引言：巴菲特致股东的信大都是家常话，就像给妈妈，给姐妹解释有哪些投资，以及投资的思考、逻辑。讲的内容不限于投资，就像和家人聊天，闪烁着智慧与幽默。
人生中有些重要的事，比如：做什么不做什么，和什么样的人在一起；巴老的话不时触动内心......
本文分6部分，读完大概需要5分钟。
1、投资
2、收购
3、都在做自己喜欢的事
4、造就的优势
5、长期结果
6、给年轻人的建议
投资
001 On March 11th, it will be 77 years since I first invested in an American business. The year was 1942, I was 11, and I went all in, investing $114.75 I had begun accumulating at age six. What I bought was three shares of Cities Service preferred stock. I had become a capitalist, and it felt good. （2018）
到3月11日，将是我第一次投资美国公司的第77年。1942年，我11岁时，把我从6岁开始攒的114.75美元全投了进去，我买了城市服务公司的3股优先股，成为资本家的感觉很爽。
（注：巴菲特从小喜欢数字，投资的爱好大概是从中衍生而来。这只股票巴菲特是以38.25美元的价格买了3股，40美元/股卖出，赚了5美元，不久股价涨到了202美元/股，少赚了400多美元，这件事给巴菲特留下深刻印象）
002 Before my Berkshire years, I managed money for many individuals through a series of partnerships, the first three of those formed in 1956. As time passed, the use of multiple entities became unwieldy and, in 1962, we amalgamated 12 partnerships into a single unit, Buffett Partnership Ltd. (“BPL”). （2020）
在伯克希尔之前，我通过多个合伙公司为许多个人管理资金，前三个合伙公司成立于1956年。时光流逝，使用多个合伙企业变得笨拙低效，1962年，我们将12个合伙企业合并成一个：巴菲特合伙有限公司(BPL)。
003 By that year, virtually all of my own money, and that of my wife as well, had become invested alongside the funds of my many limited partners. I received no salary or fees. Instead, as the general partner, I was compensated by my limited partners only after they secured returns above an annual threshold of 6%. If returns failed to meet that level, the shortfall was to be carried forward against my share of future profits. (Fortunately, that never happened: Partnership returns always exceeded the 6% “bogey.”) （2020）
到那一年（1962），几乎我自己和我妻子所有的钱，都和我的许多有限合伙人的资金一起投资了。我不拿工资也不收管理费。而是作为普通合伙人，只有在我的有限合伙人年回报率超过6%的门槛后，我才获得报酬。如果回报达不到这个水平，差额将从我未来的收益中扣除。(幸运的是，这种情况从未发生过:合伙企业的回报率总是超过6%“预定标准”。)
（注：像巴菲特这样做的资金管理者，罕见。现在的BRK，对投资者而言更像是请巴菲特管钱投资，一分钱费用都没有）
004 As the years went by, a large part of the resources of my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws became invested in the partnership. （2020）
时光荏苒，我的父母、兄弟姐妹、姑姑、叔叔、堂兄弟和姻亲都在BPL中投入了很大一笔钱。
005 Neither of us had any institutional investors, and very few of our partners were financially sophisticated. The people who joined our ventures simply trusted us to treat their money as we treated our own. These individuals – either intuitively or by relying on the advice of friends – correctly concluded that Charlie and I had an extreme aversion to permanent loss of capital and that we would not have accepted their money unless we expected to do reasonably well with it. （2020）
我们都没有任何机构投资者，我们的投资者中也很少有人精通金融。他们信任我们，会像对待自己的钱一样对待他们的钱。这些人或者直接，或者靠朋友推荐，相信查理和我不会冒永久亏损的风险，知道我们有能力理性投资，否则我们不会接受他们的钱。
（注：早期的巴菲特合伙公司，和大多数人创业一样，合伙人/投资者来自3F：Family——家人，Friend——朋友，Fool——傻傻的相信你的人）
收购
006 Of all our activities at Berkshire, the most exhilarating for Charlie and me is the acquisition of a business with excellent economic characteristics and a management that we like, trust and admire. Such acquisitions are not easy to make but we look for them constantly. （1992）
在伯克希尔的经营中，最让查理和我兴奋的是收购这样的公司：商业模式好，管理层是我们喜欢、信任和钦佩的。这样的收购并不容易，但我们在持续寻找。
（注：1969年解散BPL后，巴菲特的投资集中在伯克希尔哈萨维公司，即BRK，这家公司在巴菲特收购时，是一家纺织公司，收购后逐渐成为一家投资控股公司，先后收购投资了GEICO保险公司，NFM家具公司等几十家不同行业的公司）
007 Charlie and I try to behave with our managers just as we attempt to behave with Berkshire's shareholders, treating both groups as we would wish to be treated if our positions were reversed. Though "working" means nothing to me financially, I love doing it at Berkshire for some simple reasons: It gives me a sense of achievement, a freedom to act as I see fit and an opportunity to interact daily with people I like and trust. Why should our managers - accomplished artists at what they do -- see things differently? （1999）
查理和我怎样和伯克希尔的股东相处，我们以同样的方式和我们所收购公司的管理层相处。对待这两个群体，我们能够换位思考。尽管“工作”在经济上对我来说毫无意义，但我喜欢在伯克希尔工作，原因很简单：有成就感，可以自由的做我自己，每天与我喜欢和信任的人打交道。我们所收购公司的管理者，他们在各自领域颇有建树，相信和我感同身受。
008 After the purchase, our role is simply to create an environment in which these CEOs – and their eventual successors, who typically are like-minded – can maximize both their managerial effectiveness and the pleasure they derive from their jobs.（2015）
收购完成后，我们的作用只是创造一个环境，让这些首席执行官，以及他们志同道合的继任者，能够既干得好，又干得开心。
都在做自己喜欢的事
009 We like todo business with someone who loves his company. (2000)
我们喜欢与热爱自己公司的人打交道（收购/投资他们公司，成为合伙人）。
010 Berkshire's collection of managers is unusual in several important ways. As one example, a very high percentage of these men and women are independently wealthy, having made fortunes in the businesses that they run. They work neither because they need the money nor because they are contractually obligated to -- we have no contracts at Berkshire. Rather, they work long and hard because they love their businesses. （1999）
伯克希尔的经理人群体与众不同。比如，不论男女，他/她们大都已经在经营自己的企业中实现了财富自由。他们工作既不是因为他们需要钱，也不是因为他们有合同义务，伯克希尔和他们没有合同约束。实际上，他们长期努力工作是因为他们热爱他们的事业。
011 Mrs. B, Chairman of the Board, is now 91, and recently was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, “I come home to eat and sleep, and that’s about it. I can’t wait until it gets daylight so I can get back to the business”. Mrs. B is at the store seven days a week, from opening to close, and probably makes more decisions in a day than most CEOs do in a year (better ones, too).（1984）
董事长B夫人现在已经91岁了，当地报纸最近报道，她说：“我回家只是吃饭睡觉，然后盼着天亮，我就可以回来继续工作。” B夫人一周七天都在店里，从开门到打烊，她一天做出的决定可能比大多数首席执行官一年做的还要多，也更好。
（注：B夫人1915年22岁时作为一名俄罗斯移民来到西雅图，不会读也不会说英语。几年后，她在奥马哈定居，到1937年44岁时，她攒了500美元，开了一家家具店，即NFM。1983年90岁时以6000万美元整体估值卖给了巴菲特80%股份，然后一直工作到103岁才退休。）
012 Fechheimer is exactly the sort of business we like to buy. Its economic record is superb; its managers are talented, high-grade, and love what they do; and the Heldman family wanted to continue its financial interest in partnership with us. Therefore, we quickly purchased about 84% of the stock for a price that was based upon a $55 million valuation for the entire business. （1986）
Fechheimer正是我们想要收购的那种企业，业绩靓丽；管理层有才华素质高，热爱他们从事的工作；赫尔德曼家族想与我们合伙，持续经营和收益。因此，我们很快就以5500万美元的整体估值购买了大约84%的股份。
013 The circumstances of this acquisition were similar to those prevailing in our purchase of Nebraska Furniture Mart: most of the shares were held by people who wished to employ funds elsewhere; family members who enjoyed running their business wanted to continue both as owners and managers; several generations of the family were active in the business, providing management for as far as the eye can see; and the managing family wanted a purchaser who would not re-sell, regardless of price, and who would let the business be run in the future as it had been in the past. Both Fechheimer and NFM were right for us, and we were right for them. （1986）
这次收购与我们收购内布拉斯加州家具市场时的情况相似：大部分股份由新进投资者持有；喜欢经营企业的家族成员仍然是所有者和管理者这两种角色；家族几代人都是行家里手，永续经营这家公司。管理者家族希望买家无论任何价格都不要转售，而且他会让企业在未来像过去一样运营。Fechheimer和NFM都适合我们，我们也适合他们。
014 GEICO is managed by Tony Nicely, who joined the company at 18. Now 66, Tony still tap-dances to the office every day, just as I do at 79. We both feel lucky to work at a business we love.（2009）
Tony Nicely管理GEICO，他从18岁就加入公司了，现在66岁的托尼仍然每天跳着踢踏舞去上班，就像我现在79岁所做的一样。能从事自己热爱的工作，我们都感到幸运。
015 We possess a cadre of truly skilled managers who have an unusual commitment to their own operations and to Berkshire. Many of our CEOs are independently wealthy and work only because they love what they do. They are volunteers, not mercenaries. Because no one can offer them a job they would enjoy more, they can’t be lured away. （2010）
我们拥有一批真才实干的管理人员，他们对自己的业务和伯克希尔都有非同寻常的投入。我们的许多首席执行官都已财富自由，他们工作只是因为热爱自己所做的事情。他们是志愿者，不是雇佣兵。因为没人能提供一份他们更喜欢的工作，所以他们不会被挖走。
016 At Berkshire, managers can focus on running their businesses: They are not subjected to meetings at headquarters nor financing worries nor Wall Street harassment. They simply get a letter from me every two years and call me when they wish. And their wishes do differ: There are managers to whom I have not talked in the last year, while there is one with whom I talk almost daily. （2010）
在伯克希尔，经理们可以专注于经营他们的生意：他们不用参加总部的会议，不用担心融资问题，也不用受到华尔街的骚扰。他们只是每两年收到我的一封信，想什么时候打电话给我就什么时候打。他们确实不太一样：有些经理一年也不给我打一个电话，而有人几乎每天都和我聊聊。
017 Our trust is in people rather than process. A “hire well, manage little” code suits both them and me. （2010）
我们信任的是人，而不是流程。我和他们都相信：“雇得好，管得少”。
018 Some of our key managers are independently wealthy (we hope they all become so), but that poses no threat to their continued interest: they work because they love what they do and relish the thrill of outstanding performance. They unfailingly think like owners (the highest compliment we can pay a manager) and find all aspects of their business absorbing. （1986）
我们的经理们有一部分已经财富自由（我们希望他们都能如此），但这并没有打消他们对工作的持续兴趣：他们工作是因为他们在做自己喜欢的事，对出色的业绩引以为傲。他们始终像所有者一样思考(这是我们对经理的最高褒奖)，并觉得他们的生意引人入胜。
019 In our efforts, we will be aided enormously by the managers who have joined Berkshire. This is an unusual group in several ways. First, most of them have no financial need to work. Many sold us their businesses for large sums and run them because they love doing so, not because they need the money. Naturally they wish to be paid fairly, but money alone is not the reason they work hard and productively.（2007）
在我们的努力与成就中，加入伯克希尔的经理们将给予我们莫大的帮助。从几个方面来看，他们与众不同。首先，他们中的大多数人都不需要为了钱而工作。许多人把他们的生意卖给我们就获得了大量财富，而继续经营，是因为这是他们喜欢做的事，而不是因为他们需要钱。自然，他们希望得到公平的报酬，但金钱本身并不是他们努力并富有成效工作的原因。
020 Much of myenthusiasm for this purchase came from Frank's willingness to continue as CEO.Like most of our managers, he has no financial need to work but does so becausehe loves the game and likes to excel. Managers of this stripe cannot be"hired" in the normal sense of the word. What we must do is provide aconcert hall in which business artists of this class will wish to perform.(1991)
我乐意收购很大程度上是因为Frank愿意继续担任CEO。像我们的大多数经理一样，他工作不是为了钱，而是因为他喜欢这个工作，就像游戏，享受出色表现。这类经理不可能被通常意义上“雇佣”。我们必须要做的是，给英雄提供用武之地。
021 Many of our managers don't have to work for a living, but simply go out and perform every day for the same reason that wealthy golfers stay on the tour: They love both doing what they do and doing it well. To describe them as working may be a misnomer - they simply prefer spending much of their time on a productive activity at which they excel to spending it on leisure activities. Our job is to provide an environment that will keep them feeling this way, and so far we seem to have succeeded: Thinking back over the 1965-95 period, I can't recall that a single key manager has left Berkshire to join another employer. （1995）
