Warren Buffett promised a hefty annual letter this year -- some 20,000 words -- as he celebrates his 50th anniversary running Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and charts its next half century.

The report, which is usually closer to 14,000 words, has long been a must-read on Wall Street -- full of homespun wisdom about investing and business. The contents are a closely guarded secret before the release as Buffett, 84, exchanges drafts with retired Fortune magazine writer Carol Loomis.

He’ll aim to put out a document on Saturday that shareholders in the Omaha, Nebraska-based company will turn to long after he’s gone. As a bonus, Berkshire Vice Chairman Charles Munger, 91, will also contribute a letter. Here are topics to consider before settling into a chair to read:

The $360 Billion Anchor

Berkshire was a struggling textile maker when Buffett took control. It’s now one of the largest businesses in the world. Its Class A shares -- which have never split -- trade for more than $200,000 each. The company’s market value is about $367 billion.

Size, however, is an “anchor to performance,” the billionaire has said. Berkshire’s operations include insurers, railroad BNSF and electric utilities. It also has a stock portfolio worth more than $100 billion. One of the biggest holdings -- International Business Machines Corp. -- has slumped in recent months, showing how hard it is to outperform when dealing with huge sums and few places to invest.

Buffett could use the letter to help shareholders understand what returns are possible in the decades ahead.

Will A Prince Be Crowned?

Buffett has deflected questions for years about who will succeed him as Berkshire’s chief executive officer. Identifying the board’s choice for the job would be a momentous occasion and end a decades-long guessing game.

Some of his comments over the years have led investors to speculate that potential successors include Ajit Jain, the head of Berkshire’s namesake reinsurer; Greg Abel, who leads the utility business; and Matthew Rose, executive chairman of BNSF.

Short of a coronation, Buffett could update shareholders on the board’s deliberations, as he did in 2012 by saying that the directors were “enthusiastic” about the leading candidate. The company also has a number of backups. How many is anyone’s guess. It all got more murky last year.

Too Much Cash

Berkshire’s cash pile climbed to a record $62.4 billion at the end of September as profit rolled in from subsidiaries . Historically, Buffett had two main ways of using those funds: buying stocks and acquiring businesses. On both fronts, he’s been pretty quiet. He even sold off one of his bigger equity holdings, Exxon Mobil Corp., in the fourth quarter.

Another option would be to start paying a dividend. Buffett has resisted calls for payouts, even as he began a modest stock- buyback program in recent years. “There’s so much cash now that it’s become a much bigger question,” said Cliff Gallant, an analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc.

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