巴菲特95岁公开信：我为何把270万股伯克希尔股票全部捐出？

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOmaha, 

NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) –

November 10, 2025

来自美国奥玛哈的即时报道，

内布拉斯加州家具城（伯克希尔A股；伯克希尔B股）

2025年11月10号

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:

今天，沃伦E.巴菲特将1800股伯克希尔A股拆分并捐赠给四个家族基金。1800股伯克希尔A股拆分成270万股伯克希尔B股，其中150万股给苏珊·汤普森·巴菲特基金会，其他三个基金会分别获得40万股，他们是：舍伍德基金会、霍华德·G·巴菲特基金会和诺沃基金会。这些捐赠今天起立即生效！对此巴菲特先生向各位股东解释如下：

To My Fellow Shareholders

致我的股东朋友们

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.”

我将不再写伯克希尔股东年度报告（致股东信），也不会在年度股东大会上喋喋不休。英谚有云，我是时候该退居二线了。

Sort of.

分类陈述如下。

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·阿贝尔将在年底成为伯克希尔的领导者，他是一个非常出色的经理人，对工作充满热情，也是一个忠诚的倾述对象。祝愿他能有超长任期！

I will continue talking to you and my children about Berkshire via my annual Thanksgiving message. Berkshire’s individual shareholders are averyspecial group who are unusually generous in sharing their gains with others less fortunate. I enjoy the chance to keep in touch with you. 

我将会通过每年的感恩节致词来和我的孩子们以及大家继续谈论伯克希尔。伯克希尔的个人股东是一个非常特殊的群体，他们非常慷慨的将自己的财富分享给有需要的人。我非常享受和你们厮混在一起。

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.

今年的股东信首先请允许我稍微回忆一下过往，然后再谈论我捐赠伯克希尔股票的事，最后我会提供一些商业建议和个人意见。

As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m grateful and surprised by my luck in being alive at 95.

作为感恩节的庆祝，我非常庆幸能活到95岁高龄！

When I was young, this outcome didnotlook 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.

在我年幼的时候，并没有预兆我可以活这么久。我很小的时候，差不多夭折了。在1938年，奥玛哈医院还被人们认为是天主教或者新教，这样的分类在当时非常自然。

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. 

我们的家庭医生哈雷.霍茨，是一个友好的天主教徒，他家的房子修得像一个黑色的包裹。霍茨医生叫我机长，每次到访都收费很少。

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. 

在1938年我有一次腹痛，霍茨医生过来了，做了简单的探查后告诉我，明天早上我就会好的。然后他回家了，吃了晚饭还玩了一会桥牌。那天晚上霍茨医生甚至都没告诉我我的病症是什么就把我转去了圣凯瑟琳医院，紧急做了阑尾切除手术。

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.

在接下来的三周，我感觉自己进入了修道院，并且开始喜欢这种新体验！我任何时候都喜欢说--好的，因为这样可以得到护士的拥抱。

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.

最爽的是，我三年级的老师马德森小姐让我班上30个同学都写封信给我。我那时候大概率把男孩子的信直接丢了，而女孩子的信会一读再读，住院治疗居然有额外奖励！

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.)

恢复过程中最有成就感的是一个礼物--指纹采集器，这个礼物在住院第一周里还不太确定是什么，后来我最棒的伊迪阿姨给我买了这个外观时尚的指纹采集器，我将所有照顾过我的护士的指纹都采集起来。（我想，在圣凯瑟琳医院大概率我是第一个被他们看见的新教徒孩子，她们不认为我会来的。）

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.

我的想法是（当然完全是胡扯的）将来有一天，护士会变坏，然后FBI会发现他们漏了给护士录取指纹。FBI以及他们的负责人J·埃德加·胡佛会来奥玛哈检查我采集的天价指纹，在1930年时，FBI很受人尊敬。在后来的日子，我一直梦想着有一天J·埃德加会过来找我，会逮捕哪些琢磨不透的护士。然而，一切如常，并没有什么发生。

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.

很显然，我的美梦没有成真。但是，讽刺的是，几年后，我发现我应该采集J·埃德加自己的指纹，他因为滥用职权，成为了耻辱！

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 lifebutof whom I was for long unaware.

好吧，那是1930年代的奥玛哈，一个雪橇，一辆自行车，一个棒球手套或者电车都是我和我的小伙伴非常着迷的东西。让我们一起来看看那个区域里长大的另一个小伙伴，他和我们生长在相同的环境下，对我的生活产生了巨大的影响，但是我当时一直没有意识到他的存在。

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.