我们的许多经理不必为了生计而工作，他们和富有的高尔夫球手参加巡回赛的原因一样，他们热爱做他们所做的事情，并且喜欢做好。把他们说成是在工作可能用词不当——他们只是喜欢把大部分时间花在他们擅长的生产性活动上，而不是花在休闲活动上。我们的工作是提供一个让他们保持这种感觉的环境，到目前为止，我们似乎成功了：回想1965年至1995年期间，我不记得有哪个子公司经理离开伯克希尔另谋高就。
022 Most of these managers have no need to work for a living; they show up at the ballpark because they like to hit home runs. And that's exactly what they do. （1989）
这些管理者大多没有必要为了生计而工作：如果他们出现在台球桌，是因为他们喜欢一杆全收。而这正是他们平时所做的。
023 Most of our managers have no financial need to work. The joy of hitting business “home runs” means as much to them as their paycheck. （2011-2017）
我们的大多数经理没有工作的经济需求。对他们来说，打出生意“全垒打”的快乐和薪水一样重要。
024 Equally important, our return was not earned from industries, such as cigarettes or network television stations, possessing spectacular economics for all participating in them. Instead it came from a group of businesses operating in such prosaic fields as furniture retailing, candy, vacuum cleaners, and even steel warehousing. The explanation is clear: Our extraordinary returns flow from outstanding operating managers, not fortuitous industry economics. （1990）
同样重要的是，我们的回报并不是从诸如香烟或网络电视台等行业中获得的，这些行业对所有参与者都具有惊人的经济效益。我们的回报来自诸如家具零售、糖果、吸尘器、甚至钢结构房屋等，这些平淡无奇的领域。显而易见：我们非凡的回报来自杰出的运营经理，而不是幸运的行业。
（注：把喜欢的事情做对，平凡领域或许也可以做出不平凡的事业）
025 Having managers who love their businesses is no small advantage. （2010）
拥有热爱自己事业的经理是一个不小的优势。
造就的优势
026 We have several things going for us: (1) we don’t have to worry about quarterly or annual figures but, instead, can focus on whatever actions will maximize long-term value; (2) we can expand the business into any areas that make sense - our scope is not circumscribed by history, structure, or concept; and (3) we love our work. All of these help. （1985）
我们有几个优势：(1)我们不必担心季度或年度数字，相反，我们可以专注于将长期价值最大化；(2)我们可以将业务扩展到任何有意义的领域——我们的范畴不受历史、体系或观念的限制；(3)我们热爱我们的工作。所有这些都有帮助。
027 Berkshire's ownership may make even the best of managers more effective. （1998）
伯克希尔的控股持有，可能会让最优秀的经理人变得更有效率。
028 At Berkshire, we do not tell .400 hitters how to swing. （1994）
在伯克希尔，我们不会瞎指挥顶级击球手如何挥棒。
029 The extraordinary delegation of authority now existing at Berkshire is the ideal antidote to bureaucracy. In an operating sense, Berkshire is not a giant company but rather a collection of large companies. At headquarters, we have never had a committee nor have we ever required our subsidiaries to submit budgets (though many use them as an important internal tool). We don’t have a legal office nor departments that other companies take forgranted: human relations, public relations, investor relations, strategy,acquisitions, you name it. (2014)
伯克希尔现有的非凡授权是消除官僚主义的理想方法。从运营的角度看，伯克希尔不是一家巨型公司，而是一些大公司的集合。在总部，我们从来没有委员会，也从来没有要求我们的子公司提交预算(尽管许多公司把它们作为一个重要的内部工具)。我们没有法律办公室，也没有其他公司认为理所当然的部门：HR、公共关系、投资者关系、战略、并购，但凡你想到的。
030 We will continue to operate with extreme – indeed, almost unheard of – decentralization at Berkshire. （2015）
我们将继续在伯克希尔以极致的分权方式运营，事实上这种做法几乎闻所未闻。
031 Our job is merely to identify talented managers and provide an environment in which they can do their stuff. Having done it, they send their cash to headquarters and we face our only other task: the intelligent deployment of these funds. （1990）
我们的工作仅仅是发现有才华的管理者，并提供一个让他们能够发挥自己才能的环境。之后，他们将现金汇往总部，我们面临唯一的另一项任务：聪明合理地配置这些资金。
032 Charlie and I will limit ourselves to allocating capital, controlling enterprise risk, choosing managers and setting their compensation. （2009）
