Earlier this year, conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A -0.21% ) ( BRK.B 0.03% ), which is run by legendary buy-and-hold investor Warren Buffett, published its annual shareholder letter. Within that shareholder letter, Berkshire breaks down its performance under Buffett's tutelage all the way back to the beginning of 1965. In that stretch, his company's stock has returned an annual average of 20% per year. On an aggregate basis, this works out to a gain of 2,810,526%.