传奇投资者、伯克希尔-哈撒韦公司CEO沃伦·巴菲特在领导公司60年后，将于年底退休。他在周一发布的信函中表示将“隐退”，不再撰写伯克希尔的年度报告，也不会在年度股东大会上“长篇大论”。
但在离任前，他回顾了自己的人生与成功，同时表达了对公司及慈善捐赠的期许。巴菲特将重任托付给继任者格雷格·阿贝尔，这位新掌舵人将领导这个1.2万亿美元的商业帝国。
致股东信全文：
今日，沃伦·E·巴菲特将1800股A类股转换为270万股B类股，并捐赠给四家家族基金会：其中150万股捐赠给苏珊·汤普森·巴菲特基金会，其余三家基金会——舍伍德基金会、霍华德·G·巴菲特基金会和NoVo基金会——各获赠40万股。上述捐赠已于今日完成。
巴菲特先生致全体股东的评论如下：
致各位股东：
我将不再撰写伯克希尔的年度报告，也不会在年度股东大会上长篇大论。用英国人的话说，我要“隐退”了。
算是吧。
格雷格·阿贝尔（Greg Abel）将于年底接任掌门人。他是一位出色的管理者，工作孜孜不倦，沟通坦诚直率。愿他任期长久。
我会继续通过每年的感恩节寄语，与各位股东及我的子女聊聊伯克希尔的近况。伯克希尔的个人股东是一个非常特殊的群体，他们总是格外慷慨地与境遇不佳的人分享收益。我很珍惜与大家保持联系的机会。今年请容我先稍作回忆，随后谈谈我的伯克希尔股份分配计划，最后分享一些商业与个人见解。
感恩节将至，如今95岁高龄的我，既心怀感恩，也对自己依然健在感到意外。年轻时，我从未料到能活这么久。早年间，我曾险些丧命。那是1938年，当时奥马哈市民将当地医院分为天主教医院和新教医院，这种分类在当时似乎理所当然。
我们的家庭医生哈利·霍茨（Harley Hotz）是位友善的天主教徒，出诊时总提着一个黑色医药包。他叫我“小船长”，诊疗收费也不高。1938年，我突发剧烈腹痛，霍茨医生上门检查后，告诉我次日早上就会好转，随后便回家吃饭、打桥牌去了。然而，我那有些异常的症状让他始终放心不下，当晚深夜，他便安排我前往圣凯瑟琳医院（St. Catherine's Hospital）接受紧急阑尾切除手术。接下来的三周，我仿佛置身修道院，并开始喜欢上这个新“讲台”。我向来爱说话——没错，那时也不例外——修女们对我很是包容。更棒的是，我三年级的老师麦德森（Madsen）小姐让全班30位同学每人给我写一封信。男生们的信我大概都扔了，但女生们的信却读了一遍又一遍——住院也有意外收获。
我康复期间最难忘的时刻——实际上术后第一周大部分时间情况都不太稳定——是我亲爱的伊迪（Edie）姨妈送我的一份礼物：一套看起来非常专业的指纹采集工具，我当即给所有照料我的修女都采集了指纹。（我可能是圣凯瑟琳医院接收的第一个新教孩子，她们也不知该如何应对。）
我的想法——当然完全是异想天开——是万一哪天某个修女走上歧途，联邦调查局（FBI）会发现他们忽略了采集修女的指纹。20世纪30年代，FBI及其局长J·埃德加·胡佛（J. Edgar Hoover）在美国备受尊崇，我幻想着胡佛先生会亲自来奥马哈查看我这份珍贵的收藏。我还进一步幻想，我和胡佛能迅速识别并逮捕那个误入歧途的修女。届时我必定会全国闻名。
显然，我的幻想从未实现。但讽刺的是，几年后事情变得很清楚，我本该给J·埃德加本人采集指纹——他后来因滥用职权而身败名裂。嗯，这就是20世纪30年代的奥马哈——那时我和朋友们梦寐以求的不过是一副雪橇、一辆自行车、一只棒球手套和一套电动火车。接下来，我想说说那个年代和我住得很近、对我人生影响深远，但过了很久我才认识的几个人。
首先要说的是查理·芒格（Charlie Munger），我长达64年的挚友。20世纪30年代，查理住的地方离我1958年购置并居住至今的房子仅隔一个街区。
早年，我与查理擦肩而过，未能成为朋友。查理比我大6岁零8个月，1940年夏天在我祖父的杂货店打工，每天工作10小时，挣2美元。（节俭深植于巴菲特家族的血液中。）次年我在同一家店做类似工作，但直到1959年——他35岁、我28岁时——我们才初次相遇。
二战服役结束后，查理从哈佛法学院毕业，随后永久移居加利福尼亚。但查理始终认为在奥马哈的早年岁月塑造了他的人生。60多年来，查理对我影响巨大，他是我最好的导师和保护我的“兄长”。我们虽有分歧，但从未争吵过。他的字典里没有“我早告诉过你”这句话。
1958年，我购置了人生中第一套也是唯一一套房产。当然，它位于奥马哈，离我长大的地方（宽泛定义）约两英里，距我岳父母家不到两个街区，离巴菲特杂货店约六个街区，开车到我工作了64年的办公楼只需6到7分钟。
再说说另一位奥马哈人——斯坦·利普西（Stan Lipsey）。斯坦于1968年将《奥马哈太阳报》（周报）出售给伯克希尔，十年后应我之邀迁居布法罗。当时，伯克希尔旗下子公司拥有的《布法罗晚报》正与当地一家晨报展开生死较量，对方出版布法罗唯一的周日版报纸，而我们正处于下风。最终，斯坦打造了我们的新版周日刊。此后数年，这份曾严重亏损的报纸，为我们3300万美元的投资带来了年均超过100%的税前回报。在20世纪80年代初，这笔收入对伯克希尔至关重要。
斯坦在离我家约五个街区的地方长大。他的邻居之一是小沃尔特·斯科特（Walter Scott, Jr.）。诸位想必记得，正是沃尔特在1999年将中美能源公司（MidAmerican Energy）引入伯克希尔。直到2021年去世前，他一直是伯克希尔宝贵的董事，也是我的挚友。数十年来，沃尔特一直是内布拉斯加州的慈善领袖，奥马哈市乃至整个州都留下了他的印记。沃尔特就读于本森高中（Benson High School），我原本也计划就读这所学校——直到1942年，我父亲在国会竞选中击败一位连任四届的现任议员，令所有人惊讶。人生充满意外。
