Burlington Northern Acquisition

One of the more noteworthy provisions of the Burlington Northern acquisition is that Berkshire will pay with about 40% stock (and 60% cash) for the railroad. Buffett has rarely made acquisitions with Berkshire stock. His self-admitted biggest mistake has been an acquisition with Berkshire stock

In 2007, he wrote:

"Finally, I made an even worse mistake when I said "yes" to Dexter, a shoe business I bought in 1993 for $433 million in Berkshire stock (25,203 shares of A). What I had assessed as durable competitive advantage vanished within a few years. But that's just the beginning: That move made the cost to Berkshire shareholders not $400 million, but rather $3.5 billion. In essence, I gave away 1.6% of a wonderful business-one now valued at $220 billion to buy a worthless business. To date, Dexter is the worst deal I've made."
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Warren Buffett, 2007 Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders