Key Quotes from 2000 Shareholder Letter

1. "Our [dividend] policy is instead to distribute cash only when we believe the retention of every dollar of earnings would fail to increase Berkshire's market value by at least $1."

2. "The truly extraordinary rewards of the past several decades came from owning American industry... The party ended in 1969."

3. "In the 20th Century, the Dow increased from 66 to 11,497, rewarding its shareholders magnificently — but only because the index retained almost all earnings and compounded them at close to 12% annually."

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Source: Full Letter