等等，还有。
1959年，唐·基奥（Don Keough）和他年幼的家人们住在我家正对面，距离芒格一家曾居住的地方约100码。当时唐还是个咖啡推销员，但后来注定成为可口可乐公司的总裁，同时也是伯克希尔尽职尽责的董事。
我认识唐时，他年薪1.2万美元，却要和妻子米琪（Mickie）抚养五个孩子，这些孩子都要上天主教学校（需要学费）。我们两家很快成了挚友。唐来自艾奥瓦州西北部的一个农场，毕业于奥马哈的克瑞顿大学（Creighton University）。早年他娶了奥马哈姑娘米琪。加入可口可乐公司后，唐逐渐成为全球传奇人物。
1985年，唐担任可口可乐总裁期间，公司推出了命运多舛的“新可乐”。唐发表了一场著名的演讲，向公众道歉并恢复了“经典可乐”的销售。他解释称，当时寄给“头号白痴”的邮件都会直接送到他的办公桌上，这促使他改变了主意。他那次“撤回”演讲堪称经典，可以在YouTube上观看。他欣然承认，事实上，可口可乐产品属于公众而非公司。随后销量大幅飙升。
你可以在CharlieRose.com上观看唐的精彩访谈。（汤姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）和凯·格雷厄姆（Kay Graham）的采访也同样精彩。）和查理·芒格一样，唐永远保持着中西部人的本色——热情、友善，骨子里透着美国人的特质。
最后要提的是阿吉特·贾恩（Ajit Jain）和格雷格·阿贝尔。阿吉特在印度出生长大；而格雷格是我们即将上任的加拿大籍CEO，二人都在20世纪末于奥马哈生活过几年。事实上，在20世纪90年代，格雷格住在法纳姆街（Farnam Street），离我家只有几个街区，但当时我们从未谋面。
难道奥马哈的水里真有什么神奇成分？
我在华盛顿特区度过了一些青少年时光（当时我父亲在国会任职），1954年，我在曼哈顿找到了一份自以为会做一辈子的工作。在那里，本·格雷厄姆（Ben Graham）和杰瑞·纽曼（Jerry Newman）待我极好，我也结交了许多终身挚友。纽约有独特的优势——至今依然如此。然而，1956年，仅仅工作了一年半后，我便回到了奥马哈，此后再未离开。后来，我的三个孩子以及几个孙辈都在奥马哈长大。我的孩子们一直就读公立学校（毕业于同一所高中，我父亲是1921届，我的第一任妻子苏西（Susie）是1950届，还有查理、斯坦·利普西、欧文（Irv）和罗恩·布鲁姆金（Ron Blumkin）——他们是内布拉斯加家具商场（Nebraska Furniture Mart）发展的关键人物——以及杰克·林沃特（Jack Ringwalt，1923届），他创立了国民赔偿保险公司（National Indemnity）并于1967年将其出售给伯克希尔，这成为我们庞大财产险/意外险业务的基础。
我们国家拥有许多伟大的公司、学校和医疗设施，每个都肯定有其独特的优势和人才。但我感到非常幸运的是：在奥马哈，我得以结识众多终身挚友，遇见我的两任妻子，在公立学校接受了良好的启蒙教育，年少时结识了许多有趣且友善的奥马哈成年人，并在内布拉斯加国民警卫队（Nebraska National Guard）结交了形形色色的朋友。简而言之，内布拉斯加就是我的家。
回首往昔，我认为，无论是伯克希尔还是我本人，能取得今天的成就，很大程度上得益于我们扎根于奥马哈，而非其他地方。美国中部是一个出生、养家、创业的绝佳之地。纯粹是靠运气——我出生时就抽中了一根长得离谱的好签。
现在说说我的高龄。我的基因并不特别有利——家族有史以来的长寿记录（诚然，追溯久远的家族记录会变得模糊）在我之前是92岁。但我在奥马哈遇到了睿智、友善且尽职尽责的医生，从哈利·霍茨开始，直到今天。至少有三次，我的生命得以挽救，每次都是由离我家几英里范围内的医生救治的。（不过，我已经放弃给护士采集指纹了……95岁的人可以做很多古怪的事……但总得有个限度。）
能活到老年需要极大的好运，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，不一而足。
但幸运女神变幻莫测，而且——没有别的词更贴切——极不公平。在许多情况下，我们的领导人和富人获得的好运远超其应得份额——而这些受益者往往不愿承认。王朝继承者一出生就获得了终身的财务独立，而另一些人来到世间，却要面对地狱般的早年生活，或者更糟的是，身体或精神的残疾剥夺了我认为理所当然的一切。在世界许多人口稠密的地区，我很可能过着悲惨的生活，而我的姐妹们处境会更糟。
我于1930年出生，身体健康，智力尚可，是白人男性，并且生在美国。哇！谢谢你，幸运女神。我的姐妹们和我智商相当，性格甚至更好，却面临着截然不同的人生前景。在我人生的大部分时间里，幸运女神持续眷顾，但她有比关照90多岁老人更重要的事情要做。幸运终有尽头。
相反，时间之父（Father Time）随着我年岁增长，对我愈发“关注”。他从未被击败；在他看来，每个人最终都会记在他的记分牌上，算作“胜出”。当平衡感、视力、听力和记忆力都持续走下坡路时，你就知道时间之父已经临近。我衰老得比较晚——衰老的开始时间因人而异——但一旦出现，就无法否认。
令我惊讶的是，我总体感觉良好。尽管行动缓慢，阅读越来越困难，我仍每周五天在办公室与优秀的同仁共事。偶尔，我还能想出一些有用的点子，或者有人主动提出我们原本可能错过的合作邀约。鉴于伯克希尔的规模和当前市场水平，好点子虽少——但并非没有。
然而，我意料之外的长寿，对我的家庭和慈善目标的实现产生了不可避免的重大影响。
下面我们来探讨这些影响。
未来规划
我的子女均已超过正常退休年龄，分别为72岁、70岁和67岁。若打赌他们三人——如今在诸多方面都处于巅峰状态——都能像我一样幸运地延缓衰老，那将是个错误。为了提高他们在候补受托人接替之前处置我几乎全部遗产的可能性，我需要加快向他们管理的三家基金会进行生前赠与的步伐。我的孩子们现在在经验和智慧方面正值黄金时期，但尚未步入老年。这段“黄金”时期不会永远持续。
幸运的是，调整计划很容易执行。然而，还有一个额外因素需要考虑：我希望保留相当数量的A类股，直到伯克希尔股东对格雷格建立起我和查理长期享有的那种信任。达到这种信任水平应该不需要太久。我的子女和伯克希尔的董事们已经百分百支持格雷格。如今三名子女都已足够成熟、聪慧、精力充沛且判断力敏锐，能够妥善管理巨额财富。等我离世后，他们依然在世，这也是一大优势；必要时，他们可以根据联邦税收政策或其他影响慈善事业的动态，采取前瞻性或应对性策略。他们很可能需要适应周围发生巨变的世界。“在坟墓里发号施令”历来效果不佳，我也从未有过这种冲动。
所幸三名子女均从他们母亲那里继承了主导性的优秀基因。几十年来，我也努力成为他们思想和行为更好的榜样——但我永远无法与他们的母亲相提并论。
我已为子女指定了三位候补受托人，以防他们过早离世或丧失行为能力。这些候补受托人不分先后顺序，也未与特定子女绑定。他们皆为人出众，处世睿智，彼此间没有利益冲突。
我向孩子们保证：他们无需创造奇迹，也不必畏惧失败或失望——这些本是人生常态，我自身也经历过。他们只需在政府项目和/或私人慈善机构通常取得的成就基础上有所改进，同时认识到这些其他财富再分配方式也存在缺陷。早年间，我曾构想过各种宏大的慈善计划。尽管我固执己见，但事实证明这些计划并不可行。多年来，我也目睹过由政治投机者、王朝继承者主导的考虑不周的财富转移，当然，也包括那些能力不足或想法古怪的慈善家的做法。
只要我的子女能把慈善工作做得不错，他们就可以确信，他们的母亲和我会感到欣慰。他们的初衷是好的，且已有多年实践经验：从最初微不足道的金额起步，后来资金规模不规则地增长，如今每年已超过5亿美元。三人都乐于投入大量时间帮助他人，各自以独特方式践行着这份热忱。
我加快向子女的基金会进行生前赠与的步伐，绝不意味着我对伯克希尔前景的看法发生了任何改变。格雷格·阿贝尔的表现完全超出了我最初认为他应接任伯克希尔CEO时对他的高期望。他对我们许多业务和人员的理解远胜于现在的我，而且他在许多CEO甚至不会考虑的事务上学习速度极快。我想不出有哪位CEO、管理顾问、学者、政府成员——无论什么身份——能比格雷格更适合打理你我的积蓄。例如，他对我们财产险/意外险业务的增长潜力和风险的洞察，远超许多长期从事该行业的执行官。唯愿他未来几十年都能保持健康。若运气稍佳，伯克希尔未来百年只需五六位CEO。尤其应避开那些以65岁退休、炫富或建立家族王朝为目标的人选。
一个令人不快的现实是：有时，母公司或子公司中优秀且忠诚的CEO会罹患痴呆症、阿尔茨海默症或其他导致长期丧失能力的疾病。我和查理曾多次遇到这个问题，却未能采取行动。这种疏忽可能酿成大错。董事会必须警惕CEO出现这种情况的可能性，CEO也必须关注子公司高管是否有类似问题。这说起来容易做起来难；我能列举几家大公司过去的例子。我唯一能给的建议是：董事们应保持警惕，敢于发声。在我有生之年，改革者试图通过要求披露CEO与普通员工的薪酬对比来让CEO难堪。结果，委托投票说明书迅速从之前的20页或更少膨胀到100多页。
但这些善意举措并未奏效；反而适得其反。根据我的大多数观察——A公司的CEO看到竞争对手B公司CEO的薪酬后，会委婉地向自己的董事会暗示，他应获得更高薪酬。当然，他还会提高董事的薪酬，并精心挑选薪酬委员会成员。新规定催生了嫉妒，而非克制。这种“攀比效应”愈演愈烈。真正困扰那些非常富有的CEO的——毕竟他们也是人——往往是其他CEO变得更富有。嫉妒与贪婪如影随形。试问哪位顾问曾建议大幅削减CEO薪酬或董事报酬？
总体而言，伯克希尔旗下业务前景略优于平均水平，其中几家规模可观、与其他业务关联性低的“明星企业”表现突出。然而，一二十年后，必将涌现许多表现优于伯克希尔的企业；我们的规模终将成为发展的掣肘。
在我所知的所有企业中，伯克希尔遭遇毁灭性灾难的概率最低。而且，伯克希尔拥有比我几乎所熟知的任何公司（我见过的公司可不少）都更具股东意识的管理层和董事会。最重要的是，伯克希尔的经营始终以对美国有利为原则，绝不会涉足任何可能让自己陷入“乞求者”境地的活动。随着时间的推移，我们的管理层会变得相当富有——他们肩负重要责任——但他们绝不会追求“家族传承”或“炫富”。
我们的股价会波动不定，在我管理公司的60年里曾三次下跌约50%，未来偶尔也可能出现类似情况。但不必绝望：美国终将复苏，伯克希尔的股价也必将回升。
最后几点感悟
或许是一个略带私心的感悟：我欣慰地说，我对人生后半程的满意度远超前半程。我的建议是：不要为过去的错误苛责自己——至少从中吸取些许教训，然后继续前进。任何时候想要改进都不算晚。找到对的榜样，然后效仿他们。你可以从汤姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）开始；他是最好的榜样。
还记得后来以诺贝尔奖闻名的阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔（Alfred Nobel）吗？据称，他弟弟去世时，一家报纸搞混了，误将他的名字登在了讣告上。诺贝尔读到了自己的“讣告”，内容令他震惊，并意识到自己必须改变行为方式。
别指望报社出错：想清楚你希望自己的讣告写些什么，然后用一生的行动去配得上这样的评价。
伟大并非源于积累巨额财富、获得大量曝光或掌握政府大权。当你以成千上万种方式中的任何一种去帮助他人时，便是在为这个世界做贡献。善行无需成本，却价值连城。无论你是否有宗教信仰，“黄金法则”都是为人处世的最佳准则。
写下这些话时，我深知自己曾无数次考虑不周，犯过很多错误，但幸运的是，我从几位挚友身上学会了如何更好地为人处世（尽管离完美还有很长的路要走）。请记住，保洁员和董事长一样，都是平等的人。
祝愿所有读到这封信的人感恩节快乐。是的，即使是那些性情乖戾的人——改变永远不嫌晚。记得感谢美国，它为你创造了无限机遇。但回报分配难免变幻莫测，有时甚至暗藏贪腐。
谨慎选择你的榜样，然后努力效仿他们。你永远无法做到完美，但总能变得更好。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
传奇投资者、伯克希尔-哈撒韦公司CEO沃伦·巴菲特在领导公司60年后，将于年底退休。他在周一发布的信函中表示将“隐退”，不再撰写伯克希尔的年度报告，也不会在年度股东大会上“长篇大论”。
但在离任前，他回顾了自己的人生与成功，同时表达了对公司及慈善捐赠的期许。巴菲特将重任托付给继任者格雷格·阿贝尔，这位新掌舵人将领导这个1.2万亿美元的商业帝国。
致股东信全文：
今日，沃伦·E·巴菲特将1800股A类股转换为270万股B类股，并捐赠给四家家族基金会：其中150万股捐赠给苏珊·汤普森·巴菲特基金会，其余三家基金会——舍伍德基金会、霍华德·G·巴菲特基金会和NoVo基金会——各获赠40万股。上述捐赠已于今日完成。
巴菲特先生致全体股东的评论如下：
致各位股东：
我将不再撰写伯克希尔的年度报告，也不会在年度股东大会上长篇大论。用英国人的话说，我要“隐退”了。
算是吧。
格雷格·阿贝尔（Greg Abel）将于年底接任掌门人。他是一位出色的管理者，工作孜孜不倦，沟通坦诚直率。愿他任期长久。
我会继续通过每年的感恩节寄语，与各位股东及我的子女聊聊伯克希尔的近况。伯克希尔的个人股东是一个非常特殊的群体，他们总是格外慷慨地与境遇不佳的人分享收益。我很珍惜与大家保持联系的机会。今年请容我先稍作回忆，随后谈谈我的伯克希尔股份分配计划，最后分享一些商业与个人见解。
感恩节将至，如今95岁高龄的我，既心怀感恩，也对自己依然健在感到意外。年轻时，我从未料到能活这么久。早年间，我曾险些丧命。那是1938年，当时奥马哈市民将当地医院分为天主教医院和新教医院，这种分类在当时似乎理所当然。
我们的家庭医生哈利·霍茨（Harley Hotz）是位友善的天主教徒，出诊时总提着一个黑色医药包。他叫我“小船长”，诊疗收费也不高。1938年，我突发剧烈腹痛，霍茨医生上门检查后，告诉我次日早上就会好转，随后便回家吃饭、打桥牌去了。然而，我那有些异常的症状让他始终放心不下，当晚深夜，他便安排我前往圣凯瑟琳医院（St. Catherine's Hospital）接受紧急阑尾切除手术。接下来的三周，我仿佛置身修道院，并开始喜欢上这个新“讲台”。我向来爱说话——没错，那时也不例外——修女们对我很是包容。更棒的是，我三年级的老师麦德森（Madsen）小姐让全班30位同学每人给我写一封信。男生们的信我大概都扔了，但女生们的信却读了一遍又一遍——住院也有意外收获。
我康复期间最难忘的时刻——实际上术后第一周大部分时间情况都不太稳定——是我亲爱的伊迪（Edie）姨妈送我的一份礼物：一套看起来非常专业的指纹采集工具，我当即给所有照料我的修女都采集了指纹。（我可能是圣凯瑟琳医院接收的第一个新教孩子，她们也不知该如何应对。）
我的想法——当然完全是异想天开——是万一哪天某个修女走上歧途，联邦调查局（FBI）会发现他们忽略了采集修女的指纹。20世纪30年代，FBI及其局长J·埃德加·胡佛（J. Edgar Hoover）在美国备受尊崇，我幻想着胡佛先生会亲自来奥马哈查看我这份珍贵的收藏。我还进一步幻想，我和胡佛能迅速识别并逮捕那个误入歧途的修女。届时我必定会全国闻名。
显然，我的幻想从未实现。但讽刺的是，几年后事情变得很清楚，我本该给J·埃德加本人采集指纹——他后来因滥用职权而身败名裂。嗯，这就是20世纪30年代的奥马哈——那时我和朋友们梦寐以求的不过是一副雪橇、一辆自行车、一只棒球手套和一套电动火车。接下来，我想说说那个年代和我住得很近、对我人生影响深远，但过了很久我才认识的几个人。
首先要说的是查理·芒格（Charlie Munger），我长达64年的挚友。20世纪30年代，查理住的地方离我1958年购置并居住至今的房子仅隔一个街区。
早年，我与查理擦肩而过，未能成为朋友。查理比我大6岁零8个月，1940年夏天在我祖父的杂货店打工，每天工作10小时，挣2美元。（节俭深植于巴菲特家族的血液中。）次年我在同一家店做类似工作，但直到1959年——他35岁、我28岁时——我们才初次相遇。
二战服役结束后，查理从哈佛法学院毕业，随后永久移居加利福尼亚。但查理始终认为在奥马哈的早年岁月塑造了他的人生。60多年来，查理对我影响巨大，他是我最好的导师和保护我的“兄长”。我们虽有分歧，但从未争吵过。他的字典里没有“我早告诉过你”这句话。
1958年，我购置了人生中第一套也是唯一一套房产。当然，它位于奥马哈，离我长大的地方（宽泛定义）约两英里，距我岳父母家不到两个街区，离巴菲特杂货店约六个街区，开车到我工作了64年的办公楼只需6到7分钟。
再说说另一位奥马哈人——斯坦·利普西（Stan Lipsey）。斯坦于1968年将《奥马哈太阳报》（周报）出售给伯克希尔，十年后应我之邀迁居布法罗。当时，伯克希尔旗下子公司拥有的《布法罗晚报》正与当地一家晨报展开生死较量，对方出版布法罗唯一的周日版报纸，而我们正处于下风。最终，斯坦打造了我们的新版周日刊。此后数年，这份曾严重亏损的报纸，为我们3300万美元的投资带来了年均超过100%的税前回报。在20世纪80年代初，这笔收入对伯克希尔至关重要。
