Warren Buffett dismisses book value as a meaningful measure when evaluating companies for investment. At Berkshire Hathaway’s 2000 annual meeting, he explained that while book value—the total of a company’s tangible assets minus liabilities—can be a rough reference point for Berkshire itself, it plays no role in his decisions on businesses like The Washington Post, Coca-Cola, or Gillette.
“The really wonderful businesses require no book value,” Buffett said, adding that what truly matters is a company’s ability to earn on invested assets and generate strong returns on incremental investments. For him, book value is “a factor we ignore.”
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© 2026 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.