巴菲特今天在他的最後一封年度信中告別,分享了一個可能有點自私的觀察: 我很高興地說,我對生命的後半段比前半段感覺更好。 我的建議:不要為過去的錯誤而自責－－至少從中學到一點東西,然後繼續前進。改進永遠不嫌晚。 找到正確的英雄並模仿他們。你可以從湯姆·墨菲開始;他是最好的。 記住阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾,後來的諾貝爾獎的創始人,據說當他弟弟去世時,報紙搞錯了,他讀到了自己被誤登的訃告。 他對所讀到的內容感到震驚,意識到自己應該改變行為。 不要指望新聞編輯室的混亂:決定你希望你的訃告怎麼寫,然後過配得上它的生活。 偉大不是透過累積大量金錢、大量宣傳或政府的巨大權力而來。 當你以數千種方式中的任何一種幫助某人時,你就在幫助世界。 善良是無價的,但也是無價的。無論你是否信教,黃金法則很難被超越作為行為指南。 我寫這些是作為一個無數次不周到、犯過許多錯誤、但也很幸運地從一些很棒的朋友那裡學會如何表現得更好的人(不過仍然離完美還有很長的路)。 請記住,清潔工和董事長一樣都是人。 祝所有讀到這篇文章的人感恩節快樂。 是的,即使是混蛋;改變永遠不會太晚。 記得要感謝美國最大化了你的機會。 但它在分配獎勵時——不可避免地——是反复無常的,有時甚至是貪婪的。 非常謹慎地選擇你的英雄,然後效仿他們。 你永遠不會完美,但你總是可以變得更好。
原文內容： Here is the full letter: BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 2025 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, 00000,000 面額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 5s with others in lessunun.y em withy's withy's to s'unk'em with 晚舉行舉行lesss the slauny the s 點'be 成本！ 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. 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 Catherine. 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 boys but read and reread those from the girls; hospitalization reward 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 myprinting. (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 The FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, had become revered by Americans in the 19330. 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 ⅔ years older than I, worked in the summer of 1940 at my grandfather's grocery store, earning $2 for a 10-hour s好嗎 infood 面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 sooo 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 bloge the Buffortet from awwstore and six. 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 (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was important (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was important (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was important (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was important (pre-tax) in. 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 defried in very. philanthropic leader for decades and both Omaha and the state carry 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 the globe girl. 在 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's 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 https://t.co/CBymrdmZvF 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 the endcore. Finally, Ajit Jain, born 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 1½ years, I returned to Omaha, never to wander aaha. 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 192150 高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 ugeon which. 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你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 on family, and to drewd be born, prewh counly, and to drewild aulron dulwulwulk 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.re areare) 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. 在 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 orig集 for fig; 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 the 9050 葉 Father Time, to the contrary, now finds me more interesting as I age. And he is undefeated; for him, everyone ends up on his scorecard 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 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. Theting have no world. 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 look-at-me rich, or to initiate a nastyty. One unpleasant reality: Occasionally, a wonderful and loyal CEO of the parent or a subsidiary will succumb to dementia, Alzheimer's, 或 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. About Berkshire Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, services, and retailing. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B. – End – Contact: Marc D. Hamburg 402-346-1400
翻譯版： 波克夏海瑟威公司新聞發布即時發布 2025年11月10日內布拉斯加州奧馬哈(BRK.A; BRK.B)—— 今天,華倫‧E‧巴菲特將1,800股A類股轉換為2,700,000股B類股,以便將這些B類股捐贈給四個家族基金會:1,500,000股給蘇珊‧湯普森‧巴菲特基金會,各400,000股分別給霍華德伍德基金會、霍華德‧巴菲特基金會和NoVo基金會。這些捐贈已於今日完成。 巴菲特先生致股東的信如下: 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滔滔不絕地講話了。 用英國人的話說,我要"安靜下來"了。 算是吧。 格雷格·阿貝爾將在年底成為公司的掌門人。他是一位出色的管理者、不知疲倦的工作者和誠實的溝通者。祝他能長期任職。 我將繼續透過每年的感恩節致詞與你們和我的孩子們談論伯克希爾。