10% of total plan assets																																	2	1
Number of foreign countries for which the companys pension plan holds investments that exceed 10% of total plan assets																																								1	1