2025巴菲特股东告别信最新
# BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. (伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司)
# NEWS RELEASE (新闻稿)
# FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 2025 (即时发布 2025年11月10日)
Omaha, NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) – Today, Warren E. Buffett converted 1,800 A shares into 2,700,000 B shares in order to give these B shares to four family foundations: 1,500,000 shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 400,000 shares to each of The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation. These donations have been delivered today.
内布拉斯加州奥马哈市（股票代码：BRK.A；BRK.B）—— 今日，沃伦·E·巴菲特将1800股A股转换为270万股B股，并将这些B股捐赠给四家家族基金会：150万股赠予苏珊·汤普森·巴菲特基金会，40万股分别赠予舍伍德基金会、霍华德·G·巴菲特基金会及诺沃基金会。上述捐赠已于今日完成交付。
Mr. Buffett’s comments to his fellow shareholders follow:
以下是巴菲特先生致其他股东的声明：
# To My Fellow Shareholders: (致各位股东：)
I will no longer be writing Berkshire’s annual report or talking endlessly at the annual meeting. As the British would say, I’m “going quiet.”
我将不再撰写伯克希尔的年度报告，也不再在年度股东大会上进行长篇发言。用英国人的话说，我要“归于平静”了。
Sort of.
算是吧。
Greg Abel will become the boss at yearend. He is a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator. Wish him an extended tenure.
格雷格·阿贝尔将在年底接任掌门人之位。他是一位杰出的管理者、勤奋不懈的工作者，也是一位坦诚的沟通者。愿他任期长久。
I will continue talking to you and my children about Berkshire via my annual Thanksgiving message. Berkshire’s individual shareholders are a very special group who are unusually generous in sharing their gains with others less fortunate. I enjoy the chance to keep in touch with you. Indulge me this year as I first reminisce a bit. After that, I will discuss the plans for distribution of my Berkshire shares. Finally, I will offer a few business and personal observations.
我将继续通过每年的感恩节寄语，与各位以及我的孩子们探讨伯克希尔的相关事宜。伯克希尔的个人股东是一个非常特别的群体，他们格外慷慨地与不幸之人分享自己的收益。我很珍惜与大家保持联系的机会。今年请容我先稍作追忆，之后我会谈谈我所持伯克希尔股票的分配计划，最后再分享一些商业及个人感悟。
As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m grateful and surprised by my luck in being alive at 95.
感恩节临近，我对自己能活到95岁感到既感恩又意外。
When I was young, this outcome did not look like a good bet. Early on, I nearly died.
年轻时，没人会觉得我能活到这个年纪。我早年曾险些丧命。
It was 1938 and Omaha hospitals were then thought of by its citizens as either Catholic or Protestant, a classification that seemed natural at the time.
那是1938年，当时奥马哈市民将本地医院分为天主教医院和新教医院两类，这种划分在当时显得理所当然。
Our family doctor, Harley Hotz, was a friendly Catholic who made house calls toting a black bag. Dr. Hotz called me Skipper and never charged much for his visits. When I experienced a bad bellyache in 1938, Dr. Hotz came by and, after probing a bit, told me I would be OK in the morning.
我们的家庭医生哈雷·霍茨是位友善的天主教徒，他出诊时总会提着一个黑色医疗包。霍茨医生管我叫“小队长”，而且出诊收费向来不高。1938年我突发剧烈腹痛，霍茨医生赶来检查一番后，告诉我第二天早上就会没事。
He then went home, had dinner and played a little bridge. Dr. Hotz couldn’t, however, get my somewhat peculiar symptoms out of his mind and later that night he dispatched me to St. Catherine’s Hospital for an emergency appendectomy. During the next three weeks, I felt like I was in a nunnery, and began enjoying my new “podium.” I liked to talk – yes, even then – and the nuns embraced me.
之后他便回了家，吃过晚饭还打了会儿桥牌。但霍茨医生始终无法放下我那些略显特殊的症状，当晚晚些时候，他便安排我前往圣凯瑟琳医院接受紧急阑尾切除术。在接下来的三周里，我感觉自己像是住在修道院里，还渐渐喜欢上了这个新的“小舞台”。我向来爱说话——没错，那时候就是这样——修女们也都很疼我。
To top things off, Miss Madsen, my third-grade teacher, told my 30 classmates to each write me a letter. I probably threw away the letters from the boys but read and reread those from the girls; hospitalization had its rewards.