我要说起查理芒格了，和我搭档64年的伙伴，最好的伙伴。1930年芒格的住所和我1958年的住所，只一街之隔。

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，我差一点点就和芒格成为好朋友了，芒格大我六七岁，1940年的夏天，他在我爷爷的杂货铺里工作，10小时2美元（巴菲特家族的血液里一直流传着节约二字），第二年我也在爷爷的杂货铺干着相同的工作，就差那么一点点就相遇了，等我们真正相识的时候已经是1959年，当时查理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.

在二战中服完兵役，查理毕业于哈佛法学院，然后就一直定居在加利佛尼亚。当然，查理一直说，在奥玛哈的早年生活对他的成长有着不可磨灭的影响。

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 butneverhad an argument. “I told you so” was not

in his vocabulary.

超过60年的时间，查理一直扮演着我的“大师兄”，时刻保护我，对我的人生有着重大的影响。我们之间有过意见不同，但从未有过口舌之争。“我早就告诉过你了”这句话就从来没有出现在查理的字典里！

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，我买了人生第一套房子也是唯一一套，它位于奥玛哈，离我生长的地方只有2英里（宽泛定义），离前姻亲家只有两个街区，离巴菲特杂货铺只有6个街区，开车去我工作64年的办公楼只有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’sonlySunday paper. And we were losing.

让我们转到另一个奥玛哈土著身上吧，斯坦·利普西。在1968年斯坦把奥玛哈太阳报（周刊）卖给了伯克希尔，并在十年后应我的要求去了布法罗市。布法罗晚报由伯克希尔的子公司负责运营，处在生死存亡的边沿。因为布法罗晚报的宿敌出版布法罗市唯一的周日报，我们正处于失利中。

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.

斯坦最终发行了布法罗周日报，几年之后，我们的税前账面利润已超过100%（斯坦介入前一直在亏损），我们在布法罗晚报的投资是3300万。在1980年，这笔钱对伯克希尔非常重要。

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.

斯坦在离我家5个街区的地方长大，斯坦的一个邻居叫沃尔特·斯各特，爵士斯各特，大家应该记得，在1999年为伯克希尔买下中美洲能源公司。他一直担任是伯克希尔的懂事，直到2021年去世，是我非常亲密的朋友。沃尔特担任过内布拉斯加慈善机构的领导人数十年，奥玛哈及内布拉斯加州都留下了沃尔特的传奇。

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. 

沃尔特就读本森高中，我也准备去本森高中的。但是我爸爸给了所有人惊喜，在1942年竞选国会立法委员会成功，打败了一位连任四届的对手。生活充满了惊喜！

Wait, there’s more.

大家稍等，还有很多要谈的。

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).

1959年，唐.基奥和他的家人住在我家对面的房子里，离芒格故居约100码距离。那时候的唐是一名咖啡销售员，但他命中注定会成为可口可乐的总裁和伯克希尔的董事。当我遇见唐时，他年赚1.2万美元，和他的妻子一起抚养5个孩子，他们都上天主教开办的学校（需要付费的那种）。

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.

我和唐的家庭很快就成为了好朋友。唐来自爱荷华州西北部的农场，毕业于奥玛哈的克雷顿大学。他很早就和米奇结婚，米奇是奥玛哈当地女孩。然后加入了可口可乐，后来唐就成了世界名人。

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时，公司正在推出它那不幸的可乐（新口味的可口可乐）。后来唐做了一场著名的演讲，公开向可口可乐的消费者道歉并承诺恢复原有味道的可口可乐。后来唐解释说，推出新口味可乐后，可口可乐的收件箱里堆满了投诉我们是“超级白痴”的邮件，都快溢出到他的办公桌上了。而唐的“撤回”演讲是一份杰作，现在还能在优酷上回看。唐爽快的承认，可口可乐属于大家的，而不是属于可口可乐公司的。随后，可口可乐的销量开始回升。

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.

唐在查尔斯顿的网站上有一个非常棒的采访。（汤姆·墨菲和凯·格雷厄姆也有几篇优秀的采访）和查理芒格一样，唐永远保持中西部牛仔的风格：热情，友好，很美国！

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 20thCentury. 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?

最后是阿吉特.贾恩，土生土长的印度人，还有我们的格雷格.阿贝尔，我们的准首席执行官，加拿大人。在20世纪的头几年他们都来到奥玛哈定居。确切的说，格雷格在1990年就住在费尔南街，离我只有几个街区。但是我们不经常见面。（大家这么迷恋奥玛哈，）难道是奥玛哈的水土具有灵气吗？

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.

