巴菲特最后一封致股東信
Sydney Lake
2025-11-13
圖片來源：Getty Images—Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage
傳奇投資者、伯克希爾-哈撒韋公司CEO沃倫·巴菲特在領導公司60年后，將于年底退休。他在周一發布的信函中表示將“隱退”，不再撰寫伯克希爾的年度報告，也不會在年度股東大會上“長篇大論”。
但在離任前，他回顧了自己的人生與成功，同時表達了對公司及慈善捐贈的期許。巴菲特將重任托付給繼任者格雷格·阿貝爾，這位新掌舵人將領導這個1.2萬億美元的商業帝國。
致股東信全文：
今日，沃倫·E·巴菲特將1800股A類股轉換為270萬股B類股，并捐贈給四家家族基金會：其中150萬股捐贈給蘇珊·湯普森·巴菲特基金會，其余三家基金會——舍伍德基金會、霍華德·G·巴菲特基金會和NoVo基金會——各獲贈40萬股。上述捐贈已于今日完成。
巴菲特先生致全體股東的評論如下：
致各位股東：
我將不再撰寫伯克希爾的年度報告，也不會在年度股東大會上長篇大論。用英國人的話說，我要“隱退”了。
算是吧。
格雷格·阿貝爾（Greg Abel）將于年底接任掌門人。他是一位出色的管理者，工作孜孜不倦，溝通坦誠直率。愿他任期長久。
我會繼續通過每年的感恩節寄語，與各位股東及我的子女聊聊伯克希爾的近況。伯克希爾的個人股東是一個非常特殊的群體，他們總是格外慷慨地與境遇不佳的人分享收益。我很珍惜與大家保持聯系的機會。今年請容我先稍作回憶，隨后談談我的伯克希爾股份分配計劃，最后分享一些商業與個人見解。
感恩節將至，如今95歲高齡的我，既心懷感恩，也對自己依然健在感到意外。年輕時，我從未料到能活這么久。早年間，我曾險些喪命。那是1938年，當時奧馬哈市民將當地醫院分為天主教醫院和新教醫院，這種分類在當時似乎理所當然。
我們的家庭醫生哈利·霍茨（Harley Hotz）是位友善的天主教徒，出診時總提著一個黑色醫藥包。他叫我“小船長”，診療收費也不高。1938年，我突發劇烈腹痛，霍茨醫生上門檢查后，告訴我次日早上就會好轉，隨后便回家吃飯、打橋牌去了。然而，我那有些異常的癥狀讓他始終放心不下，當晚深夜，他便安排我前往圣凱瑟琳醫院（St. Catherine's Hospital）接受緊急闌尾切除手術。接下來的三周，我仿佛置身修道院，并開始喜歡上這個新“講臺”。我向來愛說話——沒錯，那時也不例外——修女們對我很是包容。更棒的是，我三年級的老師麥德森（Madsen）小姐讓全班30位同學每人給我寫一封信。男生們的信我大概都扔了，但女生們的信卻讀了一遍又一遍——住院也有意外收獲。
我康復期間最難忘的時刻——實際上術后第一周大部分時間情況都不太穩定——是我親愛的伊迪（Edie）姨媽送我的一份禮物：一套看起來非常專業的指紋采集工具，我當即給所有照料我的修女都采集了指紋。（我可能是圣凱瑟琳醫院接收的第一個新教孩子，她們也不知該如何應對。）
我的想法——當然完全是異想天開——是萬一哪天某個修女走上歧途，聯邦調查局（FBI）會發現他們忽略了采集修女的指紋。20世紀30年代，FBI及其局長J·埃德加·胡佛（J. Edgar Hoover）在美國備受尊崇，我幻想著胡佛先生會親自來奧馬哈查看我這份珍貴的收藏。我還進一步幻想，我和胡佛能迅速識別并逮捕那個誤入歧途的修女。屆時我必定會全國聞名。
顯然，我的幻想從未實現。但諷刺的是，幾年后事情變得很清楚，我本該給J·埃德加本人采集指紋——他后來因濫用職權而身敗名裂。嗯，這就是20世紀30年代的奧馬哈——那時我和朋友們夢寐以求的不過是一副雪橇、一輛自行車、一只棒球手套和一套電動火車。接下來，我想說說那個年代和我住得很近、對我人生影響深遠，但過了很久我才認識的幾個人。
首先要說的是查理·芒格（Charlie Munger），我長達64年的摯友。20世紀30年代，查理住的地方離我1958年購置并居住至今的房子僅隔一個街區。
早年，我與查理擦肩而過，未能成為朋友。查理比我大6歲零8個月，1940年夏天在我祖父的雜貨店打工，每天工作10小時，掙2美元。（節儉深植于巴菲特家族的血液中。）次年我在同一家店做類似工作，但直到1959年——他35歲、我28歲時——我們才初次相遇。
二戰服役結束后，查理從哈佛法學院畢業，隨后永久移居加利福尼亞。但查理始終認為在奧馬哈的早年歲月塑造了他的人生。60多年來，查理對我影響巨大，他是我最好的導師和保護我的“兄長”。我們雖有分歧，但從未爭吵過。他的字典里沒有“我早告訴過你”這句話。
1958年，我購置了人生中第一套也是唯一一套房產。當然，它位于奧馬哈，離我長大的地方（寬泛定義）約兩英里，距我岳父母家不到兩個街區，離巴菲特雜貨店約六個街區，開車到我工作了64年的辦公樓只需6到7分鐘。
再說說另一位奧馬哈人——斯坦·利普西（Stan Lipsey）。斯坦于1968年將《奧馬哈太陽報》（周報）出售給伯克希爾，十年后應我之邀遷居布法羅。當時，伯克希爾旗下子公司擁有的《布法羅晚報》正與當地一家晨報展開生死較量，對方出版布法羅唯一的周日版報紙，而我們正處于下風。最終，斯坦打造了我們的新版周日刊。此后數年，這份曾嚴重虧損的報紙，為我們3300萬美元的投資帶來了年均超過100%的稅前回報。在20世紀80年代初，這筆收入對伯克希爾至關重要。