更棒的是，我三年级的老师马德森小姐让班上30名同学每人给我写了一封信。我大概把男生写的信都扔了，但女生们的信却读了一遍又一遍——住院也不全是坏事，还是有意外收获的。
The highlight of my recovery – which actually was dicey for much of the first week – was a gift from my wonderful Aunt Edie. She brought me a very professional-looking fingerprinting set, and I promptly fingerprinted all of my attending nuns. (I was probably the first Protestant kid they had seen at St. Catherine’s and they didn’t know what to expect.)
我康复期间最难忘的事——其实第一周的大部分时间里，我的情况都很不稳定——是我亲爱的伊迪阿姨送我的一份礼物。她给我带了一套看起来非常专业的指纹采集工具，我立刻给所有照顾我的修女都采集了指纹。（我可能是她们在圣凯瑟琳医院见到的第一个新教小孩，她们也不知道该对我抱什么期待。）
My theory – totally nutty, of course – was that someday a nun would go bad and the FBI would find that they had neglected to fingerprint nuns. The FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, had become revered by Americans in the 1930s, and I envisioned Mr. Hoover, himself, coming to Omaha to inspect my invaluable collection. I further fantasized that J. Edgar and I would quickly identify and apprehend the wayward nun. National fame seemed certain.
我的想法——当然，完全是异想天开——是有一天某个修女会变坏，而联邦调查局（FBI）会发现他们居然忘了给修女采集指纹。20世纪30年代，FBI及其局长J·埃德加·胡佛已经深受美国人崇敬，我想象着胡佛先生会亲自来到奥马哈，查看我这份无价的指纹收藏。我还进一步幻想，我和J·埃德加会迅速锁定并逮捕那个行为不端的修女，届时我一定会全国闻名。
Obviously, my fantasy never materialized. But, ironically, some years later it became clear that I should have fingerprinted J. Edgar himself as he became disgraced for misusing his post.
显然，我的幻想从未成真。但颇具讽刺意味的是，多年后事情变得很清楚：我当初真该给J·埃德加本人采集指纹才对——他后来因滥用职权而声名狼藉。
Well, that was Omaha in the 1930s, when a sled, a bicycle, a baseball glove and an electric train were coveted by me and my friends. Let’s look at a few other kids from that era, who grew up very nearby and greatly influenced my life but of whom I was for long unaware.
好了，这就是20世纪30年代的奥马哈，那时候我和朋友们最渴望的东西就是雪橇、自行车、棒球手套和电动火车。现在我想说说那个年代的另外几个孩子，他们在离我很近的地方长大，对我的人生产生了巨大影响，但我很长时间都不知道他们的存在。
I’ll begin with Charlie Munger, my best pal for 64 years. In the 1930s, Charlie lived a block away from the house I have owned and occupied since 1958.
首先要说说查理·芒格，我64年的挚友。20世纪30年代，查理住的地方离我1958年买下并一直居住至今的房子只有一个街区之隔。
Early on, I missed befriending Charlie by a whisker. Charlie, 6 ⅔ years older than I, worked in the summer of 1940 at my grandfather’s grocery store, earning $2 for a 10-hour day. (Thrift runs deep in Buffett blood.) The following year I did similar work at the store, but I never met Charlie until 1959 when he was 35 and I was 28.
早年，我与和查理结交的机会失之交臂，就差那么一点点。查理比我大6又2/3岁，1940年夏天，他在我祖父的杂货店里打工，每天工作10小时，能挣2美元。（节俭是巴菲特家族深入骨髓的品质。）第二年，我也在那家店里做类似的工作，但直到1959年我才第一次见到查理——当时他35岁，我28岁。
After serving in World War II, Charlie graduated from Harvard Law and then moved permanently to California. Charlie, however, forever talked of his early years in Omaha as formative. For more than 60 years, Charlie had a huge impact on me and could not have been a better teacher and protective “big brother.” We had differences but never had an argument. “I told you so” was not in his vocabulary.
二战服役结束后，查理从哈佛法学院毕业，随后永久搬到了加利福尼亚州。但查理总说，奥马哈的早年生活对他的成长起到了决定性作用。60多年来，查理对我产生了巨大的影响，他是最好的导师，也是最有保护欲的“大哥”。我们之间有分歧，但从未争吵过。“我早告诉你了”这种话，从来不会从他嘴里说出来。
In 1958, I bought my first and only home. Of course, it was in Omaha, located about two miles from where I grew up (loosely defined), less than two blocks from my in-laws, about six blocks from the Buffett grocery store and a 6-7-minute drive from the office building where I have worked for 64 years.
