原文信息：
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.
今天，沃伦·E·巴菲特将自己的1800股伯克希尔A类股（目前的市值为13.5亿美元）转换为270万股B类股，并将这些B类股捐赠给四个家族基金会：其中150万股捐赠给苏珊·汤普森·巴菲特基金会，其余40万股分别捐赠给舍伍德基金会（The Sherwood Foundation，由巴菲特女儿掌管）、霍华德·G·巴菲特基金会及诺沃基金会（NoVo Foundation，小儿子Peter的基金会）。上述捐赠已于今日完成交付。
Mr. Buffett’s comments to his fellow shareholders follow:
巴菲特对此附带下述评论：
To My Fellow Shareholders:
致我的股东同仁：
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.”
我将不会再撰写伯克希尔的年度报告或是在年度股东大会上滔滔不绝。正如英国人所说，我将“退隐”（going quiet）。
Sort of.
至少在一定程度上如此。
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.
而我呢，未来将每年通过“感恩节信”，向各位股东及我的孩子们继续讲述伯克希尔的故事。伯克希尔的个人股东们是一群非常特别的人，他们以非凡的慷慨之心，把自己的果实分享给那些不如自己幸运的人。我很享受能与各位继续保持联系。今年请容我先稍作追忆，再讨论我所持伯克希尔股份的分配计划，最后分享几点关于商业与人生的见解。
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.
感恩节将至，我既心怀感激又对自己的好运感到惊讶——竟能活到95岁。年轻时，押注我会如此长寿并不是好的选择。小时候，我曾差点丧命。
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.
那是在1938年，在当时的奥马哈市民眼中，当地医院分为天主教医院或是新教医院——这种区分在当时看来再自然不过。
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.
巴菲特家（新教家庭）的家庭医生哈利·霍茨是个友善的天主教徒，他挎着黑色皮包上门给我看病。霍茨医生总叫我“长官”（Skipper），看病时从不收取高额费用。1938年我腹痛难忍时，他赶来诊治，简单检查后告诉我：“明天早上就会好起来。”
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.
随后他回家吃了晚饭，又打了一会儿桥牌。然而霍茨医生始终无法忘却我那些略显奇特的症状，当晚便紧急将我送往圣凯瑟琳（天主教）医院接受阑尾切除手术。接下来的三周里，我（被修女们包围、悉心呵护）仿佛身处修道院，渐渐爱上了这个新“道场”。我向来爱说话——是的，那时就已如此——而修女们却喜欢我的话痨。
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.
更让我开心的事情是，三年级的麦德森老师让全班三十个同学每人给我写一封信。我大概把男生写的信都扔了，却把女生写的信反复读了好几遍——住院也是有好处的嘛~
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.)
康复期间最精彩的时刻——其实第一周大部分时间都挺棘手的——要归功于我亲爱的艾迪姨妈（伊迪丝）的礼物。她给我带来一套专业感十足的指纹采集套装，我当即给所有负责护理我的修女们都录了指纹。（我大概是圣凯瑟琳修道院接待的第一个新教徒孩子，她们完全不知道“正常”新教孩子的行为。）
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.
我的理论——当然完全是胡思乱想——是总有一天会有修女犯罪，而FBI会发现他们疏于采集修女的指纹。联邦调查局及其局长埃德加·胡佛在1930年代深受美国人敬仰，我想象着胡佛先生亲自来到奥马哈，来查验我这无价的收藏。我更幻想着，J·埃德加和我将迅速锁定并逮捕这名犯罪的修女。扬名全美的声誉似乎唾手可得。
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，我的幻想从未实现。但讽刺的是，多年后的事实却证明，我应该亲自给埃德加·胡佛录指纹——他因滥用职权而声名狼藉。1
另外，这段……咳咳……是这样的。
在《教父1》中，马龙白兰度所饰演的老教父在平安夜被刺杀时，二代教父——帕西诺所饰演的迈克尔正和未婚妻在压马路。凯问迈克尔：你希望我角色扮演一下修女吗？
而凯的扮演者——黛安·基顿，于上个月10月11日刚刚去世。
所以，巴菲特的这段——感恩节+修女——也是根植在美国文化中的“简单联想超级倾向”~U.ES
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.
嗯，这就是1930年代的奥马哈，那时雪橇、自行车、棒球手套和电动火车都是我和朋友们梦寐以求的宝贝。现在让我们看看那个年代其他几个孩子——他们就在附近长大，对我的人生产生了深远影响，而我却长期对此浑然不觉。
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.
让我先从查理·芒格说起，这位老伙计是我64年的挚友。上世纪30年代，查理就住在离我1958年购置并居住至今的房子仅一街之隔的地方。
Early on, I missed befriending Charlie by a whisker. Charlie, 6 2/3 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.
早年间，我与查理失之交臂。比我年长六岁八个月的查理，于1940年夏天在我祖父的杂货店打工，每天工作十小时仅得两美元报酬。（节俭的基因在巴菲特家族血脉中根深蒂固。）次年我也在这家店里做了类似工作，但直到1959年我才与查理相识——那时他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.
二战结束退役后，查理从哈佛法学院毕业，随后永久移居加州。然而查理始终将奥马哈的早年岁月视为人生的奠基时期。六十多年来，查理对我产生了深远影响，他既是无可替代的导师，也是庇护我的“兄长”。我们虽有分歧却从未争执，查理从不会埋怨地对我说“我早就告诉过你”。
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，我购置了人生中第一套也是唯一一套住宅。当然，它位于奥马哈，距离我成长的地方（广义而言）约两英里，与岳父母家相隔不到两个街区，距巴菲特杂货店约六个街区，而距离我工作了64年的办公楼仅需6-7分钟车程。2
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.
接下来让我们谈谈另一位奥马哈人——斯坦·利普西。斯坦于1968年将奥马哈太阳报（周刊）出售给伯克希尔，十年后应我的要求转战布法罗。当时由伯克希尔旗下公司持有的《布法罗晚报》，正与发行该市唯一周日版报纸的晨报（《信使快报》）展开生死搏斗。而我们正节节败退。
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.
斯坦最终打造了我们全新的周日版产品，此后数年间，这份曾持续亏损的报纸为我们3300万美元的投资带来了年均超过100%的税前收益。对于1980年代初期的伯克希尔公司来说，这笔资金至关重要。
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.
斯坦的成长地距离我家约五个街区。他的邻居之一是小沃尔特·斯科特。大家应该记得，正是沃尔特在1999年将中美能源公司引入伯克希尔。他也是伯克希尔备受尊敬的董事（直至2021年离世），同时还是我极为亲密的朋友。数十年来，沃尔特始终是内布拉斯加州的慈善领袖，奥马哈市乃至整个内布拉斯加州都留有他的印记。
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.
沃尔特就读于本森高中（Benson），我原本也计划去那里上学——但1942年，父亲在国会竞选中击败连任四届的现任议员，令所有人大吃一惊（，因此去了华盛顿上中学）。人生充满意外。
Wait, there’s more.
还不止这两位~
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).
初遇唐时，他年收入仅为12,000美元，却要与妻子米琪共同抚养5个孩子——这些孩子都注定要进入天主教学校（需缴纳学费）。
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.
我们两家人家很快成了彼此的好友。唐出生于爱荷华州西北部的农场，毕业于奥马哈市的克雷顿大学。早年他娶了奥马哈姑娘米琪为妻。加入可口可乐公司后，唐逐渐成为举世闻名的传奇人物。
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，唐担任可口可乐公司总裁期间，可口可乐公司推出了其注定失败的“新可乐”。唐发表了一篇著名的演讲——向公众致歉并重新推出“经典可乐”。这次转变源于唐要求将凡是收件人为“最高级别的白痴”（Supreme Idiot）的信件都直接送到他的办公桌。他的“撤回声明”演讲堪称经典，可在油管观看。他开心地认识到：可口可乐产品本质上由公众所有而非公司。此后销量随之大幅攀升。
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 网站上观看（查理罗斯对）唐的精彩访谈。（汤姆·墨菲和凯·格雷厄姆也有几段精彩片段。）和查理·芒格一样，唐始终保持着中西部男孩的特质——热情、友善，骨子里透着纯正的美国精神。
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，在印度出生长大的阿吉特·贾恩，以及即将就任伯克希尔CEO的加拿大籍高管格雷格·阿贝尔，都在20世纪末期于奥马哈生活了数年。事实上，上世纪90年代，格雷格就住在法纳姆街上，与我仅隔几个街区之遥，只是当时我们素未谋面。
Can it be that there is some magic ingredient in Omaha’s water?
