NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) Aug. 20, 2002--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it affirmed its triple-'A'/'A-1'-plus counterparty credit, 'A-1'-plus commercial paper, and triple-'A' senior debt ratings on Berkshire Hathaway Inc. because of the company's extremely strong financial flexibility and earnings diversification and its insurance operations' extremely strong consolidated capital adequacy. Standard & Poor's also said that the outlook on Berkshire Hathaway is stable. "Additional positive considerations are the leading market positions held by certain Berkshire Hathaway (re)insurance operations, past initiatives taken by these affiliates to improve their business models, and a continued, positive pricing environment that should boost Berkshire Hathaway's insurance earnings over the next two years," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Frederick Loeloff. Offsetting these
