Notes payable and other borrowings

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2025

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Notes payable and other borrowings

Note 16. Notes payable and other borrowings

Notes payable and other borrowings of our insurance and other businesses are summarized below (dollars in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges are based on borrowings as of March 31, 2025.

	Weighted Average Interest Rate			March 31, 2025		December 31, 2024
Insurance and other:
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire”):
U.S. Dollar denominated due 2026-2047		3.5	%	$	3,546	$	3,749
Euro denominated due 2027-2041		1.4	%		3,864		4,733
Japanese Yen denominated due 2025-2060		1.0	%		13,221		12,609
Berkshire Hathaway Finance Corporation (“BHFC”):
U.S. Dollar denominated due 2027-2052		3.6	%		14,470		14,469
Great Britain Pound denominated due 2039-2059		2.5	%		2,226		2,156
Euro denominated due 2030-2034		1.8	%		1,347		1,290
Other subsidiary borrowings due 2025-2051		4.4	%		4,551		4,564
Short-term subsidiary borrowings		6.3	%		1,236		1,315
				$	44,461	$	44,885

Berkshire borrowings consist of senior unsecured debt. Berkshire repaid approximately $1.3 billion of maturing debt in the first quarter of 2025. In April 2025, Berkshire issued ¥90 billion ($632 million) of senior notes with maturity dates ranging from 2028 to 2055 and a weighted average interest rate of 1.637% and repaid ¥41.6 billion ($289 million) of senior notes that matured.

Borrowings of BHFC, a wholly-owned finance subsidiary of Berkshire, consist of senior unsecured notes used to fund manufactured housing loans originated or acquired and equipment held for lease of certain subsidiaries. BHFC borrowings are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Berkshire. Berkshire also guarantees certain debt of other subsidiaries, aggregating approximately $2.7 billion at March 31, 2025. Generally, Berkshire’s guarantee of a subsidiary’s debt obligation is an absolute, unconditional and irrevocable guarantee for the full and prompt payment when due of all payment obligations.

The carrying values of Berkshire and BHFC non-U.S. Dollar denominated senior notes (€4.85 billion, £1.75 billion and ¥1,988 billion par at March 31, 2025) reflect the applicable exchange rates as of each balance sheet date. The effects of changes in foreign currency exchange rates during the period on these borrowings are recorded in earnings as a component of selling, general and administrative expenses. Changes in the exchange rates produced pre-tax losses of $936 million in the first quarter of 2025 and pre-tax gains of $781 million in the first quarter of 2024.

Notes payable and other borrowings of our railroad, utilities and energy businesses are summarized below (dollars in millions). The weighted average interest rates and maturity date ranges are based on borrowings as of March 31, 2025.

	Weighted Average Interest Rate			March 31, 2025		December 31, 2024
Railroad, utilities and energy:
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Company (“BHE”) and subsidiaries:
BHE senior unsecured debt due 2025-2053		4.4	%	$	12,708	$	13,107
Subsidiary and other debt due 2025-2064		4.7	%		44,579		42,150
Short-term borrowings		5.2	%		685		1,123
Burlington Northern Santa Fe (“BNSF”) and subsidiaries due 2025-2097		4.7	%		23,494		23,497
				$	81,466	$	79,877

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note 16. Notes payable and other borrowings

BHE subsidiary debt represents amounts issued pursuant to separate financing agreements. Substantially all of the assets of certain BHE subsidiaries are, or may be, pledged or encumbered to support or otherwise secure such debt. These borrowing arrangements generally contain various covenants, including covenants which pertain to leverage ratios, interest coverage ratios and/or debt service coverage ratios. In the first quarter of 2025, BHE subsidiaries issued $2.4 billion of term debt, with a weighted average interest rate of 6.5% and maturity dates ranging from 2035 to 2055, and BHE and its subsidiaries repaid term debt and short-term borrowings of approximately $890 million in the aggregate.

BNSF’s borrowings are primarily senior unsecured debentures. As of March 31, 2025, BHE, BNSF and their subsidiaries were in compliance with all applicable debt covenants. Berkshire does not guarantee any debt, borrowings or lines of credit of BHE, BNSF or their subsidiaries.

Unused and available lines of credit and commercial paper capacity to support operations and provide additional liquidity for our subsidiaries were approximately $11.7 billion at March 31, 2025, of which approximately $10.6 billion related to BHE and its subsidiaries.