难道是奥马哈的水里有什么神奇成分？
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 1/2 years, I returned to Omaha, never to wander again.
我十几岁时曾在华盛顿特区生活过几年（那时父亲在国会任职），1954年我来到曼哈顿，以为会在此获得一份终身职位。在那里，我受到了本·格雷厄姆和杰里·纽曼的悉心照顾，并结交了许多终生挚友。纽约拥有独特的优势——至今依然如此。但仅仅一年半之后的1956年，我便重返奥马哈，从此再未辗转他乡。
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.
再后来，我的三个孩子以及几个孙辈也都在奥马哈长大。我的孩子们始终就读公立学校，就读于同一所高中——我父亲（1921届）、 我的第一任妻子苏茜（1950届），以及查理、斯坦·利普西、（壮大内部拉斯加家具城的顶梁柱）艾文和罗恩·布鲁姆金，还有杰克·林格瓦尔特（1923届）——他创立了国民保险公司，并于1967年将其出售给伯克希尔，该公司由此成为我们庞大财产/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.
我们国家拥有众多卓越的企业、顶尖的学府和一流的医疗机构，每个领域都具备独特的优势与杰出的人才。但我深感幸运的是，有幸结识了许多终身挚友，遇见了我的两位妻子，在公立学校获得了优质的教育起点，年少时接触了众多有趣友善的奥马哈成年人，并在内布拉斯加国民警卫队中结交了形形色色的朋友。简而言之，内布拉斯加始终是我的家乡。
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.
回首往事，我深感伯克希尔和我之所以能取得今日成就，全赖扎根于奥马哈这片土地。若居于他处，恐难有此般发展。美国的心脏地带实属修身、齐家、建立事业的理想之地。依靠纯粹的运气，我在出生时就抽到了上上上上上上签。
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 there are limits.)
现在让我们谈谈我的长寿。我的基因并未带来太多优势——家族有史以来的最长寿纪录（诚然，追溯家族历史时数据难免模糊）原本是92岁，而我现已刷新这个记录。但幸运的是，我遇到了睿智友善、尽职尽责的奥马哈医生们，从哈利·霍茨开始，这份福运延续至今。至少有三次危急时刻，都是距离我家仅数英里的医生救了我一命。（不过我已不再要求护士留存指纹了。别人可以容忍95岁的高龄老头有些怪癖……但凡事总有底线。）
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.
长寿之人需要很多很多好运，每天都要避开香蕉皮、自然灾害、酒驾或分心驾驶的司机、雷击等等。
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.
但幸运女神善变——没有比这更贴切的用词了——而且极其不公。在许多情况下，我们的领导者和富人获得的幸运远超他们应得的份额——而这些幸运儿往往不愿承认这一点。富二代从出生时便得到了终身财务自由，而其他人降临人世时，却要面对地狱般的童年，或更糟的是要忍受生理或心理缺陷，被剥夺我所习以为常的一切。（如果我生于）在一些世界许多人口稠密地区，我可能过着悲惨生活，而我的姐妹们则会遭遇比我更糟的境遇。
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.
我生于1930年，健康、聪慧、白人、男性，且在美国。天啊！感谢幸运女神。我的姐妹们拥有与我相当的智慧和更出色的品格，却面临截然不同的命运。幸运女神在我大半生中不时眷顾，但幸运女神总有比照料九旬老人更要紧的事要做。幸运终究有限。
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.
与之相反，岁月之神却随着我的衰老愈发对我兴致盎然。他永远不会失败——在他记分卡上，所有人终将被标记为“胜者”。当平衡感、视力、听力与记忆力都持续走下坡路时，你就知道岁月之神已经悄然临近。
I was late in becoming old — its onset materially varies — but once it appears, it is not to be denied.
我步入老年较晚——其来临时间因人而异——但一旦降临，便无可否认。
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.
出乎意料的是，我整体感觉良好。尽管行动迟缓且阅读日渐吃力，我仍每周五天在办公室与优秀同仁共事。偶尔，我还会冒出些有用的灵感，我也会收到一些原本可能错失的宝贵收购要约。鉴于伯克希尔的规模及当前市场环境，机会虽少但不是没有。
My unexpected longevity, however, has unavoidable consequences of major importance to my family and the achievement of my charitable objectives.
