And, the CEO should write that letter as if he had one partner, and that partner has been away for a year. The partner is intelligent. He's somewhat versed in accounting terminology and finance terminology, but he's no expert. He's interested because he has a large section of his net worth in the company. He's ready to be an indefinite shareholder — a shareholder for an indefinite period, if he's treated well. And, the CEO, if he has that mental picture of that partner, and just writes to that partner what's happened that year, I think that's going to be better than all the information that can be required by any rules. Because, the CEO has a definite desire to communicate to that partner.

And, I say the CEO's attitude should be what would I want, if our positions were reversed? It's that simple. I mean, what do I need to know?

Now, Berkshire owns pieces of businesses — small pieces of businesses — and we own entire businesses. And, we really want the same disclosure from the CEOs of both companies. Not in the same detail, not something that could work to a competitive disadvantage, which if we own a hundred percent of a company, I'm perfectly willing to have him tell me about that, but I wouldn't want that done if I own five percent of a company.

But, in terms of the tone, the candor, I would want, from the CEO of a subsidiary of Berkshire, I would expect them to tell me what the hell is going on, and I would expect them to tell me that directly, and not have a public relations firm or an investor relations firm write the report for me. I don't want it coming to me with a lot of pictures or whatever it may be. I just want to know what's going on in their business.

And, there's no reason why the CEO of a public company, leaving out some of the details, leaving out some competitive aspects — but there's no reason why the CEO can't talk to his owners the same way that a subsidiary manager of a Berkshire company talks to his owner, which is me.