Of course, none of this could have happened until Berkshire's leader, Warren Buffett, chose to compromise on his opposition to short-term investing. Buffett always liked to keep his company's stock an exclusive playground for long-term holders — witness the Class A shares (BRKA) trading at $122,300 each these days — but the 50-to-1 stock split in Class B stock was reportedly spurred by Buffett's need to find a wider universe of investors to help finance Berkshire Hathaway's acquisition of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. The stock split dropped the price of Class B shares from $3,275 each to more like $65 each.