1958年，我买下了我人生中第一套也是唯一一套房子。毫无疑问，房子在奥马哈——距离我长大的地方（宽泛意义上的）大约两英里，离岳父母家不到两个街区，离巴菲特杂货店约六个街区，距离我工作了64年的办公楼开车只需6到7分钟。
Let’s move on to another Omahan, Stan Lipsey. Stan sold the Omaha Sun Newspapers (weeklies) to Berkshire in 1968 and a decade later moved to Buffalo at my request. The Buffalo Evening News, owned by a Berkshire affiliate, was then locked in a battle to the death with its morning competitor who published Buffalo’s only Sunday paper. And we were losing.
再来说说另一位奥马哈人斯坦·利普西。1968年，斯坦将《奥马哈太阳报》（周刊）卖给了伯克希尔，十年后应我之邀搬到了布法罗。当时伯克希尔旗下子公司拥有的《布法罗晚报》，正与当地一家晨报展开生死较量——那家晨报还发行着布法罗唯一的周日版报纸，而我们处于下风。
Stan eventually built our new Sunday product, and for some years our paper – formerly hemorrhaging cash – earned over 100% annually (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was important money to Berkshire in the early 1980s.
最终，斯坦打造出了我们全新的周日版报纸。在之后的几年里，这份曾经持续亏损的报纸，以3300万美元的投资为基础，实现了每年超过100%的税前回报率。在上世纪80年代初，这笔收入对伯克希尔来说至关重要。
Stan grew up about five blocks from my home. One of Stan’s neighbors was Walter Scott, Jr. Walter, you will remember, brought MidAmerican Energy to Berkshire in 1999. He was also a valued Berkshire director until his death in 2021 and a very close friend. Walter was Nebraska’s philanthropic leader for decades and both Omaha and the state carries his imprint.
斯坦的成长地离我家大约五个街区。他的邻居之一是小沃尔特·斯科特。大家应该还记得，1999年正是沃尔特将中美能源集团带入了伯克希尔。直到2021年去世前，他一直是伯克希尔备受重视的董事，也是我非常亲密的朋友。几十年来，沃尔特一直是内布拉斯加州慈善事业的领军人物，奥马哈市乃至整个州都留下了他的印记。
Walter attended Benson High School, which I was scheduled to attend as well – until my dad surprised everyone in 1942 by beating a four-term incumbent in a Congressional race. Life is full of surprises.
沃尔特曾就读于本森高中，我原本也计划进入这所学校——直到1942年，我父亲爆出冷门，击败了一位四届连任的在任议员，成功当选国会议员，打乱了原本的计划。生活总是充满意外。
Wait, there’s more.
等等，还有后续。
In 1959, Don Keough and his young family lived in a home located directly across the street from my house and about 100 yards away from where the Munger family had lived. Don was then a coffee salesman but was destined to become president of Coca-Cola as well as a devoted director of Berkshire.
1959年，唐·基奥和他的小家庭住在我家街对面，距离芒格一家曾经的住所大约100码远。当时唐还是一名咖啡推销员，但后来他不仅成了可口可乐公司的总裁，还担任了伯克希尔的忠实董事。
When I met Don, he was earning $12,000 a year while he and his wife Mickie were raising five children, all destined for Catholic schools (with tuition requirements).
我认识唐的时候，他年薪1.2万美元，却要和妻子米基一起抚养五个孩子，而且所有孩子都要去天主教学校就读（需要支付学费）。
Our families became fast friends. Don came from a farm in northwest Iowa and graduated from Omaha’s Creighton University. Early on, he married Mickie, an Omaha girl. After joining Coke, Don went on to become legendary around the globe.
我们两家很快成了好朋友。唐来自爱荷华州西北部的一个农场，毕业于奥马哈的克瑞顿大学。他很早就和奥马哈本地姑娘米基结了婚。加入可口可乐公司后，唐逐渐成为了全球范围内的传奇人物。
In 1985, when Don was president of Coke, the company launched its ill-fated New Coke. Don made a famous speech in which he apologized to the public and reinstated “Old” Coke. This change of heart took place after Don explained that Coke incoming mail addressed to “Supreme Idiot” was promptly delivered to his desk. His “withdrawal” speech is a classic and can be viewed on YouTube. He cheerfully acknowledged that, in truth, the Coca-Cola product belonged to the public and not to the company. Sales subsequently soared.