波克夏的個人股東是一個非常特殊的群體,他們格外慷慨地與不那麼幸運的人分享自己的收益。我很享受能與你們保持聯繫的機會。 今年請容我先回憶一下往事。之後,我將討論分配我持有的伯克希爾股份的計劃。最後,我將提供一些商業和個人觀察。 隨著感恩節臨近,我對自己95歲還活著感到感激和驚訝。 年輕時,這個結果看起來並不像是個好賭注。早年,我差點死掉。 那是1938年,當時奧馬哈的醫院被市民們認為要么是天主教的,要么是新教的,這種分類在當時看起來很自然。 我們的家庭醫生哈利·霍茨是一位友善的天主教徒,他提著黑色醫療包上門看病。霍茨醫生叫我"船長",看病從不收太多錢。 1938年,當我肚子疼得厲害時,霍茨醫生過來看了看,探查了一番後告訴我,早上就會好的。 然後他回家吃了晚餐,打了會兒橋牌。但霍茨醫生無法把我那些有些奇怪的症狀忘掉,那天晚上晚些時候,他把我送到了聖凱瑟琳醫院做緊急闌尾切除手術。 接下來的三週裡,我感覺自己就像在修道院裡,並開始享受我的新"講台"。我喜歡說話——是的,即使在那時——修女們也很喜歡我。 更妙的是,我三年級的老師麥德森小姐要我30個同學每人寫一封信給我。我可能把男生的信都扔了,但女生的信我讀了又讀;住院也有它的回報。 我康復期間的亮點——實際上第一周的情況相當危險——是我很棒的伊迪阿姨送的禮物。她給我帶來了一套看起來非常專業的指紋採集工具,我立刻給所有照顧我的修女都採集了指紋。 (我可能是她們在聖凱瑟琳醫院見到的第一個新教小孩,她們不知道會發生什麼。) 我的理論——當然完全荒謬——是有一天會有修女變壞,而FBI會發現他們忽略了給修女採集指紋。 FBI及其局長J·埃德加·胡佛在1930年代受到美國人的崇敬,我設想胡佛先生本人會來奧馬哈檢查我這份寶貴的收藏。 我進一步幻想,J·埃德加和我會迅速識別並逮捕那個誤入歧途的修女。全國知名似乎已成定局。 顯然,我的幻想從未實現。但諷刺的是,幾年後事實變得很清楚,我本應該給J·埃德加本人採集指紋,因為他因濫用職權而名譽掃地。 好吧,那就是1930年代的奧馬哈,當時雪橇、自行車、棒球手套和電動火車是我和朋友們夢寐以求的東西。 讓我們看看那個時代的其他一些孩子,他們在附近長大,極大地影響了我的生活,但我長期以來並不知道他們的存在。 我先從查理·蒙格說起,他是我64年來最好的朋友。 1930年代,查理住在離我自1958年以來一直擁有和居住的房子一個街區的地方。 早年,我差一點就認識查理了。查理比我大6又2/3歲,1940年夏天在我祖父的雜貨店工作,一天工作10小時賺2美元。 (節儉深植於巴菲特家族的血液中。)第二年我也在店裡做類似的工作,但直到1959年我們才見面,那時他35歲,我28歲。 二戰服役後,查理從哈佛法學院畢業,然後永久搬到了加州。但查理永遠把他在奧馬哈的早年歲月視為形成性的時期。 60多年來,查理對我產生了巨大影響,是我最好的老師和保護性的"大哥"。我們有分歧但從未爭吵過。 "我早就告訴過你"不在他的詞彙表裡。 1958年,我買了我的第一套也是唯一一間房子。當然,它在奧馬哈,距離我成長的地方(寬泛定義)約兩英里,離我岳父母家不到兩個街區,離巴菲特雜貨店約六個街區,距離我工作了64年的辦公樓開車6-7分鐘。 讓我們繼續說說另一位奧馬哈人,史丹利普西。史丹在1968年把奧馬哈太陽報(週報)賣給了伯克希爾,十年後應我的要求搬到了布法羅。 布法羅晚報由伯克希爾的一家關聯公司擁有,當時正與其早報競爭對手進行殊死搏鬥,後者出版布法羅唯一的周日報紙。而我們正在輸。 史丹最終打造了我們新的周日產品,多年來,我們的報紙——此前一直在虧損——每年的稅前回報率超過100%,投資額為3300萬美元。這在1980年代初對波克夏來說是重要的收入。 史丹在離我家約五個街區的地方長大。史丹的鄰居之一是小沃爾特·斯科特。你們會記得,沃特在1999年把中美能源帶到了伯克希爾。他也是伯克希爾的重要董事,直到2021年去世,還是一位非常親密的朋友。沃爾特數十年來一直是內布拉斯加州的慈善領袖,奧馬哈和該州都留有他的印記。 沃爾特就讀於本森高中,我原本也要去那裡上學——直到1942年我父親在國會競選中擊敗了連任四屆的現任議員,讓所有人都感到驚訝。生活充滿了驚喜。 等等,還有更多。 1959年,唐·基奧和他年輕的家人住在我家對面的房子裡,距離芒格家曾經住的地方約100碼。唐當時是一名咖啡推銷員,但注定要成為可口可樂的總裁以及伯克希爾的忠誠董事。 我認識唐時,他年收入12,000美元,而他和妻子米奇正在撫養五個孩子,這些孩子都要上天主教學校(需要支付學費)。 我們兩家很快就成為了好朋友。唐來自愛荷華州西北部的農場,畢業於奧馬哈的克雷頓大學。他早早就娶了奧馬哈女孩米奇。加入可口可樂後,唐在全球範圍內成為了傳奇人物。 1985年,當唐擔任可口可樂總裁時,公司推出了命運多舛的新可樂。 唐發表了一次著名的演講,向公眾道歉並恢復了"老"可樂。 這次改變發生在唐解釋說,寄給"最高白痴"的可口可樂來信都被直接送到了他的辦公桌上之後。 他的"撤回"演講是經典之作,可以在YouTube上觀看。他愉快地承認,事實上,可口可樂產品屬於公眾而非公司。