查理和我将把自己限制在分配资本、控制企业风险、选择经理人和设定他们的薪酬上。
033 We tend to let our many subsidiaries operate on their own, without our supervising and monitoring them to any degree. （2009）
我们倾向于让我们的许多子公司自行运作，而没有我们任何程度的指导和监控。
034 We would rather suffer the visible costs of a few bad decisions than incur the many invisible costs that come from decisions made too slowly – or not at all – because of a stifling bureaucracy. （2009）
我们宁愿承受几个糟糕决策的有形成本，也不愿承担因令人窒息的官僚主义导致决策过慢——或根本不决策——而产生的许多无形成本。
035 Fechheimer made a fairly good-sized acquisition in 1988. Charlie and I have such confidence in the business savvy of the Heldman family that we okayed the deal without even looking at it. （1988）
Fechheimer在1988年进行了一次相当大规模的收购。查理和我对赫尔德曼一家的商业头脑如此有信心，以至于我们看都没看就同意了这笔交易。
036 We have placed much trust in them - and their achievements have far exceeded that trust. （1979）
我们非常信任他们——他们的成就远远超过了这种信任。
037 Berkshire’s job is simply not to meddle with the company’s success. （2020）
伯克希尔的工作就是不干涉公司的成功。
长期结果
038 There is no job in the world that is more fun than running Berkshire and I count myself lucky to be where I am. （1992）
世界上没有比经营伯克希尔更有趣的工作了，我觉得自己能在这里很幸运。
039 We have long had jobs that we love, in which we are helped every day in countless ways by talented and cheerful associates. （2005，2006，2009）
我们长期以来都有自己热爱的工作，在这些工作中，我们每天都得到才华横溢、心情愉快的同事的无数帮助。
040 Indeed, over the years, our work has become ever more fascinating; no wonder we tap-dance to work. If pushed, we would gladly pay substantial sums to have our jobs (but don’t tell the Comp Committee). （2009）
事实上，这些年来，我们的工作变得更加引入入胜；难怪我们跳着踢踏舞去上班。如果被逼无奈，我们会很乐意花大价钱来保住我们的工作（别告诉薪酬委员会哈）。
041 For 54 years, Charlie and I have loved our jobs. Daily, we do what we find interesting, working with people we like and trust. （2018）
54年来，查理和我热爱我们的工作。每天，我们做我们觉得有趣的事情，与我们喜欢和信任的人一起工作。
042 We prefer direct manager-to-owner communication and believe that the Annual Meeting is the ideal place for this interchange of ideas. Talking to you there is efficient for us and also democratic in that all present simultaneously hear what we have to say. （1995）
我们更喜欢管理者与股东之间的直接沟通，并相信年会是这种思想交流的理想场所。在那里与你们交谈对我们来说是有效的，也是民主的，因为所有在场的人同时听到我们要说的话。
043 Nothing, however, is more fun for us than getting together with our shareholder-partners at Berkshire’s annual meeting. （2009）
对我们来说，没有什么比在伯克希尔的年会上与我们的股东合伙人聚在一起更有趣的了。
（注：BRK的股东年会，1981年22人参会，近年每年4-5万人参加， 而BRK总部所在地奥马哈常住人口只有不到40万人。）
044 Finally, at Berkshire, we found what we love to do. With very few exceptions, we have now “worked” for many
decades with people whom we like and trust.（2021）
最后，在伯克希尔，我们找到了自己喜欢做的事情。除了极少数例外，我们已经和我们喜欢和信任的人一起“工作”了几十年。
给年轻人的建议
045 Talking to university students is far superior. I have urged that they seek employment in (1) the field and (2) with the kind of people they would select, if they had no need for money. Economic realities, I acknowledge, may interfere with that kind of search. Even so, I urge the students never to give up the quest, for when they find that sort of job, they will no longer be “working.” （2021）
我强烈建议大学生们，在这样的地方找工作：
（1）如果他们不需要钱的话，仍然喜欢的领域；
（2）如果他们不需要钱的话，仍然愿意和这里的人们交往；
说实话，经济现实可能会影响这种择业。即便如此，我还是千叮咛万嘱咐年轻人永远不要放弃追求，因为当他们找到那种工作时，他们就不再是在“干活”了。
046 Charlie and I, ourselves, followed that liberating course after a few early stumbles. （2021）
其实查理和我，也是在经历了一些早期挫折后，才走上了这条解放之路。
后记：巴菲特和他的搭档芒格，后来的合作伙伴，有共同特点：都在做自己喜欢的事。从时间顺序来看，做自己喜欢的事情在先，富有在后。或许做自己喜欢的事不是结果，而是原因之一。