斯坦在離我家約五個街區的地方長大。他的鄰居之一是小沃爾特·斯科特（Walter Scott, Jr.）。諸位想必記得，正是沃爾特在1999年將中美能源公司（MidAmerican Energy）引入伯克希爾。直到2021年去世前，他一直是伯克希爾寶貴的董事，也是我的摯友。數十年來，沃爾特一直是內布拉斯加州的慈善領袖，奧馬哈市乃至整個州都留下了他的印記。沃爾特就讀于本森高中（Benson High School），我原本也計劃就讀這所學校——直到1942年，我父親在國會競選中擊敗一位連任四屆的現任議員，令所有人驚訝。人生充滿意外。
等等，還有。
1959年，唐·基奧（Don Keough）和他年幼的家人們住在我家正對面，距離芒格一家曾居住的地方約100碼。當時唐還是個咖啡推銷員，但后來注定成為可口可樂公司的總裁，同時也是伯克希爾盡職盡責的董事。
我認識唐時，他年薪1.2萬美元，卻要和妻子米琪（Mickie）撫養五個孩子，這些孩子都要上天主教學校（需要學費）。我們兩家很快成了摯友。唐來自艾奧瓦州西北部的一個農場，畢業于奧馬哈的克瑞頓大學（Creighton University）。早年他娶了奧馬哈姑娘米琪。加入可口可樂公司后，唐逐漸成為全球傳奇人物。
1985年，唐擔任可口可樂總裁期間，公司推出了命運多舛的“新可樂”。唐發表了一場著名的演講，向公眾道歉并恢復了“經典可樂”的銷售。他解釋稱，當時寄給“頭號白癡”的郵件都會直接送到他的辦公桌上，這促使他改變了主意。他那次“撤回”演講堪稱經典，可以在YouTube上觀看。他欣然承認，事實上，可口可樂產品屬于公眾而非公司。隨后銷量大幅飆升。
你可以在CharlieRose.com上觀看唐的精彩訪談。（湯姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）和凱·格雷厄姆（Kay Graham）的采訪也同樣精彩。）和查理·芒格一樣，唐永遠保持著中西部人的本色——熱情、友善，骨子里透著美國人的特質。
最后要提的是阿吉特·賈恩（Ajit Jain）和格雷格·阿貝爾。阿吉特在印度出生長大；而格雷格是我們即將上任的加拿大籍CEO，二人都在20世紀末于奧馬哈生活過幾年。事實上，在20世紀90年代，格雷格住在法納姆街（Farnam Street），離我家只有幾個街區，但當時我們從未謀面。
難道奧馬哈的水里真有什么神奇成分？
我在華盛頓特區度過了一些青少年時光（當時我父親在國會任職），1954年，我在曼哈頓找到了一份自以為會做一輩子的工作。在那里，本·格雷厄姆（Ben Graham）和杰瑞·紐曼（Jerry Newman）待我極好，我也結交了許多終身摯友。紐約有獨特的優勢——至今依然如此。然而，1956年，僅僅工作了一年半后，我便回到了奧馬哈，此后再未離開。后來，我的三個孩子以及幾個孫輩都在奧馬哈長大。我的孩子們一直就讀公立學校（畢業于同一所高中，我父親是1921屆，我的第一任妻子蘇西（Susie）是1950屆，還有查理、斯坦·利普西、歐文（Irv）和羅恩·布魯姆金（Ron Blumkin）——他們是內布拉斯加家具商場（Nebraska Furniture Mart）發展的關鍵人物——以及杰克·林沃特（Jack Ringwalt，1923屆），他創立了國民賠償保險公司（National Indemnity）并于1967年將其出售給伯克希爾，這成為我們龐大財產險/意外險業務的基礎。
我們國家擁有許多偉大的公司、學校和醫療設施，每個都肯定有其獨特的優勢和人才。但我感到非常幸運的是：在奧馬哈，我得以結識眾多終身摯友，遇見我的兩任妻子，在公立學校接受了良好的啟蒙教育，年少時結識了許多有趣且友善的奧馬哈成年人，并在內布拉斯加國民警衛隊（Nebraska National Guard）結交了形形色色的朋友。簡而言之，內布拉斯加就是我的家。
回首往昔，我認為，無論是伯克希爾還是我本人，能取得今天的成就，很大程度上得益于我們扎根于奧馬哈，而非其他地方。美國中部是一個出生、養家、創業的絕佳之地。純粹是靠運氣——我出生時就抽中了一根長得離譜的好簽。
現在說說我的高齡。我的基因并不特別有利——家族有史以來的長壽記錄（誠然，追溯久遠的家族記錄會變得模糊）在我之前是92歲。但我在奧馬哈遇到了睿智、友善且盡職盡責的醫生，從哈利·霍茨開始，直到今天。至少有三次，我的生命得以挽救，每次都是由離我家幾英里范圍內的醫生救治的。（不過，我已經放棄給護士采集指紋了……95歲的人可以做很多古怪的事……但總得有個限度。）
能活到老年需要極大的好運，每天都要避開香蕉皮、自然災害、酒駕或分心駕駛的司機、雷擊等等，不一而足。
但幸運女神變幻莫測，而且——沒有別的詞更貼切——極不公平。在許多情況下，我們的領導人和富人獲得的好運遠超其應得份額——而這些受益者往往不愿承認。王朝繼承者一出生就獲得了終身的財務獨立，而另一些人來到世間，卻要面對地獄般的早年生活，或者更糟的是，身體或精神的殘疾剝奪了我認為理所當然的一切。在世界許多人口稠密的地區，我很可能過著悲慘的生活，而我的姐妹們處境會更糟。
我于1930年出生，身體健康，智力尚可，是白人男性，并且生在美國。哇！謝謝你，幸運女神。我的姐妹們和我智商相當，性格甚至更好，卻面臨著截然不同的人生前景。在我人生的大部分時間里，幸運女神持續眷顧，但她有比關照90多歲老人更重要的事情要做。幸運終有盡頭。
相反，時間之父（Father Time）隨著我年歲增長，對我愈發“關注”。他從未被擊敗；在他看來，每個人最終都會記在他的記分牌上，算作“勝出”。當平衡感、視力、聽力和記憶力都持續走下坡路時，你就知道時間之父已經臨近。我衰老得比較晚——衰老的開始時間因人而異——但一旦出現，就無法否認。
令我驚訝的是，我總體感覺良好。盡管行動緩慢，閱讀越來越困難，我仍每周五天在辦公室與優秀的同仁共事。偶爾，我還能想出一些有用的點子，或者有人主動提出我們原本可能錯過的合作邀約。鑒于伯克希爾的規模和當前市場水平，好點子雖少——但并非沒有。
然而，我意料之外的長壽，對我的家庭和慈善目標的實現產生了不可避免的重大影響。
下面我們來探討這些影響。
未來規劃
我的子女均已超過正常退休年齡，分別為72歲、70歲和67歲。若打賭他們三人——如今在諸多方面都處于巔峰狀態——都能像我一樣幸運地延緩衰老，那將是個錯誤。為了提高他們在候補受托人接替之前處置我幾乎全部遺產的可能性，我需要加快向他們管理的三家基金會進行生前贈與的步伐。我的孩子們現在在經驗和智慧方面正值黃金時期，但尚未步入老年。這段“黃金”時期不會永遠持續。
幸運的是，調整計劃很容易執行。然而，還有一個額外因素需要考慮：我希望保留相當數量的A類股，直到伯克希爾股東對格雷格建立起我和查理長期享有的那種信任。達到這種信任水平應該不需要太久。我的子女和伯克希爾的董事們已經百分百支持格雷格。如今三名子女都已足夠成熟、聰慧、精力充沛且判斷力敏銳，能夠妥善管理巨額財富。等我離世后，他們依然在世，這也是一大優勢；必要時，他們可以根據聯邦稅收政策或其他影響慈善事業的動態，采取前瞻性或應對性策略。他們很可能需要適應周圍發生巨變的世界。“在墳墓里發號施令”歷來效果不佳，我也從未有過這種沖動。
所幸三名子女均從他們母親那里繼承了主導性的優秀基因。幾十年來，我也努力成為他們思想和行為更好的榜樣——但我永遠無法與他們的母親相提并論。
我已為子女指定了三位候補受托人，以防他們過早離世或喪失行為能力。這些候補受托人不分先后順序，也未與特定子女綁定。他們皆為人出眾，處世睿智，彼此間沒有利益沖突。
我向孩子們保證：他們無需創造奇跡，也不必畏懼失敗或失望——這些本是人生常態，我自身也經歷過。他們只需在政府項目和/或私人慈善機構通常取得的成就基礎上有所改進，同時認識到這些其他財富再分配方式也存在缺陷。早年間，我曾構想過各種宏大的慈善計劃。盡管我固執己見，但事實證明這些計劃并不可行。多年來，我也目睹過由政治投機者、王朝繼承者主導的考慮不周的財富轉移，當然，也包括那些能力不足或想法古怪的慈善家的做法。
只要我的子女能把慈善工作做得不錯，他們就可以確信，他們的母親和我會感到欣慰。他們的初衷是好的，且已有多年實踐經驗：從最初微不足道的金額起步，后來資金規模不規則地增長，如今每年已超過5億美元。三人都樂于投入大量時間幫助他人，各自以獨特方式踐行著這份熱忱。
我加快向子女的基金會進行生前贈與的步伐，絕不意味著我對伯克希爾前景的看法發生了任何改變。格雷格·阿貝爾的表現完全超出了我最初認為他應接任伯克希爾CEO時對他的高期望。他對我們許多業務和人員的理解遠勝于現在的我，而且他在許多CEO甚至不會考慮的事務上學習速度極快。我想不出有哪位CEO、管理顧問、學者、政府成員——無論什么身份——能比格雷格更適合打理你我的積蓄。例如，他對我們財產險/意外險業務的增長潛力和風險的洞察，遠超許多長期從事該行業的執行官。唯愿他未來幾十年都能保持健康。若運氣稍佳，伯克希爾未來百年只需五六位CEO。尤其應避開那些以65歲退休、炫富或建立家族王朝為目標的人選。
一個令人不快的現實是：有時，母公司或子公司中優秀且忠誠的CEO會罹患癡呆癥、阿爾茨海默癥或其他導致長期喪失能力的疾病。我和查理曾多次遇到這個問題，卻未能采取行動。這種疏忽可能釀成大錯。董事會必須警惕CEO出現這種情況的可能性，CEO也必須關注子公司高管是否有類似問題。這說起來容易做起來難；我能列舉幾家大公司過去的例子。我唯一能給的建議是：董事們應保持警惕，敢于發聲。在我有生之年，改革者試圖通過要求披露CEO與普通員工的薪酬對比來讓CEO難堪。結果，委托投票說明書迅速從之前的20頁或更少膨脹到100多頁。
但這些善意舉措并未奏效；反而適得其反。根據我的大多數觀察——A公司的CEO看到競爭對手B公司CEO的薪酬后，會委婉地向自己的董事會暗示，他應獲得更高薪酬。當然，他還會提高董事的薪酬，并精心挑選薪酬委員會成員。新規定催生了嫉妒，而非克制。這種“攀比效應”愈演愈烈。真正困擾那些非常富有的CEO的——畢竟他們也是人——往往是其他CEO變得更富有。嫉妒與貪婪如影隨形。試問哪位顧問曾建議大幅削減CEO薪酬或董事報酬？
總體而言，伯克希爾旗下業務前景略優于平均水平，其中幾家規模可觀、與其他業務關聯性低的“明星企業”表現突出。然而，一二十年后，必將涌現許多表現優于伯克希爾的企業；我們的規模終將成為發展的掣肘。
在我所知的所有企業中，伯克希爾遭遇毀滅性災難的概率最低。而且，伯克希爾擁有比我幾乎所熟知的任何公司（我見過的公司可不少）都更具股東意識的管理層和董事會。最重要的是，伯克希爾的經營始終以對美國有利為原則，絕不會涉足任何可能讓自己陷入“乞求者”境地的活動。隨著時間的推移，我們的管理層會變得相當富有——他們肩負重要責任——但他們絕不會追求“家族傳承”或“炫富”。
我們的股價會波動不定，在我管理公司的60年里曾三次下跌約50%，未來偶爾也可能出現類似情況。但不必絕望：美國終將復蘇，伯克希爾的股價也必將回升。
最后幾點感悟
或許是一個略帶私心的感悟：我欣慰地說，我對人生后半程的滿意度遠超前半程。我的建議是：不要為過去的錯誤苛責自己——至少從中吸取些許教訓，然后繼續前進。任何時候想要改進都不算晚。找到對的榜樣，然后效仿他們。你可以從湯姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）開始；他是最好的榜樣。
還記得后來以諾貝爾獎聞名的阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾（Alfred Nobel）嗎？據稱，他弟弟去世時，一家報紙搞混了，誤將他的名字登在了訃告上。諾貝爾讀到了自己的“訃告”，內容令他震驚，并意識到自己必須改變行為方式。
別指望報社出錯：想清楚你希望自己的訃告寫些什么，然后用一生的行動去配得上這樣的評價。
偉大并非源于積累巨額財富、獲得大量曝光或掌握政府大權。當你以成千上萬種方式中的任何一種去幫助他人時，便是在為這個世界做貢獻。善行無需成本，卻價值連城。無論你是否有宗教信仰，“黃金法則”都是為人處世的最佳準則。
寫下這些話時，我深知自己曾無數次考慮不周，犯過很多錯誤，但幸運的是，我從幾位摯友身上學會了如何更好地為人處世（盡管離完美還有很長的路要走）。請記住，保潔員和董事長一樣，都是平等的人。
祝愿所有讀到這封信的人感恩節快樂。是的，即使是那些性情乖戾的人——改變永遠不嫌晚。記得感謝美國，它為你創造了無限機遇。但回報分配難免變幻莫測，有時甚至暗藏貪腐。
謹慎選擇你的榜樣，然后努力效仿他們。你永遠無法做到完美，但總能變得更好。（財富中文網）
譯者：中慧言-王芳
傳奇投資者、伯克希爾-哈撒韋公司CEO沃倫·巴菲特在領導公司60年后，將于年底退休。他在周一發布的信函中表示將“隱退”，不再撰寫伯克希爾的年度報告，也不會在年度股東大會上“長篇大論”。
但在離任前，他回顧了自己的人生與成功，同時表達了對公司及慈善捐贈的期許。巴菲特將重任托付給繼任者格雷格·阿貝爾，這位新掌舵人將領導這個1.2萬億美元的商業帝國。
致股東信全文：
今日，沃倫·E·巴菲特將1800股A類股轉換為270萬股B類股，并捐贈給四家家族基金會：其中150萬股捐贈給蘇珊·湯普森·巴菲特基金會，其余三家基金會——舍伍德基金會、霍華德·G·巴菲特基金會和NoVo基金會——各獲贈40萬股。上述捐贈已于今日完成。
巴菲特先生致全體股東的評論如下：
致各位股東：
我將不再撰寫伯克希爾的年度報告，也不會在年度股東大會上長篇大論。用英國人的話說，我要“隱退”了。
算是吧。
格雷格·阿貝爾（Greg Abel）將于年底接任掌門人。他是一位出色的管理者，工作孜孜不倦，溝通坦誠直率。愿他任期長久。
我會繼續通過每年的感恩節寄語，與各位股東及我的子女聊聊伯克希爾的近況。伯克希爾的個人股東是一個非常特殊的群體，他們總是格外慷慨地與境遇不佳的人分享收益。我很珍惜與大家保持聯系的機會。今年請容我先稍作回憶，隨后談談我的伯克希爾股份分配計劃，最后分享一些商業與個人見解。
感恩節將至，如今95歲高齡的我，既心懷感恩，也對自己依然健在感到意外。年輕時，我從未料到能活這么久。早年間，我曾險些喪命。那是1938年，當時奧馬哈市民將當地醫院分為天主教醫院和新教醫院，這種分類在當時似乎理所當然。
我們的家庭醫生哈利·霍茨（Harley Hotz）是位友善的天主教徒，出診時總提著一個黑色醫藥包。他叫我“小船長”，診療收費也不高。1938年，我突發劇烈腹痛，霍茨醫生上門檢查后，告訴我次日早上就會好轉，隨后便回家吃飯、打橋牌去了。然而，我那有些異常的癥狀讓他始終放心不下，當晚深夜，他便安排我前往圣凱瑟琳醫院（St. Catherine's Hospital）接受緊急闌尾切除手術。接下來的三周，我仿佛置身修道院，并開始喜歡上這個新“講臺”。我向來愛說話——沒錯，那時也不例外——修女們對我很是包容。更棒的是，我三年級的老師麥德森（Madsen）小姐讓全班30位同學每人給我寫一封信。男生們的信我大概都扔了，但女生們的信卻讀了一遍又一遍——住院也有意外收獲。
我康復期間最難忘的時刻——實際上術后第一周大部分時間情況都不太穩定——是我親愛的伊迪（Edie）姨媽送我的一份禮物：一套看起來非常專業的指紋采集工具，我當即給所有照料我的修女都采集了指紋。（我可能是圣凱瑟琳醫院接收的第一個新教孩子，她們也不知該如何應對。）
我的想法——當然完全是異想天開——是萬一哪天某個修女走上歧途，聯邦調查局（FBI）會發現他們忽略了采集修女的指紋。20世紀30年代，FBI及其局長J·埃德加·胡佛（J. Edgar Hoover）在美國備受尊崇，我幻想著胡佛先生會親自來奧馬哈查看我這份珍貴的收藏。我還進一步幻想，我和胡佛能迅速識別并逮捕那個誤入歧途的修女。屆時我必定會全國聞名。
顯然，我的幻想從未實現。但諷刺的是，幾年后事情變得很清楚，我本該給J·埃德加本人采集指紋——他后來因濫用職權而身敗名裂。嗯，這就是20世紀30年代的奧馬哈——那時我和朋友們夢寐以求的不過是一副雪橇、一輛自行車、一只棒球手套和一套電動火車。接下來，我想說說那個年代和我住得很近、對我人生影響深遠，但過了很久我才認識的幾個人。
首先要說的是查理·芒格（Charlie Munger），我長達64年的摯友。20世紀30年代，查理住的地方離我1958年購置并居住至今的房子僅隔一個街區。
早年，我與查理擦肩而過，未能成為朋友。查理比我大6歲零8個月，1940年夏天在我祖父的雜貨店打工，每天工作10小時，掙2美元。（節儉深植于巴菲特家族的血液中。）次年我在同一家店做類似工作，但直到1959年——他35歲、我28歲時——我們才初次相遇。
二戰服役結束后，查理從哈佛法學院畢業，隨后永久移居加利福尼亞。但查理始終認為在奧馬哈的早年歲月塑造了他的人生。60多年來，查理對我影響巨大，他是我最好的導師和保護我的“兄長”。我們雖有分歧，但從未爭吵過。他的字典里沒有“我早告訴過你”這句話。
1958年，我購置了人生中第一套也是唯一一套房產。當然，它位于奧馬哈，離我長大的地方（寬泛定義）約兩英里，距我岳父母家不到兩個街區，離巴菲特雜貨店約六個街區，開車到我工作了64年的辦公樓只需6到7分鐘。
再說說另一位奧馬哈人——斯坦·利普西（Stan Lipsey）。斯坦于1968年將《奧馬哈太陽報》（周報）出售給伯克希爾，十年后應我之邀遷居布法羅。當時，伯克希爾旗下子公司擁有的《布法羅晚報》正與當地一家晨報展開生死較量，對方出版布法羅唯一的周日版報紙，而我們正處于下風。最終，斯坦打造了我們的新版周日刊。此后數年，這份曾嚴重虧損的報紙，為我們3300萬美元的投資帶來了年均超過100%的稅前回報。在20世紀80年代初，這筆收入對伯克希爾至關重要。
斯坦在離我家約五個街區的地方長大。他的鄰居之一是小沃爾特·斯科特（Walter Scott, Jr.）。諸位想必記得，正是沃爾特在1999年將中美能源公司（MidAmerican Energy）引入伯克希爾。直到2021年去世前，他一直是伯克希爾寶貴的董事，也是我的摯友。數十年來，沃爾特一直是內布拉斯加州的慈善領袖，奧馬哈市乃至整個州都留下了他的印記。沃爾特就讀于本森高中（Benson High School），我原本也計劃就讀這所學校——直到1942年，我父親在國會競選中擊敗一位連任四屆的現任議員，令所有人驚訝。人生充滿意外。
等等，還有。
1959年，唐·基奧（Don Keough）和他年幼的家人們住在我家正對面，距離芒格一家曾居住的地方約100碼。當時唐還是個咖啡推銷員，但后來注定成為可口可樂公司的總裁，同時也是伯克希爾盡職盡責的董事。
我認識唐時，他年薪1.2萬美元，卻要和妻子米琪（Mickie）撫養五個孩子，這些孩子都要上天主教學校（需要學費）。我們兩家很快成了摯友。唐來自艾奧瓦州西北部的一個農場，畢業于奧馬哈的克瑞頓大學（Creighton University）。早年他娶了奧馬哈姑娘米琪。加入可口可樂公司后，唐逐漸成為全球傳奇人物。
1985年，唐擔任可口可樂總裁期間，公司推出了命運多舛的“新可樂”。唐發表了一場著名的演講，向公眾道歉并恢復了“經典可樂”的銷售。他解釋稱，當時寄給“頭號白癡”的郵件都會直接送到他的辦公桌上，這促使他改變了主意。他那次“撤回”演講堪稱經典，可以在YouTube上觀看。他欣然承認，事實上，可口可樂產品屬于公眾而非公司。隨后銷量大幅飆升。
你可以在CharlieRose.com上觀看唐的精彩訪談。（湯姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）和凱·格雷厄姆（Kay Graham）的采訪也同樣精彩。）和查理·芒格一樣，唐永遠保持著中西部人的本色——熱情、友善，骨子里透著美國人的特質。
最后要提的是阿吉特·賈恩（Ajit Jain）和格雷格·阿貝爾。阿吉特在印度出生長大；而格雷格是我們即將上任的加拿大籍CEO，二人都在20世紀末于奧馬哈生活過幾年。事實上，在20世紀90年代，格雷格住在法納姆街（Farnam Street），離我家只有幾個街區，但當時我們從未謀面。
難道奧馬哈的水里真有什么神奇成分？
我在華盛頓特區度過了一些青少年時光（當時我父親在國會任職），1954年，我在曼哈頓找到了一份自以為會做一輩子的工作。在那里，本·格雷厄姆（Ben Graham）和杰瑞·紐曼（Jerry Newman）待我極好，我也結交了許多終身摯友。紐約有獨特的優勢——至今依然如此。然而，1956年，僅僅工作了一年半后，我便回到了奧馬哈，此后再未離開。后來，我的三個孩子以及幾個孫輩都在奧馬哈長大。我的孩子們一直就讀公立學校（畢業于同一所高中，我父親是1921屆，我的第一任妻子蘇西（Susie）是1950屆，還有查理、斯坦·利普西、歐文（Irv）和羅恩·布魯姆金（Ron Blumkin）——他們是內布拉斯加家具商場（Nebraska Furniture Mart）發展的關鍵人物——以及杰克·林沃特（Jack Ringwalt，1923屆），他創立了國民賠償保險公司（National Indemnity）并于1967年將其出售給伯克希爾，這成為我們龐大財產險/意外險業務的基礎。
我們國家擁有許多偉大的公司、學校和醫療設施，每個都肯定有其獨特的優勢和人才。但我感到非常幸運的是：在奧馬哈，我得以結識眾多終身摯友，遇見我的兩任妻子，在公立學校接受了良好的啟蒙教育，年少時結識了許多有趣且友善的奧馬哈成年人，并在內布拉斯加國民警衛隊（Nebraska National Guard）結交了形形色色的朋友。簡而言之，內布拉斯加就是我的家。
回首往昔，我認為，無論是伯克希爾還是我本人，能取得今天的成就，很大程度上得益于我們扎根于奧馬哈，而非其他地方。美國中部是一個出生、養家、創業的絕佳之地。純粹是靠運氣——我出生時就抽中了一根長得離譜的好簽。
現在說說我的高齡。我的基因并不特別有利——家族有史以來的長壽記錄（誠然，追溯久遠的家族記錄會變得模糊）在我之前是92歲。但我在奧馬哈遇到了睿智、友善且盡職盡責的醫生，從哈利·霍茨開始，直到今天。至少有三次，我的生命得以挽救，每次都是由離我家幾英里范圍內的醫生救治的。（不過，我已經放棄給護士采集指紋了……95歲的人可以做很多古怪的事……但總得有個限度。）
能活到老年需要極大的好運，每天都要避開香蕉皮、自然災害、酒駕或分心駕駛的司機、雷擊等等，不一而足。
但幸運女神變幻莫測，而且——沒有別的詞更貼切——極不公平。在許多情況下，我們的領導人和富人獲得的好運遠超其應得份額——而這些受益者往往不愿承認。王朝繼承者一出生就獲得了終身的財務獨立，而另一些人來到世間，卻要面對地獄般的早年生活，或者更糟的是，身體或精神的殘疾剝奪了我認為理所當然的一切。在世界許多人口稠密的地區，我很可能過著悲慘的生活，而我的姐妹們處境會更糟。