斯坦在离我家约五个街区的地方长大。他的邻居之一是小沃尔特·斯科特（Walter Scott, Jr.）。诸位想必记得，正是沃尔特在1999年将中美能源公司（MidAmerican Energy）引入伯克希尔。直到2021年去世前，他一直是伯克希尔宝贵的董事，也是我的挚友。数十年来，沃尔特一直是内布拉斯加州的慈善领袖，奥马哈市乃至整个州都留下了他的印记。沃尔特就读于本森高中（Benson High School），我原本也计划就读这所学校——直到1942年，我父亲在国会竞选中击败一位连任四届的现任议员，令所有人惊讶。人生充满意外。
等等，还有。
1959年，唐·基奥（Don Keough）和他年幼的家人们住在我家正对面，距离芒格一家曾居住的地方约100码。当时唐还是个咖啡推销员，但后来注定成为可口可乐公司的总裁，同时也是伯克希尔尽职尽责的董事。
我认识唐时，他年薪1.2万美元，却要和妻子米琪（Mickie）抚养五个孩子，这些孩子都要上天主教学校（需要学费）。我们两家很快成了挚友。唐来自艾奥瓦州西北部的一个农场，毕业于奥马哈的克瑞顿大学（Creighton University）。早年他娶了奥马哈姑娘米琪。加入可口可乐公司后，唐逐渐成为全球传奇人物。
1985年，唐担任可口可乐总裁期间，公司推出了命运多舛的“新可乐”。唐发表了一场著名的演讲，向公众道歉并恢复了“经典可乐”的销售。他解释称，当时寄给“头号白痴”的邮件都会直接送到他的办公桌上，这促使他改变了主意。他那次“撤回”演讲堪称经典，可以在YouTube上观看。他欣然承认，事实上，可口可乐产品属于公众而非公司。随后销量大幅飙升。
你可以在CharlieRose.com上观看唐的精彩访谈。（汤姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）和凯·格雷厄姆（Kay Graham）的采访也同样精彩。）和查理·芒格一样，唐永远保持着中西部人的本色——热情、友善，骨子里透着美国人的特质。
最后要提的是阿吉特·贾恩（Ajit Jain）和格雷格·阿贝尔。阿吉特在印度出生长大；而格雷格是我们即将上任的加拿大籍CEO，二人都在20世纪末于奥马哈生活过几年。事实上，在20世纪90年代，格雷格住在法纳姆街（Farnam Street），离我家只有几个街区，但当时我们从未谋面。
难道奥马哈的水里真有什么神奇成分？
我在华盛顿特区度过了一些青少年时光（当时我父亲在国会任职），1954年，我在曼哈顿找到了一份自以为会做一辈子的工作。在那里，本·格雷厄姆（Ben Graham）和杰瑞·纽曼（Jerry Newman）待我极好，我也结交了许多终身挚友。纽约有独特的优势——至今依然如此。然而，1956年，仅仅工作了一年半后，我便回到了奥马哈，此后再未离开。后来，我的三个孩子以及几个孙辈都在奥马哈长大。我的孩子们一直就读公立学校（毕业于同一所高中，我父亲是1921届，我的第一任妻子苏西（Susie）是1950届，还有查理、斯坦·利普西、欧文（Irv）和罗恩·布鲁姆金（Ron Blumkin）——他们是内布拉斯加家具商场（Nebraska Furniture Mart）发展的关键人物——以及杰克·林沃特（Jack Ringwalt，1923届），他创立了国民赔偿保险公司（National Indemnity）并于1967年将其出售给伯克希尔，这成为我们庞大财产险/意外险业务的基础。
我们国家拥有许多伟大的公司、学校和医疗设施，每个都肯定有其独特的优势和人才。但我感到非常幸运的是：在奥马哈，我得以结识众多终身挚友，遇见我的两任妻子，在公立学校接受了良好的启蒙教育，年少时结识了许多有趣且友善的奥马哈成年人，并在内布拉斯加国民警卫队（Nebraska National Guard）结交了形形色色的朋友。简而言之，内布拉斯加就是我的家。
回首往昔，我认为，无论是伯克希尔还是我本人，能取得今天的成就，很大程度上得益于我们扎根于奥马哈，而非其他地方。美国中部是一个出生、养家、创业的绝佳之地。纯粹是靠运气——我出生时就抽中了一根长得离谱的好签。
现在说说我的高龄。我的基因并不特别有利——家族有史以来的长寿记录（诚然，追溯久远的家族记录会变得模糊）在我之前是92岁。但我在奥马哈遇到了睿智、友善且尽职尽责的医生，从哈利·霍茨开始，直到今天。至少有三次，我的生命得以挽救，每次都是由离我家几英里范围内的医生救治的。（不过，我已经放弃给护士采集指纹了……95岁的人可以做很多古怪的事……但总得有个限度。）
能活到老年需要极大的好运，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，不一而足。
但幸运女神变幻莫测，而且——没有别的词更贴切——极不公平。在许多情况下，我们的领导人和富人获得的好运远超其应得份额——而这些受益者往往不愿承认。王朝继承者一出生就获得了终身的财务独立，而另一些人来到世间，却要面对地狱般的早年生活，或者更糟的是，身体或精神的残疾剥夺了我认为理所当然的一切。在世界许多人口稠密的地区，我很可能过着悲惨的生活，而我的姐妹们处境会更糟。
我于1930年出生，身体健康，智力尚可，是白人男性，并且生在美国。哇！谢谢你，幸运女神。我的姐妹们和我智商相当，性格甚至更好，却面临着截然不同的人生前景。在我人生的大部分时间里，幸运女神持续眷顾，但她有比关照90多岁老人更重要的事情要做。幸运终有尽头。