1985年，唐担任可口可乐总裁期间，公司推出了命运多舛的“新可乐”。之后，唐发表了一场著名的演讲，向公众道歉并恢复了“经典可乐”的销售。他后来解释说，当时可口可乐收到的所有写给“头号白痴”的邮件都会直接送到他的办公桌上，这也促使他改变了主意。他的这场“撤回”演讲堪称经典，在YouTube上就能看到。他坦然承认，事实上，可口可乐这款产品属于公众，而非公司本身。随后，产品销量大幅飙升。
You can watch Don on CharlieRose.com in a wonderful interview. (Tom Murphy and Kay Graham have a couple of gems as well.) Like Charlie Munger, Don forever remained a Midwestern boy, enthusiastic, friendly and American to the core.
你可以在CharlieRose.com网站上看到对唐的一场精彩采访（汤姆·墨菲和凯·格雷厄姆的采访也同样精彩）。和查理·芒格一样，唐始终保持着中西部人的本色，热情、友善，骨子里透着纯粹的美国精神。
Finally, Ajit Jain, born and raised in India, as well as Greg Abel, our Canadian CEO-to-be, each lived in Omaha for several years late in the 20th Century. Indeed, in the 1990s, Greg lived only a few blocks away from me on Farnam Street, though we never met at the time.
最后要提到的是阿吉特·贾恩和即将接任CEO的加拿大人格雷格·阿贝尔。阿吉特在印度出生长大，而格雷格在20世纪末都曾在奥马哈居住过好几年。事实上，上世纪90年代，格雷格就住在法纳姆街上，离我家只有几个街区远，但当时我们从未谋面。
Can it be that there is some magic ingredient in Omaha’s water?
难道奥马哈的水里真的含有某种神奇的成分吗？
I lived a few teenage years in Washington, DC (when my dad was in Congress) and in 1954 I took what I thought would be a permanent job in Manhattan. There I was treated wonderfully by Ben Graham and Jerry Newman and made many life-long friends. New York had unique assets – and still does. Nevertheless, in 1956, after only 1½ years, I returned to Omaha, never to wander again.
我十几岁时曾在华盛顿特区住过几年（当时我父亲在国会任职），1954年，我在曼哈顿找到了一份自以为会是终身的工作。在那里，本·格雷厄姆和杰瑞·纽曼对我非常好，我还结交了许多终身挚友。纽约有着独特的优势——如今依然如此。尽管如此，1956年，仅仅工作了一年半后，我还是回到了奥马哈，从此再未离开。
Subsequently, my three children, as well as several grandchildren, were raised in Omaha. My children always attended public schools (graduating from the same high school that educated my dad (class of 1921), my first wife, Susie (class of 1950) as well as Charlie, Stan Lipsey, Irv and Ron Blumkin, who were key to growing Nebraska Furniture Mart, and Jack Ringwalt (class of 1923), who founded National Indemnity and sold it to Berkshire in 1967 where it became the base upon which our huge P/C operation was constructed.
后来，我的三个孩子以及几个孙辈都在奥马哈长大。我的孩子们一直就读于公立学校，毕业于同一所高中——我的父亲（1921届）、我的第一任妻子苏西（1950届）、查理、斯坦·利普西、欧文·布卢姆金和罗恩·布卢姆金（内布拉斯加家具商城发展的关键人物），以及杰克·林沃尔特（1923届）都毕业于这所学校。杰克创办了国民保险公司，并于1967年将其出售给伯克希尔，这里后来成为了我们庞大财产保险与意外险业务的基石。
Our country has many great companies, great schools, great medical facilities and each definitely has its own special advantages along with talented people. But I feel very lucky to have had the good fortune to make many lifelong friends, to meet both of my wives, to receive a great start in education at public schools, to meet many interesting and friendly adult Omahans when I was very young, and to make a wide variety of friends in the Nebraska National Guard. In short, Nebraska has been home.
我们国家有许多优秀的公司、顶尖的学校和优质的医疗设施，每一处都有其独特优势，也人才济济。但我深感幸运的是，我在这里结交了许多终身挚友，遇到了我的两任妻子，在公立学校获得了良好的教育起点，年少时认识了许多有趣又友善的奥马哈成年人，还在内布拉斯加国民警卫队交到了各种各样的朋友。简而言之，内布拉斯加就是我的家。
Looking back I feel that both Berkshire and I did better because of our base in Omaha than if I had resided anywhere else. The center of the United States was a very good place to be born, to raise a family, and to build a business. Through dumb luck, I drew a ridiculously long straw at birth.