隨後銷售額飆升。 你可以在https://t.co/CBymrdmZvF 上觀看唐的精彩採訪。 (湯姆·墨菲和凱·格雷厄姆也有幾個精彩片段。)就像查理·芒格一樣,唐永遠是一個中西部男孩——熱情、友好,美國精神的核心體現。 最後,阿吉特·賈恩在印度出生長大,以及我們即將上任的加拿大CEO格雷格·阿貝爾,都在20世紀末在奧馬哈生活了幾年。事實上,在1990年代,格雷格住在法納姆街離我只有幾個街區的地方,儘管我們當時從未見過面。 難道奧馬哈的水裡有什麼神奇成分嗎? 我在華盛頓特區度過了幾年青少年時光(當時我父親在國會任職),1954年我在曼哈頓接受了一份我認為會是永久性的工作。 在那裡,本·格雷厄姆和傑瑞·紐曼對我非常好,我也交到了許多終身的朋友。紐約有獨特的資產——現在仍然如此。然而,1956年,僅僅一年半後,我回到了奧馬哈,再也沒有離開。 隨後,我的三個孩子以及幾個孫子孫女都在奧馬哈長大。我的孩子們都上公立學校(畢業於同一所培養了我父親(1921屆)、我的第一任妻子蘇茜(1950屆)、以及查理、斯坦·利普西、歐文和羅恩·布魯姆金(他們對內布拉斯加家具城的發展至關重要)以及傑克·林沃爾特(1923, 他創辦了國民法院並在這1967年出售國民的龐大財產。 我們國家有許多偉大的公司、學校、醫療機構——每個都有自己的特殊優勢和才華橫溢的人才。 但我覺得自己非常幸運,能有好運交到許多終身朋友,遇到我的兩任妻子,在公立學校接受良好的啟蒙教育,在我很小的時候就遇到許多有趣友好的成年奧馬哈人,並在內布拉斯加州國民警衛隊結交各種各樣的朋友。 簡而言之,內布拉斯加州一直是家。 回顧過去,我覺得伯克希爾和我之所以能做得更好,是因為我們的根基在奧馬哈,而不是在其他任何地方。美國的中心地帶是一個非常適合出生、養家和創業的地方。透過愚蠢的運氣,我在出生時就抽到了一根荒謬的長簽。 現在讓我們來談談我的高齡。 我的基因並不是特別有幫助－家族的長壽記錄(誠然往回追溯時家族記錄會變得模糊)是92歲,直到我出現。 但我有明智、友好、盡職的奧馬哈醫生,從哈利·霍茨開始,一直持續到今天。 至少三次,我的生命得以挽救——每次都是由離我家幾英里內的醫生完成的。 (不過,我已經放棄給護士採指紋了。95歲時你可以有很多怪癖…但也有限度。) 那些活到老年的人需要大量的好運——每天躲避香蕉皮、自然災害、醉酒或分心的司機、雷擊,等等。 但幸運女神善變,而且——沒有其他詞更合適——極其不公平。 在許多情況下,我們的領導人和富人得到的運氣遠超他們應得的份額——而受益者往往不願承認這一點。 世襲繼承人從子宮裡出來的那一刻就獲得了終身的經濟獨立,而其他人則在早年生活中面臨地獄般的境遇,或者更糟糕的是,身體或精神上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方,我很可能過著悲慘的生活——而我的姐妹們的生活會更糟。 我出生於1930年——健康、相當聰明、白人、男性,而且在美國。哇!謝謝你,幸運女神。 我的姊妹們擁有同樣的智慧和比我更好的性格,但面臨著截然不同的前景。幸運女神在我生命的大部分時間裡繼續光顧,但她有比照顧90多歲的人更好的事情要做。運氣有其限度。 相反,時間老人現在發現隨著我年齡的增長,我變得更有趣了。而他是不敗的;對他來說,每個人最終都會在他的記分卡上被記為"勝利"。 當平衡感、視力、聽力和記憶力都在持續下降時,你就知道時間老人就在附近了。 我很晚才變老——其發生時間因人而異——但一旦出現,就無法否認。 令我驚訝的是,我總體感覺良好。雖然我行動緩慢,閱讀越來越困難,但我每週五天都在辦公室,與出色的人們一起工作。 偶爾,我會有一個有用的想法,或收到一個我們原本可能不會收到的提議。由於伯克希爾的規模和市場水平,想法很少——但不是零。 然而,我意外的長壽對我的家人和實現我的慈善目標具有不可避免的重大影響。 讓我們探討一下。 接下來會發生什麼我的孩子們都已過正常退休年齡,分別達到了72歲、70歲和67歲。 押注所有三個人——現在在許多方面都處於巔峰——都能享受我在延緩衰老方面的非凡運氣將是錯誤的。 為了提高他們在替代受託人取代他們之前處置掉基本上是我全部遺產的可能性,我需要加快向他們三個基金會進行終身贈與的步伐。 我的孩子們現在在經驗和智慧方面處於黃金時期,但尚未進入老年。這個"蜜月期"不會永遠持續下去。 幸運的是,調整方向很容易執行。 然而,還有一個額外因素需要考慮:我想保留大量"A"類股,直到伯克希爾股東對格雷格產生查理和我長期享有的那種信心。這種信心程度不應該需要很長時間。我的孩子們已經100%支持格雷格,伯克希爾董事們也是如此。 所有三個孩子現在都具備成熟度、智慧、精力和本能來分配一大筆財富。 當我早已離世、他們還活在世上時,如果有必要,他們還將擁有這樣的優勢:可以採取既有預見性又能應對聯邦稅收政策或其他影響慈善事業的發展的政策。 他們很可能需要適應周圍顯著變化的世界。從墳墓裡統治的記錄並不好,我也從未有過這樣做的衝動。 幸運的是,所有三個孩子都主要繼承了他們母親的基因。 隨著幾十年的過去,我也成為了他們思考和行為的更好榜樣。