我在十来岁的时候在华盛顿住过几年（是父亲在国会任职期间）。在1954年，我在曼哈顿获得了一个梦寐以求的我认为可能会干一辈子的工作。我被本.格雷厄姆和杰里·纽曼特殊关照，我在那里交到了好多朋友，持续一生的朋友。纽约拥有独一无二的优势，现在依然如此（指华尔街在金融行业的优势地位）。但不管怎样，我在1956年，差不多是入职一年半左右就回到了奥玛哈，从此不再游荡！

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.

接着，我的三个孩子以及数个孙辈都土生土长在奥玛哈。我的孩子们通常上公立学校，毕业于同一个高中，我爸爸就是那个高中毕业的，他是1921届的，同时还有好多人都是这个高中毕业，我的第一任妻子苏珊是1950届，斯坦·利普西，警官和罗恩·布鲁姆金，罗恩是内布拉斯加州家具城发展中最关键的人物，还有杰克·林沃尔特（1923届），杰克创建了国民赔偿保险，并在1967年被伯克希尔收购。国民赔偿保险公司是伯克希尔个人保险业务的基石，我们的个人保险业务就是由此而来。

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.

我们的国家拥有许多伟大的公司、优秀的学校、先进的医疗设备，每一个突出的方向上都有其独特的优势和优秀的人才。我很幸运能在有生之年和各个方向上的优秀人物相遇相知，并成为一生的朋友，很庆幸遇到了我的两任妻子，很庆幸在公立学校接受良好的教育，很庆幸在我小时候遇到奥玛哈友好且有趣的成年人，很庆幸在内布拉斯加州范围内开展广泛的交友，总之，内布拉斯加是我的家乡。

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.

回顾过去，如果我生长在其他任何地方，对伯克希尔和我来说，可能都不如生长在奥玛哈。美国的任何一个城市，都非常适合生存，适合养育家庭，适合建立事业，我的出生就像抽中了上上签！

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 therearelimits.)

让我们转向我的优点——长寿上面来，我的遗传基因在长寿方面并没有什么特别的帮助，家族记录以来最高的寿命是92岁，直到我超越了这个记录。但是我有聪敏、友好且乐于奉献的奥玛哈医生，从哈雷.霍茨医生开始，一直到现在。至少有三次，我的生命是医生救回来的，每次都得益于医生就在离我家几英里的地方。（当然，我已经放弃了采集护士指纹的癖好，活到95岁，人可能会放弃许多癖好，但我也仅限于此。）

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 –noother term fits –wildlyunfair. 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. 

那些长寿的人们多多少少需要一些运气的加持。人每天都需要躲避香蕉皮、自然灾难、酗酒、盲目驾驶、雷击等可能遇到的意外。但是幸运女神是善变的（没有其他更好的词汇来形容她），这很不公平。在很多时候，我们的领导和富人他们的成功远不只是一点点运气，尽管他们一直不承认这一点。

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.

家族财富继承者在娘胎里就开始庆祝财富自由。而其他人刚来到这个世界，面对的是地狱。更不用说那些生来就身体残疾或者有精神异常的人。他们生来就被剥夺了我们习以为常的一切！如果生在世界上许多人口稠密的地区，我的生活应该会很痛苦，而我妹妹的生活会更痛苦。

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. 

我生在1930年，身体健康，智利正常，白色男性，生在美国。喔！感谢幸运女神。我的姐妹们拥有和我相同的智力，但比我有更好的个性，但是有不同的人生预期。在我后来的人生中，幸运女神一再降落在我身上，但是她现在有更重要的事情，而不是一直只关注我们这些90多岁的高龄人士。幸运也是有限的。

Father Time, to the contrary, now finds memoreinteresting 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, youknowFather Time is in the neighborhood.

时间是上帝，相反，我对我的年龄越来越感兴趣。时间是永恒不败的，对时间而言所有人都会一败涂地。当身体的平衡能力、视力、听力和记忆里都在下降时，你知道上帝已经离你很近了！

I was late in becoming old – its onset materially varies – but once it appears, it is not to be denied. 

我已经够老了--时间上帝发挥作用的差别还是很大的（让我活到这么老）--但是它一旦出现，将不可挽回！

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.