然而，我意外的长寿对我的家庭以及对我实现慈善目标，带来了不可避免且至关重要的后果。
Let’s explore them.
让我们来谈论一下这些后果。
What Comes Next
接下来我要做的事
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，分别为72岁、70岁和67岁。若指望他们三人——如今在诸多方面都正值巅峰——能像我这般拥有延缓衰老的非凡运气，那将是错误的。为提高他们在其他受托人接替前处理完我基本全部遗产的可能性，我需要加快向他们三个基金会进行生前赠与的步伐。我的孩子们在经验与智慧方面正值巅峰，却尚未步入老年。但这段“蜜月期”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.
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.
如今三名子女皆具备成熟的智慧、充沛的精力和敏锐的直觉来管理巨额财富。他们更拥有我离世后仍会延续的优势——必要时可针对联邦税收政策及其他影响慈善事业的动态，采取前瞻性与反应性策略。他们或许需要适应剧变的世界——逝者掌权的先例并不光彩，我也从未萌生此念。
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.
所幸三名子女均继承了母亲的卓越基因。数十年间，我也逐渐成为他们思维与行为的更佳典范。但无论如何，我永远无法与他们的母亲比肩。
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.
为防范意外身故或失能风险，子女们另设三名备用受托人。这些候补人选不分先后，亦不与特定子女绑定。他们皆是卓越非凡之人，通晓世事之道，且（与基金会）不存在利益冲突。
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.
我向孩子们保证，他们既不必创造奇迹，也不必畏惧失败或失望。这些都是不可避免的，我也经历过自己的那份命运。他们只需在政府活动和/或私人慈善事业通常能达到的效果基础上稍作改进，同时认识到这些财富再分配方式同样存在缺陷。
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，我也曾构想过诸多宏大的慈善计划。尽管我很固执，但这些计划终究未能实现。在我的人生中，我目睹过政客们拙劣的财富转移、世袭制传承，当然还有那些无能或古怪的慈善家们。
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.
孩子们只要本分进行慈善工作，他们母亲和我定会感到欣慰。他们天性善良，且都经历了多年实践——从最初微不足道的金额起步，到如今管理每年超5亿美元的慈善资金。
All three like working long hours to help others, each in their own way.
他们三位都通过各自独特的方式、每天工作很长时间去帮助他人。
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.
我加速向子女基金会转移终身赠与的行为，绝不意味着我对伯克希尔前景的看法有所改变。当我最初认为格雷格·阿贝尔应成为伯克希尔下一任CEO时，我对他寄予厚望——而他不仅完全达到了我的预期，更在许多方面超越了我。他对我们众多业务和员工的理解远胜于我，且在许多CEO甚至不会考虑的事务上展现出超凡的学习能力。我想不到任何一位CEO，或者是管理顾问、学者还是政府官员，有能力取代格雷格来管理您与我的积蓄。
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.
举例而言，他对财产/意外险业务的增长潜力与风险的理解，远胜众多资深财产/意外险高管。我衷心希望他能在数十年中保持健康状态。只需一点好运，伯克希尔未来百年只需5-6位CEO。尤其应避开那些以65岁退休、炫富或是以建立自己王朝为目标的人选。
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.
一个残酷的现实是：偶尔会发生这样的情况——母公司或子公司的优秀忠诚CEO罹患痴呆症、阿尔茨海默病或其他长期消耗性疾病。
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.
查理和我曾多次遭遇此类困境却未能及时应对。这种失误可能酿成重大错误。董事会必须对CEO层面的风险保持警觉，CEO也需对子公司层面的风险保持警惕。这说来容易做起来难；我能列举出多家大型企业的历史案例。董事们保持警觉并勇于发声，是我唯一能给的建议。
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.
在我有生之年，改革者试图通过强制披露CEO薪酬与普通员工薪酬的对比数据来令CEO难堪。结果是，股东公示文件（proxy statement）迅速膨胀至百余页，而此前仅二十页左右。3
该规则施行后，部分上市公司的CEO薪酬比出现下降，如：开市客从262:1下降到192:1，亚马逊从43:1，下降到33:1。但不少投资者诟病，部分上市公司薪酬比的下降是由于：通过将员工绩效奖金和福利纳入计算，虚增了员工薪酬中位数。
而2025年以来，首当其冲的就是已经是世界首富的埃隆马斯克的万亿美元薪酬包。而就在特斯拉这份万亿美元薪酬包通过董事会的第二天，其竞争对手Rivian效仿类似的薪酬设计，也通过了一份46亿美元的CEO薪酬包，较原先的薪酬包翻倍有余。
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.