相反，时间之父（Father Time）随着我年岁增长，对我愈发“关注”。他从未被击败；在他看来，每个人最终都会记在他的记分牌上，算作“胜出”。当平衡感、视力、听力和记忆力都持续走下坡路时，你就知道时间之父已经临近。我衰老得比较晚——衰老的开始时间因人而异——但一旦出现，就无法否认。
令我惊讶的是，我总体感觉良好。尽管行动缓慢，阅读越来越困难，我仍每周五天在办公室与优秀的同仁共事。偶尔，我还能想出一些有用的点子，或者有人主动提出我们原本可能错过的合作邀约。鉴于伯克希尔的规模和当前市场水平，好点子虽少——但并非没有。
然而，我意料之外的长寿，对我的家庭和慈善目标的实现产生了不可避免的重大影响。
下面我们来探讨这些影响。
未来规划
我的子女均已超过正常退休年龄，分别为72岁、70岁和67岁。若打赌他们三人——如今在诸多方面都处于巅峰状态——都能像我一样幸运地延缓衰老，那将是个错误。为了提高他们在候补受托人接替之前处置我几乎全部遗产的可能性，我需要加快向他们管理的三家基金会进行生前赠与的步伐。我的孩子们现在在经验和智慧方面正值黄金时期，但尚未步入老年。这段“黄金”时期不会永远持续。
幸运的是，调整计划很容易执行。然而，还有一个额外因素需要考虑：我希望保留相当数量的A类股，直到伯克希尔股东对格雷格建立起我和查理长期享有的那种信任。达到这种信任水平应该不需要太久。我的子女和伯克希尔的董事们已经百分百支持格雷格。如今三名子女都已足够成熟、聪慧、精力充沛且判断力敏锐，能够妥善管理巨额财富。等我离世后，他们依然在世，这也是一大优势；必要时，他们可以根据联邦税收政策或其他影响慈善事业的动态，采取前瞻性或应对性策略。他们很可能需要适应周围发生巨变的世界。“在坟墓里发号施令”历来效果不佳，我也从未有过这种冲动。
所幸三名子女均从他们母亲那里继承了主导性的优秀基因。几十年来，我也努力成为他们思想和行为更好的榜样——但我永远无法与他们的母亲相提并论。
我已为子女指定了三位候补受托人，以防他们过早离世或丧失行为能力。这些候补受托人不分先后顺序，也未与特定子女绑定。他们皆为人出众，处世睿智，彼此间没有利益冲突。
我向孩子们保证：他们无需创造奇迹，也不必畏惧失败或失望——这些本是人生常态，我自身也经历过。他们只需在政府项目和/或私人慈善机构通常取得的成就基础上有所改进，同时认识到这些其他财富再分配方式也存在缺陷。早年间，我曾构想过各种宏大的慈善计划。尽管我固执己见，但事实证明这些计划并不可行。多年来，我也目睹过由政治投机者、王朝继承者主导的考虑不周的财富转移，当然，也包括那些能力不足或想法古怪的慈善家的做法。
只要我的子女能把慈善工作做得不错，他们就可以确信，他们的母亲和我会感到欣慰。他们的初衷是好的，且已有多年实践经验：从最初微不足道的金额起步，后来资金规模不规则地增长，如今每年已超过5亿美元。三人都乐于投入大量时间帮助他人，各自以独特方式践行着这份热忱。
我加快向子女的基金会进行生前赠与的步伐，绝不意味着我对伯克希尔前景的看法发生了任何改变。格雷格·阿贝尔的表现完全超出了我最初认为他应接任伯克希尔CEO时对他的高期望。他对我们许多业务和人员的理解远胜于现在的我，而且他在许多CEO甚至不会考虑的事务上学习速度极快。我想不出有哪位CEO、管理顾问、学者、政府成员——无论什么身份——能比格雷格更适合打理你我的积蓄。例如，他对我们财产险/意外险业务的增长潜力和风险的洞察，远超许多长期从事该行业的执行官。唯愿他未来几十年都能保持健康。若运气稍佳，伯克希尔未来百年只需五六位CEO。尤其应避开那些以65岁退休、炫富或建立家族王朝为目标的人选。
一个令人不快的现实是：有时，母公司或子公司中优秀且忠诚的CEO会罹患痴呆症、阿尔茨海默症或其他导致长期丧失能力的疾病。我和查理曾多次遇到这个问题，却未能采取行动。这种疏忽可能酿成大错。董事会必须警惕CEO出现这种情况的可能性，CEO也必须关注子公司高管是否有类似问题。这说起来容易做起来难；我能列举几家大公司过去的例子。我唯一能给的建议是：董事们应保持警惕，敢于发声。在我有生之年，改革者试图通过要求披露CEO与普通员工的薪酬对比来让CEO难堪。结果，委托投票说明书迅速从之前的20页或更少膨胀到100多页。
但这些善意举措并未奏效；反而适得其反。根据我的大多数观察——A公司的CEO看到竞争对手B公司CEO的薪酬后，会委婉地向自己的董事会暗示，他应获得更高薪酬。当然，他还会提高董事的薪酬，并精心挑选薪酬委员会成员。新规定催生了嫉妒，而非克制。这种“攀比效应”愈演愈烈。真正困扰那些非常富有的CEO的——毕竟他们也是人——往往是其他CEO变得更富有。嫉妒与贪婪如影随形。试问哪位顾问曾建议大幅削减CEO薪酬或董事报酬？
总体而言，伯克希尔旗下业务前景略优于平均水平，其中几家规模可观、与其他业务关联性低的“明星企业”表现突出。然而，一二十年后，必将涌现许多表现优于伯克希尔的企业；我们的规模终将成为发展的掣肘。
在我所知的所有企业中，伯克希尔遭遇毁灭性灾难的概率最低。而且，伯克希尔拥有比我几乎所熟知的任何公司（我见过的公司可不少）都更具股东意识的管理层和董事会。最重要的是，伯克希尔的经营始终以对美国有利为原则，绝不会涉足任何可能让自己陷入“乞求者”境地的活动。随着时间的推移，我们的管理层会变得相当富有——他们肩负重要责任——但他们绝不会追求“家族传承”或“炫富”。
我们的股价会波动不定，在我管理公司的60年里曾三次下跌约50%，未来偶尔也可能出现类似情况。但不必绝望：美国终将复苏，伯克希尔的股价也必将回升。
最后几点感悟