让我感到高兴的事，我依然感觉良好。尽管我移动很困难，阅读也越来越困难，但是我仍然和有趣的人们在我的办公室里每周工作五天。偶然间，我会有一些有用的想法，或者我会收到其他人给我提供的意想不到的建议。因为伯克希尔的规模和市场行情，好想法越来越少，但还没到完全枯竭的程度。

My unexpected longevity, however, has unavoidable consequences of major importance to my family and the achievement of my charitable objectives.

Let’s explore them.

我这出乎意料的长寿，不可避免的提升了我对家庭的贡献和我在慈善事业上的成就。咱们可以去检查一下。

What Comes Next

接下来将发生什么！

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.

我的三个孩子智商普通，他们的年纪分别达到了72，70，68岁。他们正处在被关心的顶峰（上有老爸惦记，下有孩子们惦记，中间有伴侣和兄弟姐妹惦记，确实是巅峰），这个时候不合适预测他们会不会像我一样有运气加持享受加时。但为了提高他们在代理人接管前能处理好我的全部财富的概率，我需要在剩余不多的生命里加快对他们三个基金会的帮助。我的孩子正处在经验和能力的巅峰期，但不可避免的已经步入老年，就像“蜜月”不可能永远持续。

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，防错机制很容易执行。当然，这里应该需要额外提一下：我会一直持有非常可观的伯克希尔A股，直到伯克希尔股东们和格雷格相处非常融洽，这种融洽我和芒格享受了很多年。建立那种信任不需要很长时间，我的孩子们就和伯克希尔董事们一样，已经百分百支持格雷格。

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.

我的孩子们在分配财富方面成熟稳重，头脑清晰，精力充沛且直觉灵敏。当我离开后，如有必要，他们能对联邦税率政策和伟大慈善事业的发展做出预判和反应，我相信他们在这方面的能力和优势都在普通人之上。他们也需要让自己适用周围不断变化的世界。没有人死后还能统治这个世界，我也从来没有意愿去这么做！

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，所有的孩子都继承了妈妈的优秀基因。在过去的数十年，我在孩子们的思想和行为上努力成为越来越好的榜样，但我从不敢奢望与他们的母亲平起平坐。

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.

我的三个孩子可以轮岗，以免太辛苦导致过早的死亡或残疾。这种轮换不会排序或者固定在某一个孩子身上。他们都是杰出的人，深谙人情世故。他们之间不会互相冲突。

I have assured my children that they donotneed to perform miracles nor fea 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.

我相信，我的孩子既不会哗众取宠，也不会害怕失败和失望。失败和失望是必然的，我已经做了示范。他们只需要在政策及个人慈善上做一些普通的适应性改变即可，意识到还有其他的方式去分配财富的同时知悉它们带来的缺点。

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.

早年间，我设想过宏伟的慈善方案，虽然我是个固执的人，但这些方案最终被证明不可行。在很多年里我一直在观察拙劣的财富转移，比如政治动荡和朝代更替，呵呵，是的，我是个笨拙且古怪的慈善家！

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 theyeachhave had years of practice with very small sums initially that have been irregularly increased to more than $500 million annually. 

如果我的孩子们只是简单的做着体面的工作，若真能如此，我和他们的妈妈都为此感到欣慰。他们本性醇厚，用小资金训练了很多年，资金总和现在增长到了每年5亿美元。

All threelikeworking long hours to help others, each in their own way.

他们三个人都喜欢用自己的方式不停的去帮助他人。

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.

我在有生之年，通过自己的馈赠给我孩子的基金会发展加速，但这种方法用在伯克希尔身上，我认为没有任何效果。阿贝尔·格雷格的表现超过了我当初想让他接替伯克希尔CEO时的预期。他懂很多的生意，人事工作也比我做的好多了。他对重要事情的学习非常快速，而有些CEO甚至都没思考过这些事情。格雷格是最佳人选，无论你怎么举例，比如管理顾问、教授、政府雇员或其他你我能想到的任何人，都不可能比格雷格更合适接替我的CEO职位。

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.

举个例子，在个人承保业务上格雷格更懂业务的上升空间和风险，而不是做许多高大上的长期规划。我希望他的身体健康能持续好几十年。如果幸运的话，我们直到下个世纪末，伯克希尔也只需要五到六个CEO人选就够了。我们选CEO一定要避开那些目标是65岁就退休的人，为了炫富的人和期待开创一个时代的人。

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.