回首往事，我觉得无论是伯克希尔还是我个人，都因为将总部设在奥马哈而取得了比住在其他任何地方更好的成就。美国中部是一个非常适合出生、成家和创业的地方。靠着纯粹的运气，我生来就抽到了一支好签。
Now let’s move on to my advanced age. My genes haven’t been particularly helpful – the family’s all-time record for longevity (admittedly family records get fuzzy as you work backwards) was 92 until I came along. But I have had wise, friendly and dedicated Omaha doctors, starting with Harley Hotz, and continuing to this day. At least three times, my life has been saved, each with doctors based within a few miles from my home. (I have given up fingerprinting nurses, however. You can get away with many eccentricities at 95 . . . . . but there are limits.)
现在来说说我的高龄。我的基因并没有特别出众——家族的最长寿纪录（诚然，追溯得越远，家族纪录就越模糊）在我之前是92岁。但我很幸运，从哈雷·霍茨医生开始，到如今，奥马哈的医生们都睿智、友善且尽职尽责。至少有三次，是住在我家几英里范围内的医生救了我的命。（不过我已经不再给护士们采集指纹了。95岁的人可以有很多怪癖，但凡事都有个限度。）
Those who reach old age need a huge dose of good luck, daily escaping banana peels, natural disasters, drunk or distracted drivers, lightning strikes, you name it.
能活到高龄的人都需要极大的运气，每天都要避开各种意外——比如脚下的香蕉皮、自然灾害、酒驾或分心驾驶的司机、雷击等等，不胜枚举。
But Lady Luck is fickle and – no other term fits – wildly unfair. In many cases, our leaders and the rich have received far more than their share of luck – which, too often, the recipients prefer not to acknowledge. Dynastic inheritors have achieved lifetime financial independence the moment they emerged from the womb, while others have arrived, facing a hell-hole during their early life or, worse, disabling physical or mental infirmities that rob them of what I have taken for granted. In many heavily-populated parts of the world, I would likely have had a miserable life and my sisters would have had one even worse.
但幸运女神变幻莫测，而且——没有其他词能形容——极其不公。很多时候，我们的领导者和富人得到的运气远超他们应得的份额，而这些受益者往往不愿承认这一点。豪门继承人一出生就拥有了终身的经济独立，而另一些人一来到这个世界，就要面对悲惨的童年，甚至更糟，要承受身心残疾的痛苦，这些都剥夺了我习以为常的东西。在世界上许多人口稠密的地区，我很可能会过着悲惨的生活，而我的姐妹们的处境会更糟。
I was born in 1930 healthy, reasonably intelligent, white, male and in America. Wow! Thank you, Lady Luck. My sisters had equal intelligence and better personalities than I but faced a much different outlook. Lady Luck continued to drop by during much of my life, but she has better things to do than work with those in their 90s. Luck has its limits.
我1930年出生，身体健康，智商尚可，是白人男性，还生在美国。哇！感谢幸运女神。我的姐妹们和我智商相当，性格更好，但她们面临的前景却截然不同。在我人生的大部分时间里，幸运女神都时常眷顾我，但她还有更重要的事情要做，不会一直陪伴90多岁的人。运气是有上限的。
Father Time, to the contrary, now finds me more interesting as I age. And he is undefeated; for him, everyone ends up on his score card as “wins.” When balance, sight, hearing and memory are all on a persistently downward slope, you know Father Time is in the neighborhood.
相反，时光老人随着我年岁增长，似乎对我更感兴趣了。他从未输过，在他的记分牌上，每个人最终都是“输家”（时光老人终将战胜所有人）。当你的平衡感、视力、听力和记忆力都在持续下降时，你就知道时光老人已经来到你身边了。
I was late in becoming old – its onset materially varies – but once it appears, it is not to be denied.
我变老的时间比较晚——衰老的到来时间因人而异——但一旦它出现，就无法否认。
To my surprise, I generally feel good. Though I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am at the office five days a week where I work with wonderful people. Occasionally, I get a useful idea or am approached with an offer we might not otherwise have received. Because of Berkshire’s size and because of market levels, ideas are few – but not zero.
令我惊讶的是，我总体感觉还不错。虽然我行动迟缓，阅读也越来越困难，但我每周还是会去办公室五天，和一群很棒的人一起工作。偶尔，我会想到一些有用的点子，或者有人会向我们提出一些原本不会收到的合作邀约。由于伯克希尔的规模和当前的市场水平，好点子并不多——但也不是没有。
My unexpected longevity, however, has unavoidable consequences of major importance to my family and the achievement of my charitable objectives.
然而，我意外的长寿，给我的家人以及我的慈善目标实现带来了不可避免的重大影响。
Let’s explore them.
