Goodwill and other intangible assets - Intangible assets (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Mar. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Insurance and Other [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	$ 40,985	$ 41,153
Accumulated amortization	10,292	10,102
Railroad, Utilities and Energy [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	1,003	1,003
Accumulated amortization	419	408
Trademarks and trade names [Member] | Insurance and Other [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	5,283	5,286
Accumulated amortization	764	759
Trademarks and trade names [Member] | Railroad, Utilities and Energy [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	212	212
Accumulated amortization	27	26
Customer relationships [Member] | Insurance and Other [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	27,820	27,943
Accumulated amortization	5,137	5,025
Customer relationships [Member] | Railroad, Utilities and Energy [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	678	678
Accumulated amortization	333	324
Other intangible assets [Member] | Insurance and Other [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	3,291	3,364
Accumulated amortization	1,295	1,286
Other intangible assets [Member] | Railroad, Utilities and Energy [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	113	113
Accumulated amortization	59	58
Patents and technology [Member] | Insurance and Other [Member]
Finite-Lived and Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	4,591	4,560
Accumulated amortization	$ 3,096	$ 3,032