一个不幸的事实：母公司或者子公司再出色而忠诚的CEO也可能死于痴呆，老年痴呆，或者其他方面的衰竭，或者其他慢性疾病。

Charlie and I encountered this problem several times and failed to act. This failure can be a huge mistake. The Boardmustbe 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.

查理和我都数次遇到这种问题，我们一筹莫展。这种失败（优秀CEO夭折）是一个巨大的错误。董事会一定要在CEO层面引起重视，CEO一定要在各子公司引起重视。这件事说起来容易做起来难。我可以从过去的许多公司中举出几个例子。负责人应该对此保持警觉并引以为戒，这就是我的建议。

During my lifetime, reformers sought toembarrassCEOs 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.

在我的有生之年，让CEO难堪的事是要求他们公开管理层和普通员工的待遇比例。然后代理人的报告从早期的20页激增到100页。

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.

是的，好心办坏事了。根据我多年观察--公司A的CEO紧盯着他的竞争对手公司B，巧妙的将“他更有价值”的信息传递给董事会。然后，他会增加董事津贴，并且小心翼翼的安排人员进入薪酬委员会。新的规定产生嫉妒而不是节制。

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?

事实已经不受控制的沿着它自己的轨迹发展。让一个富有的CEO感到不安的是一个更富有的CEO，毕竟CEO也是人不是神。嫉妒和贪婪总是同时出现。这样还有谁会建议大幅消减CEO待遇和董事津贴呢？

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.

总而言之，伯克希尔的业务前景会略优与平均水平，基于一些无关但巨大的优势。但是，此后的一二十年，一定会有许多公司做的比伯克希尔更好，我们的规模会拖后腿。

Berkshire has less chance of a devastating disaster than any business I know. And, Berkshire has a more shareholder-conscious management and board than almostanycompany 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.

在遇到毁灭性风险的概率上，伯克希尔比其它我知道的任何公司都要低。在股东意识层面，伯克希尔的管理层和董事会比其他我熟悉的任何公司都要好（我曾经就遇到过很多股东意识超强的管理层）！伯克希尔会一直以美国资产的形式运营，避免成为美国的负债（避免需要美国财政救济）。随着时间的推移，我们的管理层有责任让自己变得非常富有，而不是渴望成为一个王朝的统治者或者我个人财富的看守者。

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.

在当前的管理模式下，我们的股价必然是不可预测的，就像过去的60多年一样，偶尔会下跌50%。不用沮丧，美国会回来的，伯克希尔股票也一样会涨回来的。

A Few Final Thoughts

一些最后的想法

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.

一个自私自利的想法，我的后半生比前半生感觉更棒。我的建议是：不要为过去的错误过分自责——吃一堑长一智的向前看。任何时候做出改变都不迟。选择对的榜样，并模仿他们，但你成不了汤姆·墨菲，他是最棒的。

Remember Alfred Nobel, later of Nobel Prize fame, who – reportedly – read hisownobituary 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.

还记得阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔吗，后来诺贝尔奖以他命名，据报道，他在报纸上读到了自己的死亡讣告，其实是他的哥哥去世了，报纸将他和他的哥哥搞混淆了。他对读到的内容非常恐惧（报纸说“制造死亡的商人死了”），然后，他意识到，他需要改变自己的行为。

Don’t count on a newsroom mix-up: Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.

不要在意那些媒体上的混淆是非：你希望你的讣告上怎么描述你，你就下决心去过那样的生活。

Greatness doesnotcome 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.

伟大从来不是堆砌财富，也不是政治上的四处宣扬或攫取权利。当你通过任何方式帮助到他人，你就是在帮助这个世界。友好并不花钱，但却价值无限。不管你是不是宗教徒，把金科玉律当作行为指导都是一件挺不容易的事。

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.

我是给这样的人写的，他过去有无数次思考不周，也犯了许多错误，但幸运的是依然从一些优秀的朋友那里去学习更好的行为习惯（尽管离完美还有很远）。请记住，清洁工和董事长在人类这个维度上是完全一样的。

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！甚至包括癫佬。任何时候改变都不迟。牢记美国给予的无限机会。但有时任性和贪婪会不可避免的破坏掉奖励。

Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.

认真选择你的榜样，然后模仿他。你永不完美，但一直趋向完美！

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. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B.

伯克希尔及其子公司是一个多样化的生意模式，经营范围包括保险和再保险、公共事业和能源、货运铁路运输、工业、服务业和零售业。常见的股票在纽约证券交易所挂牌上市，建议代码是BRK.A和BRK.B。

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联系人：Marc D. Hamburg

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