下面我们来详细说说这些影响。
# What Comes Next (后续安排)
My children are all above normal retirement age, having reached 72, 70 and 67. It would be a mistake to wager that all three – now at their peak in many respects – will enjoy my exceptional luck in delayed aging. To improve the probability that they will dispose of what will essentially be my entire estate before alternate trustees replace them, I need to step up the pace of lifetime gifts to their three foundations. My children are now at their prime in respect to experience and wisdom but have yet to enter old age. That “honeymoon” period will not last forever.
我的孩子们都已超过正常退休年龄，分别是72岁、70岁和67岁。现在他们在很多方面都处于人生巅峰，但如果打赌他们三人都能像我这样幸运地延缓衰老，那就错了。为了提高他们能在替代受托人接任前，处理完我几乎全部遗产的概率，我需要加快向他们各自管理的三家基金会进行生前捐赠的节奏。我的孩子们如今在经验和智慧上都处于黄金时期，还未步入老年，但这段“黄金窗口期”不会永远持续。
Fortunately, a course correction is easy to execute. There is, however, one additional factor to consider: I would like to keep a significant amount of “A” shares until Berkshire shareholders develop the comfort with Greg that Charlie and I long enjoyed. That level of confidence shouldn’t take long. My children are already 100% behind Greg as are the Berkshire directors.
幸运的是，调整捐赠节奏并不难。但还有一个额外因素需要考虑：我希望保留相当数量的A股，直到伯克希尔的股东们对格雷格建立起信任——就像查理和我长期以来对他的信任那样。这种信任的建立应该不会太久。我的孩子们和伯克希尔的董事们都已100%支持格雷格。
All three children now have the maturity, brains, energy and instincts to disburse a large fortune. They will also have the advantage of being above ground when I am long gone and, if necessary, can adopt policies both anticipatory and reactive to federal tax policies or other developments affecting philanthropy. They may well need to adapt to a significantly changing world around them. Ruling from the grave does not have a great record, and I have never had an urge to do so.
我的三个孩子如今都具备了管理和分配巨额财富所需的成熟度、智慧、精力和直觉。等我离世后，他们依然在世，这也是一大优势——必要时，他们可以根据联邦税收政策或其他影响慈善事业的发展动态，制定前瞻性或应对性的策略。他们很可能需要适应周围这个发生巨大变化的世界。“死后掌权”向来没有好结果，我也从未有过这样的想法。
Fortunately, all three children received a dominant dosage of their genes from their mother. As the decades have passed, I have also become a better model for their thinking and behavior. I will never, however, achieve parity with their mother.
幸运的是，我的三个孩子都遗传了他们母亲的大部分优良基因。几十年来，我也努力成为他们思想和行为上更好的榜样，但我永远无法与他们的母亲相提并论。
My children have three alternate trustees in case of any premature deaths or disabilities. The alternates are not ranked or tied to a specific child. All three are exceptional humans and wise in the ways of the world. They have no conflicting motives.
我为孩子们指定了三位替代受托人，以应对任何可能的早逝或残疾情况。这些替代受托人没有排名之分，也不专属某个孩子。他们三位都是非常优秀的人，处世明智，且没有任何利益冲突。
I have assured my children that they do not need to perform miracles nor fear failures or disappointments. These are inevitable, and I have made my share. They simply need to improve somewhat upon what generally is achieved by government activities and/or private philanthropy, recognizing these other methods of redistribution of wealth have shortcomings as well.
我已经向孩子们保证，他们不需要创造奇迹，也不必害怕失败或失望。这些都是不可避免的，我自己也经历过不少。他们只需要在政府项目和/或私人慈善通常能达到的成果基础上，做出一定程度的改进即可——要知道，这些其他的财富再分配方式也存在不足之处。
Early on, I contemplated various grand philanthropic plans. Though I was stubborn, these did not prove feasible. During my many years, I’ve also watched ill-conceived wealth transfers by political hacks, dynastic choices and, yes, inept or quirky philanthropists.
早年，我曾构思过各种宏大的慈善计划。尽管我很固执，但这些计划最终都被证明不可行。多年来，我也见过不少由政治投机者、豪门继承者主导的糟糕财富转移，当然，也包括那些能力不足或行为古怪的慈善家所做的不明智决策。
If my children simply do a decent job, they can be certain that their mother and I would be pleased. Their instincts are good and they each have had years of practice with very small sums initially that have been irregularly increased to more than $500 million annually.
