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Berkshire of Buffett sees 62 Percent Rise

Warren Buffett`s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported this past week that its second-quarter earnings went up 62 percent to $2.35 billion, or $1,522 per share. This compares to $1.45 billion, or $941 per share, for the same period of the year before. According to the company`s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), revenue for Berkshire Hathaway climbed 33 percent to $24.19 billion in the three months ending June 30. The Omaha, Nebraska-based company says it had $37.3 billion in cash at the end of the quarter.

Berkshire`s insurance companies posted net underwriting earnings of $371 million during the second-quarter of 2006, down from $376 million last year. The company`s other investments made $294 million in the second quarter. This compares to a loss of $160 million the year before. Class A shares of Berkshire stock rose $410, or less than 1 percent, to end at $91,710 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Class B shares of Berkshire stock climbed $8 to finish at $3,050. Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett, considered the world`s second-richest man, made waves last month when he announced that he was donating billions of dollars worth of shares over the next several years. to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, an organization founded by Microsoft chairman and world`s richest man Bill Gates focusing on charitable causes.