然而,我永遠無法與他們的母親平起平坐。 我的孩子們有三位替代受託人,以防任何過早死亡或殘疾。這些替代者沒有排名或與特定孩子掛鉤。所有三位都是傑出的人,精通世故。他們沒有相互衝突的動機。 我向我的孩子們保證,他們不需要創造奇蹟,也不必害怕失敗或失望。這些是不可避免的,我也犯過我的錯。 他們只需要比政府活動和/或私人慈善事業通常所實現的略有改進,同時認識到這些其他財富再分配方法也有缺點。 早期,我考慮過各種宏大的慈善計劃。儘管我很固執,但這些計劃證明是不可行的。 在我的許多年裡,我也見證了政客、世襲選擇以及無能或古怪的慈善家所做的考慮不周的財富轉移。 如果我的孩子們只是做得體面,他們可以確信他們的母親和我會很高興。 他們的本能很好,他們每個人都有多年的實踐經驗,最初是很小的金額,後來不規則地增加到每年超過5億美元。 所有三個人都喜歡長時間工作來幫助他人,各有自己的方式。 我加快向孩子們基金會進行終身贈與的速度,絕不反映我對伯克希爾前景的看法有任何改變。 格雷格·阿貝爾不僅滿足了我最初認為他應該成為伯克希爾下一任CEO時對他的高期望,而且超越了。 他對我們許多業務和人員的了解遠超我現在的了解,而且他在許多CEO甚至不考慮的事情上學習非常快。 我想不出一個CEO、管理顧問、學者、政府成員——隨便什麼人——我會選擇他而不是格雷格來處理你和我的積蓄。 例如,格雷格對我們財產險業務的上升潛力和危險的理解,遠超許多長期從事財產險的高管。 我希望他能保持健康幾十年。 有點運氣的話,伯克希爾在下個世紀應該只需要五到六位CEO。它應該特別避免那些目標是65歲退休、成為炫富者或建立王朝的人。 一個令人不快的現實:偶爾,母公司或子公司的優秀而忠誠的CEO會患上癡呆症、阿茲海默症或其他使人衰弱的長期疾病。 查理和我多次遇到這個問題卻未能採取行動。這種失敗可能是一個巨大的錯誤。 董事會必須對CEO層面的這種可能性保持警覺,CEO必須對子公司層面的可能性保持警覺。 這說起來容易做起來難;我可以從過去大公司的幾個例子中舉證。我只能建議董事們要保持警覺並大聲說出來。 在我有生之年,改革者試圖透過要求揭露老闆的薪酬與普通員工薪酬的比較來讓CEO們難堪。 委託書立即從早期的20頁或更少膨脹到100多頁。 但良好的意圖沒有奏效;相反,它們適得其反。 根據我的大多數觀察,"A"公司的CEO看著"B"公司的競爭對手,巧妙地向董事會傳達他應該值更多錢。 當然,他也提高了董事們的薪酬,並謹慎選擇薪酬委員會的成員。 新規則產生了嫉妒,而不是節制。 棘輪效應開始自行發展。 經常困擾非常富有的CEO的事情——畢竟他們也是人——是其他CEO變得更富有了。 嫉妒和貪婪攜手而行。 有哪個顧問曾經建議過認真削減CEO薪酬或董事報酬嗎? 總體而言,伯克希爾的業務前景略好於平均水平,由幾個不相關的大型寶石引領。 然而,從現在起十年或二十年後,會有許多公司做得比伯克希爾更好;我們的規模是有代價的。 波克夏比我所知道的任何企業都更不可能遭遇毀滅性災難。 波克夏擁有比我熟悉的幾乎任何公司都更有股東意識的管理層和董事會(而我見過很多)。 最後,伯克希爾將始終以使其存在成為美國資產的方式進行管理,並避免導致其成為乞求者的活動。 隨著時間的推移,我們的管理者應該變得相當富有——他們承擔著重要的責任——但他們沒有建立王朝或炫富的慾望。 我們的股價將反覆無常地波動,偶爾會下跌50%左右,就像現任管理層60年來發生過三次那樣。 不要絕望;美國會回來,伯克希爾股票也會。 一些最後的想法一個可能有點自私的觀察:我很高興地說,我對生命的後半段比前半段感覺更好。 我的建議:不要為過去的錯誤而自責－－至少從中學到一點東西,然後繼續前進。改進永遠不嫌晚。 找到正確的英雄並模仿他們。你可以從湯姆·墨菲開始;他是最好的。 記住阿爾弗雷德·諾貝爾,後來的諾貝爾獎的創始人,據說當他弟弟去世時,報紙搞錯了,他讀到了自己被誤登的訃告。 他對所讀到的內容感到震驚,意識到自己應該改變行為。 不要指望新聞編輯室的混亂:決定你希望你的訃告怎麼寫,然後過配得上它的生活。 偉大不是透過累積大量金錢、大量宣傳或政府的巨大權力而來。 當你以數千種方式中的任何一種幫助某人時,你就在幫助世界。 善良是無價的,但也是無價的。無論你是否信教,黃金法則很難被超越作為行為指南。 我寫這些是作為一個無數次不周到、犯過許多錯誤、但也很幸運地從一些很棒的朋友那裡學會如何表現得更好的人(不過仍然離完美還有很長的路)。 請記住,清潔工和董事長一樣都是人。 祝所有讀到這篇文章的人感恩節快樂。 是的,即使是混蛋;改變永遠不會太晚。 記得要感謝美國最大化了你的機會。 但它在分配獎勵時——不可避免地——是反复無常的,有時甚至是貪婪的。 非常謹慎地選擇你的英雄,然後效仿他們。 你永遠不會完美,但你總是可以變得更好。 關於伯克希爾伯克希爾·哈撒韋及其子公司從事多元化的商業活動,包括保險和再保險、公用事業和能源、貨運鐵路運輸、製造、服務和零售。 本公司普通股在紐約證券交易所上市,交易代號為BRK.A及BRK.B。 ——結束—— 聯絡人:馬克·D·漢堡402-346-1400