只要我的孩子们能把事情做好，他们就可以肯定，我和他们的母亲都会感到欣慰。他们的直觉很好，而且多年来也一直在积累经验——起初是管理数额很小的资金，后来不定期增加，如今每年的资金规模已超过5亿美元。
All three like working long hours to help others, each in their own way.
我的三个孩子都愿意长时间工作，以各自的方式帮助他人。
The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children’s foundations in no way reflects any change in my views about Berkshire’s prospects. Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire’s next CEO. He understands many of our businesses and personnel far better than I now do, and he is a very fast learner about matters many CEOs don’t even consider. I can’t think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government – you name it – that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine.
我加快向孩子们的基金会进行生前捐赠，这绝不反映我对伯克希尔前景的看法有任何改变。格雷格·阿贝尔的表现，远超我当初认为他应担任伯克希尔下一任CEO时的殷切期望。他对我们许多业务和人员的了解，如今已远胜于我，而且对于许多CEO甚至不会考虑的事情，他也学得非常快。无论是CEO、管理顾问、学者、政府官员——无论是什么身份，我想不出有任何人比格雷格更适合管理你我的财富。
Greg understands, for example, far more about both the upside potential and the dangers of our P/C insurance business than do a great many long-time P/C executives. My hope is that his health remains good for several decades. With a little luck, Berkshire should require only five or six CEOs over the next century. It should particularly avoid those whose goal is to retire at 65, to become look-at-me rich or to initiate a dynasty.
举例来说，格雷格对我们财产保险与意外险业务的上行潜力和潜在风险的理解，远超许多长期从事该行业的高管。我希望他能保持几十年的健康状态。运气好的话，伯克希尔在下个世纪可能只需要五六位CEO。我们尤其要避免那些目标是65岁退休、追求“引人注目的财富”或想要建立家族传承的人。
One unpleasant reality: Occasionally, a wonderful and loyal CEO of the parent or a subsidiary will succumb to dementia, Alzheimer’s or another debilitating and long-term disease.
一个令人不快的现实是：偶尔，母公司或子公司中优秀且忠诚的CEO会患上痴呆症、阿尔茨海默病或其他严重且长期的疾病。
Charlie and I encountered this problem several times and failed to act. This failure can be a huge mistake. The Board must be alert to this possibility at the CEO level and the CEO must be alert to the possibility at subsidiaries. This is easier said than done; I could cite a few examples from the past at major companies. Directors should be alert and speak up is all that I can advise.
查理和我曾多次遇到过这种情况，但都没有及时采取行动。这种疏忽可能会造成巨大的错误。董事会必须警惕CEO层面出现这种情况的可能性，而CEO也必须警惕子公司高管出现这种情况的可能性。这说起来容易做起来难；我可以举出过去几家大公司的例子。我能给出的建议就是，董事们应该保持警惕，敢于发声。
During my lifetime, reformers sought to embarrass CEOs by requiring the disclosure of the compensation of the boss compared to what was being paid to the average employee. Proxy statements promptly ballooned to 100-plus pages compared to 20 or less earlier.
在我一生中，改革者们曾试图通过要求披露CEO薪酬与普通员工薪酬的对比来让CEO们难堪。结果，委托书的篇幅迅速膨胀到100多页，而此前通常只有20页或更少。
But the good intentions didn’t work; instead they backfired. Based on the majority of my observations – the CEO of company “A” looked at his competitor at company “B” and subtly conveyed to his board that he should be worth more. Of course, he also boosted the pay of directors and was careful who he placed on the compensation committee. The new rules produced envy, not moderation.
但这些良好的意图并没有奏效，反而适得其反。根据我的大多数观察，A公司的CEO看到B公司竞争对手的薪酬后，会巧妙地向自己的董事会传达“自己应该获得更高薪酬”的想法。当然，他还会提高董事们的薪酬，并谨慎挑选薪酬委员会的成员。新规则引发的是嫉妒，而非节制。
The ratcheting took on a life of its own. What often bothers very wealthy CEOs – they are human, after all – is that other CEOs are getting even richer. Envy and greed walk hand in hand. And what consultant ever recommended a serious cut in CEO compensation or board payments?
这种薪酬螺旋式上升愈演愈烈，形成了自我驱动的态势。那些非常富有的CEO们——毕竟他们也是人——常常感到困扰的是，其他CEO变得更富有了。嫉妒与贪婪如影随形。而有哪个顾问会建议大幅削减CEO薪酬或董事报酬呢？
In aggregate, Berkshire’s businesses have moderately better-than-average prospects, led by a few non-correlated and sizable gems. However, a decade or two from now, there will be many companies that have done better than Berkshire; our size takes its toll.