我于1930年出生，身體健康，智力尚可，是白人男性，并且生在美國。哇！謝謝你，幸運女神。我的姐妹們和我智商相當，性格甚至更好，卻面臨著截然不同的人生前景。在我人生的大部分時間里，幸運女神持續眷顧，但她有比關照90多歲老人更重要的事情要做。幸運終有盡頭。
相反，時間之父（Father Time）隨著我年歲增長，對我愈發“關注”。他從未被擊敗；在他看來，每個人最終都會記在他的記分牌上，算作“勝出”。當平衡感、視力、聽力和記憶力都持續走下坡路時，你就知道時間之父已經臨近。我衰老得比較晚——衰老的開始時間因人而異——但一旦出現，就無法否認。
令我驚訝的是，我總體感覺良好。盡管行動緩慢，閱讀越來越困難，我仍每周五天在辦公室與優秀的同仁共事。偶爾，我還能想出一些有用的點子，或者有人主動提出我們原本可能錯過的合作邀約。鑒于伯克希爾的規模和當前市場水平，好點子雖少——但并非沒有。
然而，我意料之外的長壽，對我的家庭和慈善目標的實現產生了不可避免的重大影響。
下面我們來探討這些影響。
未來規劃
我的子女均已超過正常退休年齡，分別為72歲、70歲和67歲。若打賭他們三人——如今在諸多方面都處于巔峰狀態——都能像我一樣幸運地延緩衰老，那將是個錯誤。為了提高他們在候補受托人接替之前處置我幾乎全部遺產的可能性，我需要加快向他們管理的三家基金會進行生前贈與的步伐。我的孩子們現在在經驗和智慧方面正值黃金時期，但尚未步入老年。這段“黃金”時期不會永遠持續。
幸運的是，調整計劃很容易執行。然而，還有一個額外因素需要考慮：我希望保留相當數量的A類股，直到伯克希爾股東對格雷格建立起我和查理長期享有的那種信任。達到這種信任水平應該不需要太久。我的子女和伯克希爾的董事們已經百分百支持格雷格。如今三名子女都已足夠成熟、聰慧、精力充沛且判斷力敏銳，能夠妥善管理巨額財富。等我離世后，他們依然在世，這也是一大優勢；必要時，他們可以根據聯邦稅收政策或其他影響慈善事業的動態，采取前瞻性或應對性策略。他們很可能需要適應周圍發生巨變的世界。“在墳墓里發號施令”歷來效果不佳，我也從未有過這種沖動。
所幸三名子女均從他們母親那里繼承了主導性的優秀基因。幾十年來，我也努力成為他們思想和行為更好的榜樣——但我永遠無法與他們的母親相提并論。
我已為子女指定了三位候補受托人，以防他們過早離世或喪失行為能力。這些候補受托人不分先后順序，也未與特定子女綁定。他們皆為人出眾，處世睿智，彼此間沒有利益沖突。
我向孩子們保證：他們無需創造奇跡，也不必畏懼失敗或失望——這些本是人生常態，我自身也經歷過。他們只需在政府項目和/或私人慈善機構通常取得的成就基礎上有所改進，同時認識到這些其他財富再分配方式也存在缺陷。早年間，我曾構想過各種宏大的慈善計劃。盡管我固執己見，但事實證明這些計劃并不可行。多年來，我也目睹過由政治投機者、王朝繼承者主導的考慮不周的財富轉移，當然，也包括那些能力不足或想法古怪的慈善家的做法。
只要我的子女能把慈善工作做得不錯，他們就可以確信，他們的母親和我會感到欣慰。他們的初衷是好的，且已有多年實踐經驗：從最初微不足道的金額起步，后來資金規模不規則地增長，如今每年已超過5億美元。三人都樂于投入大量時間幫助他人，各自以獨特方式踐行著這份熱忱。
我加快向子女的基金會進行生前贈與的步伐，絕不意味著我對伯克希爾前景的看法發生了任何改變。格雷格·阿貝爾的表現完全超出了我最初認為他應接任伯克希爾CEO時對他的高期望。他對我們許多業務和人員的理解遠勝于現在的我，而且他在許多CEO甚至不會考慮的事務上學習速度極快。我想不出有哪位CEO、管理顧問、學者、政府成員——無論什么身份——能比格雷格更適合打理你我的積蓄。例如，他對我們財產險/意外險業務的增長潛力和風險的洞察，遠超許多長期從事該行業的執行官。唯愿他未來幾十年都能保持健康。若運氣稍佳，伯克希爾未來百年只需五六位CEO。尤其應避開那些以65歲退休、炫富或建立家族王朝為目標的人選。
一個令人不快的現實是：有時，母公司或子公司中優秀且忠誠的CEO會罹患癡呆癥、阿爾茨海默癥或其他導致長期喪失能力的疾病。我和查理曾多次遇到這個問題，卻未能采取行動。這種疏忽可能釀成大錯。董事會必須警惕CEO出現這種情況的可能性，CEO也必須關注子公司高管是否有類似問題。這說起來容易做起來難；我能列舉幾家大公司過去的例子。我唯一能給的建議是：董事們應保持警惕，敢于發聲。在我有生之年，改革者試圖通過要求披露CEO與普通員工的薪酬對比來讓CEO難堪。結果，委托投票說明書迅速從之前的20頁或更少膨脹到100多頁。
但這些善意舉措并未奏效；反而適得其反。根據我的大多數觀察——A公司的CEO看到競爭對手B公司CEO的薪酬后，會委婉地向自己的董事會暗示，他應獲得更高薪酬。當然，他還會提高董事的薪酬，并精心挑選薪酬委員會成員。新規定催生了嫉妒，而非克制。這種“攀比效應”愈演愈烈。真正困擾那些非常富有的CEO的——畢竟他們也是人——往往是其他CEO變得更富有。嫉妒與貪婪如影隨形。試問哪位顧問曾建議大幅削減CEO薪酬或董事報酬？
總體而言，伯克希爾旗下業務前景略優于平均水平，其中幾家規模可觀、與其他業務關聯性低的“明星企業”表現突出。然而，一二十年后，必將涌現許多表現優于伯克希爾的企業；我們的規模終將成為發展的掣肘。
在我所知的所有企業中，伯克希爾遭遇毀滅性災難的概率最低。而且，伯克希爾擁有比我幾乎所熟知的任何公司（我見過的公司可不少）都更具股東意識的管理層和董事會。最重要的是，伯克希爾的經營始終以對美國有利為原則，絕不會涉足任何可能讓自己陷入“乞求者”境地的活動。隨著時間的推移，我們的管理層會變得相當富有——他們肩負重要責任——但他們絕不會追求“家族傳承”或“炫富”。