或许是一个略带私心的感悟：我欣慰地说，我对人生后半程的满意度远超前半程。我的建议是：不要为过去的错误苛责自己——至少从中吸取些许教训，然后继续前进。任何时候想要改进都不算晚。找到对的榜样，然后效仿他们。你可以从汤姆·墨菲（Tom Murphy）开始；他是最好的榜样。
还记得后来以诺贝尔奖闻名的阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔（Alfred Nobel）吗？据称，他弟弟去世时，一家报纸搞混了，误将他的名字登在了讣告上。诺贝尔读到了自己的“讣告”，内容令他震惊，并意识到自己必须改变行为方式。
别指望报社出错：想清楚你希望自己的讣告写些什么，然后用一生的行动去配得上这样的评价。
伟大并非源于积累巨额财富、获得大量曝光或掌握政府大权。当你以成千上万种方式中的任何一种去帮助他人时，便是在为这个世界做贡献。善行无需成本，却价值连城。无论你是否有宗教信仰，“黄金法则”都是为人处世的最佳准则。
写下这些话时，我深知自己曾无数次考虑不周，犯过很多错误，但幸运的是，我从几位挚友身上学会了如何更好地为人处世（尽管离完美还有很长的路要走）。请记住，保洁员和董事长一样，都是平等的人。
祝愿所有读到这封信的人感恩节快乐。是的，即使是那些性情乖戾的人——改变永远不嫌晚。记得感谢美国，它为你创造了无限机遇。但回报分配难免变幻莫测，有时甚至暗藏贪腐。
谨慎选择你的榜样，然后努力效仿他们。你永远无法做到完美，但总能变得更好。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
Legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett will retire at year's end after an epic 60 years in leadership. In a letter published Monday, Buffett said he'll be “going quiet,” and will no longer write Berkshire's annual report, nor talk “endlessly” at the annual meeting.
But before he leaves, he recounted his life and success, while sharing his wishes for the organization and philanthropic giving. Buffett is placing his trust in his successor Greg Abel, who will lead the $1.2 trillion empire.
Read the letter:
Today, Warren E. Buffett converted 1,800 A shares into 2,700,000 B shares in order to give these B shares to four family foundations: 1,500,000 shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 400,000 shares to each of The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation. These donations have been delivered today.
Mr. Buffett's comments to his fellow shareholders follow:
To My Fellow Shareholders:
I will no longer be writing Berkshire's annual report or talking endlessly at the annual meeting. As the British would say, I'm “going quiet.”
Sort of.
Greg Abel will become the boss at yearend. He is a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator. Wish him an extended tenure.
I will continue talking to you and my children about Berkshire via my annual Thanksgiving message. Berkshire's individual shareholders are a very special group who are unusually generous in sharing their gains with others less fortunate. I enjoy the chance to keep in touch with you. Indulge me this year as I first reminisce a bit. After that, I will discuss the plans for distribution of my Berkshire shares. Finally, I will offer a few business and personal observations.
