(Bloomberg) -- Warren Buffett promised a hefty annual letterthis year -- some 20,000 words -- as he celebrates his 50thanniversary running Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and charts its nexthalf century.

The report, which is usually closer to 14,000 words, has longbeen a must-read on Wall Street -- full of homespun wisdom aboutinvesting and business. The contents are a closely guarded secretbefore the release as Buffett, 84, exchanges drafts with retiredFortune magazine writer Carol Loomis.

He’ll aim to put out a document on Saturday that shareholders inthe Omaha, Neb.-based company will turn to long after he’s gone. Asa bonus, Berkshire Vice Chairman Charles Munger, 91, will alsocontribute a letter.

Here are topics to consider before settling into a chair toread:

THE $360 BILLION ANCHOR

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

Size, however, is an “anchor to performance,” the billionairehas said. Berkshire’s operations include insurers, railroad BNSFand electric utilities. It also has a stock portfolio worth morethan $100 billion. One of the biggest holdings -- InternationalBusiness Machines Corp. -- has slumped in recent months, showinghow hard it is to outperform when dealing with huge sums and fewplaces to invest.

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

Could Ajit Jain be the next CEOof Berkshire Hathaway? (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

WILL A PRINCE BE CROWNED?

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

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

Short of a coronation, Buffett could update shareholders on theboard’s deliberations, as he did in 2012 by saying that thedirectors were “enthusiastic” about the leading candidate. Thecompany 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 theend 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 beenpretty 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 hasresisted calls for payouts, even as he began a modest stock-buybackprogram in recent years. “There’s so much cash now that it’s becomea much bigger question,” said Cliff Gallant, an analyst at NomuraHoldings Inc.

THE BRAZILIANS

Buffett is fond of calling his biggest acquisitions “elephants.”Recently, he has gotten help in the hunt by teaming up with 3GCapital, a buyout firm started by Brazilian billionaires JorgePaulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Hermann Telles. In2013, the companies joined forces to take ketchup maker H.J. Heinzprivate. Berkshire provided most of the financing and 3G supplied amanagement team.

That arrangement could be a “template” for future deals, Buffettsaid last March. Months later, Berkshire helped Burger KingWorldwide Inc., a 3G-controlled business, buy Canadiandoughnut-and-coffee chain Tim Hortons Inc.

Buffett could use this year’s letter to describe how he sees thepartnership evolving and what the prospects are for anothermultibillion-dollar acquisition.

Charles Munger, Berkshire vicechairman. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

A NEW ORG. CHART?

Buffett has quipped that he and Munger “delegate almost to thepoint of abdication.” There are only about two dozen workers atheadquarters. Yet Berkshire’s dozens of subsidiaries collectivelyemploy more than 300,000 people.

For years, the CEOs of the units reported directly to Buffett.That’s started to change, and some of Berkshire’s newest businessesare supervised by his deputies. By delegating more, he’s freeing uphis time and building capacity in an organization that will somedayhave to run without him. Describing what the reporting lines mightlook like years from now could help his successor manage thesprawling operation.

Buffett visits The Pampered Chef,a company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, on May 1, 2004. (APPhoto/Nati Harnik)

WHEN YOU SAID ‘FOREVER’...

Berkshire buys businesses for keeps. Buffett has said he’ll evenhang on to a “sub-par” company as long as labor relations are goodand he’s confident in management. The idea is to make Berkshire thebuyer of choice for people who want to sell to a long-termowner.

Buffett could revisit that argument in his letter this year.While most of Berkshire’s subsidiaries have been thriving, a fewlike picture frame-maker Larson Juhl and kitchen-supply sellerPampered Chef haven’t. Another business, NetJets, has been in adispute with its unions. Explaining when a spinoff makes sensecould give Buffett’s successor more room to maneuver in thefuture.

TODD & TED

Hiring Todd Combs (left) in 2010 and Ted Weschler (right) in2011 was a cornerstone of Buffett’s succession plan. The formerhedge-fund managers oversee part of Berkshire’s stock portfolio andhave also been helping their boss vet deals.

While Buffett has said Combs and Weschler outperformed theStandard & Poor’s 500 Index in 2012 and 2013, last year may nothave gone as well. A number of their stock picks slipped, includingbets on General Motors Co. and engineering-and- constructioncompany Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. Now that each deputy has beenat the company for at least three years, Buffett could provide moreclarity on their returns.

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