但这些善意举措适得其反。根据我多数观察——公司A的CEO会审视竞争对手公司B的情况，并巧妙向董事会暗示自己应获得更高薪酬。当然，他同时提高了董事们的薪酬，并谨慎挑选薪酬委员会成员。新规滋生了嫉妒，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?
这种不断攀比的趋势会形成自己的生命力。令那些超级富豪CEO们（毕竟他们也是凡人）最困扰的，往往是其他CEO正变得更加富有。嫉妒与贪婪总是如影随形。况且，有哪位顾问会建议大幅削减CEO薪酬或董事会报酬呢？
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经济前景略高于美国商界的平均水平，其中几项互不关联且规模可观的业务尤为亮眼。然而，在未来一二十年间，必将涌现众多表现优于伯克希尔的企业——我们的规模终将对我们造成负面影响。
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.
但在所有我了解的商业实体中，伯克希尔遭遇毁灭性灾难的概率最低。其管理层和董事会对股东权益的关注程度，也远超我熟知的绝大多数企业（而我见多识广）。最后，伯克希尔始终秉持：让企业本身成为美国资产的管理理念，杜绝任何可能使其沦为乞讨者的行为。随着时间推移，我们的管理者理应积累相当财富——他们肩负重要责任——但他们不追求建立王朝或炫耀财富。
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.
A Few Final Thoughts
最后的一些想法
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.
一个或许有些自我满足的见解是：我很高兴地说，我对人生后半程的感受比前半程更好。我的建议是：别为过去的错误苛责自己——至少从中汲取些教训，然后继续前行。进步永不嫌晚。找到值得效仿的“英雄”并学习他们。你可以先把汤姆·墨菲当做“英雄”开始；他是最优秀的。
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.
谨记阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔的故事——这位日后创立诺贝尔奖的传奇人物，据传，一份报纸错将他兄弟的死讯当成是诺贝尔本人。在诺贝尔读到自己讣文内容时惊骇万分，当即决心改变人生轨迹。
Don’t count on a newsroom mix-up: Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.
请不要指望报纸在你身上犯下类似错误：请先构思自己理想中的讣告内容，再用行动去配得上自己的讣文。
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.
伟大并非源于巨额财富、轰动的声名或政府权势。当你以千百种方式帮助他人时，就是在造福世界。善行无需金钱却价值连城。无论是否信奉宗教，“黄金法则”始终是最高的行为准则。4
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.
我写下这些，既因自己曾无数次鲁莽行事、屡屡犯错，也因有幸从几位挚友身上学到如何更好行事（尽管离完美仍远得很）。请谨记：清洁工与董事长同样是血肉之躯。
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.
愿所有读到这段文字的人感恩节快乐。是的，包括那些混蛋——改变永远不晚。请记得感谢美国为你创造了无限机遇。但它——不可避免地——在分配回报时既反复无常，又时而腐败。
Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.
请谨慎选择你的“英雄”（榜样），然后效仿他们。你永远无法做到完美，但总能做得更好。
Footnotes
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投脑煎蛋：嗯，录指纹这段也记录在《滚雪球》中；然后这位前FBI局长胡佛还和我们的另一个故事有关——凯瑟琳·格雷厄姆和尼克松的水门事件，在胡佛与尼克松的电话录音中，胡佛辱骂了凯瑟琳。 ↩
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孙运先：I bought my first and only home，home 这里的意思是长期居住和生活的地方，很多中文翻译成了买了唯一一套房子住宅，中文翻译特别容易产生误导巴菲特这辈子只买了一套房子，除了投资外，巴菲特和家人度假或者偶尔居住，曾经购买过加州的海边豪宅。 ↩
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投脑煎蛋：2008年金融危机之后，改革者强制性要求上市公司公示CEO与普通员工的薪酬对比数据：CEO工资为普通员工的X倍。2017年开始正式施行，被称为Pay Ratio Rule。 ↩