Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had its credit rating cut one notch by Standard & Poor's, which cited a new methodology for evaluating insurers and Berkshire's dependence on its insurance business for dividend income.

The rating was cut to “AA” from “AA-plus,” and S&P assigned a “negative” outlook, suggesting another cut could occur within a few years. S&P left its credit and financial strength ratings for Berkshire's insurance operating units at “AA-plus.”

The May 16 downgrade brings S&P's rating in line with the “Aa2″ rating that Berkshire holds from Moody's Investors Service. Those ratings are the agencies' third-highest.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.