我們的股價會波動不定，在我管理公司的60年里曾三次下跌約50%，未來偶爾也可能出現類似情況。但不必絕望：美國終將復蘇，伯克希爾的股價也必將回升。
最后幾點感悟
或許是一個略帶私心的感悟：我欣慰地說，我對人生后半程的滿意度遠超前半程。我的建議是：不要為過去的錯誤苛責自己——至少從中吸取些許教訓，然后繼續前進。任何時候想要改進都不算晚。找到對的榜樣，然后效仿他們。你可以從湯姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）開始；他是最好的榜樣。
還記得后來以諾貝爾獎聞名的阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾（Alfred Nobel）嗎？據稱，他弟弟去世時，一家報紙搞混了，誤將他的名字登在了訃告上。諾貝爾讀到了自己的“訃告”，內容令他震驚，并意識到自己必須改變行為方式。
別指望報社出錯：想清楚你希望自己的訃告寫些什么，然后用一生的行動去配得上這樣的評價。
偉大并非源于積累巨額財富、獲得大量曝光或掌握政府大權。當你以成千上萬種方式中的任何一種去幫助他人時，便是在為這個世界做貢獻。善行無需成本，卻價值連城。無論你是否有宗教信仰，“黃金法則”都是為人處世的最佳準則。
寫下這些話時，我深知自己曾無數次考慮不周，犯過很多錯誤，但幸運的是，我從幾位摯友身上學會了如何更好地為人處世（盡管離完美還有很長的路要走）。請記住，保潔員和董事長一樣，都是平等的人。
祝愿所有讀到這封信的人感恩節快樂。是的，即使是那些性情乖戾的人——改變永遠不嫌晚。記得感謝美國，它為你創造了無限機遇。但回報分配難免變幻莫測，有時甚至暗藏貪腐。
謹慎選擇你的榜樣，然后努力效仿他們。你永遠無法做到完美，但總能變得更好。（財富中文網）
譯者：中慧言-王芳
Legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett will retire at year's end after an epic 60 years in leadership. In a letter published Monday, Buffett said he'll be “going quiet,” and will no longer write Berkshire's annual report, nor talk “endlessly” at the annual meeting.
But before he leaves, he recounted his life and success, while sharing his wishes for the organization and philanthropic giving. Buffett is placing his trust in his successor Greg Abel, who will lead the $1.2 trillion empire.
Read the letter:
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.
Mr. Buffett's comments to his fellow shareholders follow:
To My Fellow Shareholders:
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.”
Sort of.
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.
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.
As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm grateful and surprised by my luck in being alive at 95. When I was young, this outcome did not look like a good bet. Early on, I nearly died. 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.
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. 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. 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.
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.)
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.
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. 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.
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.
Early on, I missed befriending Charlie by a whisker. Charlie, 6 ? 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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
Wait, there's more.
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.
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). 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.
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.
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.
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.
Can it be that there is some magic ingredient in Omaha's water?
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 1? years, I returned to Omaha, never to wander again. 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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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. I was late in becoming old -- its onset materially varies -- but once it appears, it is not to be denied.
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.
My unexpected longevity, however, has unavoidable consequences of major importance to my family and the achievement of my charitable objectives.
Let's explore them.
What Comes Next
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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. All three like working long hours to help others, each in their own way.
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. 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 lookat-me rich or to initiate a dynasty.
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. 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. 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.
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. 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?
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.
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.
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.
A Few Final Thoughts
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.
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.
Don't count on a newsroom mix-up: Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.
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.
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.
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.
Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.
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