BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF
JOHNS MANVILLE CORPORATION

Omaha, Nebraska, February 27, 2001 - Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) announced today the completion of the acquisition of Johns Manville Corporation by the merger of a Berkshire Hathaway wholly owned subsidiary with and into Johns Manville. As a result of the merger, Johns Manville is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The merger follows a cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of Johns Manville at $13.00 per share, which was completed on February 23, 2001. As a result of the merger, each outstanding share of Johns Manville not owned by Berkshire Hathaway has been automatically converted into the right to receive $13 per share in cash. Johns Manville shareholders who did not tender their shares in the tender offer will receive a Notice of Merger and a Letter of Transmittal that will instruct them as to how to receive the $13 per share or, in the alternative, exercise appraisal rights under Delaware law.

Johns Manville is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building products. The 142-year-old Denver-based company had sales of $2.2 billion in 1999. Johns Manville employs approximately 9,700 people and operates 55 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China.

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of diverse business activities. The most important of these is the property and casualty insurance business conducted on both a direct and reinsurance basis through a number of subsidiaries.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions about the companies' businesses, economic and market factors, and the industries in which the companies do business, among other things. Actual results could differ materially from those forecast in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other things, acquisitions by the Company, the development of new products and services, the effect of competitive products and services, and general economic conditions.

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Berkshire Hathaway Inc.