Howard will guard its culture and values - both more than anything on our balance sheet. Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.”

I think this is the most significant statement in the letter.

But what is BRK's culture and values? Is it doing things the way Buffett did in terms of working with his managers? Or investing like Buffett? Are they like one definition of pornography - you'll know it when you see it? Will Howard see it like Greg? Will the non-family members of the board? Will the latter matter as long as the Buffett family controls the voting power?

I don't see this as any immediate issue. I do see it as one longer range.

I ask this because it seems to me that BRK going forward faces much different challenges than BRK over its history. The profitability and growth of the owned businesses become increasingly important. This includes becoming more efficient, which basically means reducing unneeded work and focusing resources more on what's most important. It means tighter management, and more direct when needed. This will be very unlike Buffett. How far will Greg be permitted to go without violating the culture and values? We're still in the very early stages. With many isolated business silos, there must be a lot of duplication in OH. And probably a lot of good people doing less important work than they are capable of doing. And paid different amounts for the same work. That results from silos. And results in inefficiencies.

Investing going forward will be a far more challenging job than Buffett faced. He built a shareholder base that fundamentally trusted him to do the best thing for shareholders, and gave him both time and patience to do so. I doubt Greg will enjoy this level of support long range. Shareholders won't be as patient as we long timers pass on and the heirs change the shareholder base objectives. Loyalty to Buffett will pass.

Buffett is known for patience, more patience, occasional big investments, one-and-done offers, no competitive auctions, a source of last resort capital during downturns, etc. Will these values permit reinvesting the retained earnings and float growth going forward, starting with a trillion dollar balance sheet? How aggressive will Greg be permitted to be without violating the culture?

Buffett laid down the basic policy - protect values and culture. Will these limit BRK going forward is my basic question?

I think Greg will need forward looking board members to succeed. Do we have this on the existing board? How free will Greg be to choose his own, particularly as BRK family direct ownership control of BRK is supposed to end by 2034?