总体而言，伯克希尔旗下业务的前景略优于平均水平，其中不乏一些与其他业务关联性低、规模可观的优质资产。然而，一二十年后，将会有许多公司的表现超过伯克希尔；我们的规模会成为一种负担。
Berkshire has less chance of a devastating disaster than any business I know. And, Berkshire has a more shareholder-conscious management and board than almost any company with which I am familiar (and I’ve seen a lot). Finally, Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that will make its existence an asset to the United States and eschew activities that would lead it to become a supplicant. Over time, our managers should grow quite wealthy – they have important responsibilities – but do not have the desire for dynastic or look-at-me wealth.
伯克希尔遭遇毁灭性灾难的概率，比我所知的任何企业都要低。而且，伯克希尔的管理层和董事会对股东的关注度，几乎超过我所熟悉的任何一家公司（我见过的公司可不少）。最后，伯克希尔的管理方式将始终确保其存在能为美国带来价值，避免从事那些会使其沦为“乞求者”的活动。随着时间的推移，我们的管理层应该会变得相当富有——他们肩负着重要的责任——但他们并不渴望建立家族传承或追求引人注目的财富。
Our stock price will move capriciously, occasionally falling 50% or so as has happened three times in 60 years under present management. Don’t despair; America will come back and so will Berkshire shares.
我们的股价将会波动不定，偶尔可能会下跌50%左右——在当前管理层任职的60年里，这种情况已经发生过三次。不要绝望；美国会复苏，伯克希尔的股价也会随之回升。
# A Few Final Thoughts (最后的一些感悟)
One perhaps self-serving observation. I’m happy to say I feel better about the second half of my life than the first. My advice: Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes – learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them. You can start with Tom Murphy; he was the best.
有一个或许有些自私的发现。我很高兴地说，我对自己人生的后半段比前半段更满意。我的建议是：不要为过去的错误而自责——至少从中学到一点东西，然后继续前进。改进永远不嫌晚。找到正确的榜样并向他们学习。你可以从汤姆·墨菲开始；他是最棒的。
Remember Alfred Nobel, later of Nobel Prize fame, who – reportedly – read his own obituary that was mistakenly printed when his brother died and a newspaper got mixed up. He was horrified at what he read and realized he should change his behavior.
记得阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔吗？他后来因诺贝尔奖而闻名。据报道，他的弟弟去世时，一家报纸搞错了，刊登了他的讣告，他读到了自己的“死亡报道”。他对读到的内容感到震惊，意识到自己应该改变行为方式。
Don’t count on a newsroom mix-up: Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.
不要指望新闻编辑室会出现这样的失误：先确定你希望自己的讣告上写些什么，然后用一生的行动去配得上它。
Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, great amounts of publicity or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is costless but also priceless. Whether you are religious or not, it’s hard to beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior.
伟大并非通过积累巨额财富、获得大量曝光或掌握政府大权而来。当你以成千上万种方式中的任何一种帮助他人时，你就是在帮助这个世界。善良无需成本，却价值连城。无论你是否信教，“黄金法则”（己所不欲，勿施于人）都是行为准则的不二之选。
I write this as one who has been thoughtless countless times and made many mistakes but also became very lucky in learning from some wonderful friends how to behave better (still a long way from perfect, however). Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman.
写下这些话的我，曾无数次粗心大意，犯过许多错误，但也非常幸运地从一些很棒的朋友那里学会了如何更好地为人处世（不过离完美还有很长的路要走）。请记住，清洁工和董事长一样，都是平等的人。
I wish all who read this a very happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the jerks; it’s never too late to change. Remember to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. But it is – inevitably – capricious and sometimes venal in distributing its rewards.
祝愿所有读到这封信的人感恩节快乐。是的，哪怕是那些不友善的人——改变永远不嫌晚。记得感谢美国为你创造了最大化的机遇。但在分配回报时，它不可避免地会显得反复无常，有时甚至存在贪腐问题。
Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.
谨慎选择你的榜样，然后向他们学习。你永远不会完美，但永远可以变得更好。
# About Berkshire (关于伯克希尔)
Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, services and retailing.
伯克希尔·哈撒韦公司及其子公司从事多元化业务活动，包括保险与再保险、公用事业与能源、铁路货运、制造业、服务业及零售业。
Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B.
公司普通股在纽约证券交易所上市交易，股票代码为BRK.A和BRK.B。
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# Contact (联系方式)
Marc D. Hamburg
402-346-1400
马克·D·汉布格
402-346-1400