As Thanksgiving approaches, I'm grateful and surprised by my luck in being alive at 95. When I was young, this outcome did not look like a good bet. Early on, I nearly died. It was 1938 and Omaha hospitals were then thought of by its citizens as either Catholic or Protestant, a classification that seemed natural at the time.
Our family doctor, Harley Hotz, was a friendly Catholic who made house calls toting a black bag. Dr. Hotz called me Skipper and never charged much for his visits. When I experienced a bad bellyache in 1938, Dr. Hotz came by and, after probing a bit, told me I would be OK in the morning. He then went home, had dinner and played a little bridge. Dr. Hotz couldn't, however, get my somewhat peculiar symptoms out of his mind and later that night he dispatched me to St. Catherine's Hospital for an emergency appendectomy. During the next three weeks, I felt like I was in a nunnery, and began enjoying my new “podium.” I liked to talk -- yes, even then -- and the nuns embraced me. To top things off, Miss Madsen, my third-grade teacher, told my 30 classmates to each write me a letter. I probably threw away the letters from the boys but read and reread those from the girls; hospitalization had its rewards.
The highlight of my recovery -- which actually was dicey for much of the first week -- was a gift from my wonderful Aunt Edie. She brought me a very professional-looking fingerprinting set, and I promptly fingerprinted all of my attending nuns. (I was probably the first Protestant kid they had seen at St. Catherine's and they didn't know what to expect.)
My theory -- totally nutty, of course -- was that someday a nun would go bad and the FBI would find that they had neglected to fingerprint nuns. The FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, had become revered by Americans in the 1930s, and I envisioned Mr. Hoover, himself, coming to Omaha to inspect my invaluable collection. I further fantasized that J. Edgar and I would quickly identify and apprehend the wayward nun. National fame seemed certain.
Obviously, my fantasy never materialized. But, ironically, some years later it became clear that I should have fingerprinted J. Edgar himself as he became disgraced for misusing his post. Well, that was Omaha in the 1930s, when a sled, a bicycle, a baseball glove and an electric train were coveted by me and my friends. Let's look at a few other kids from that era, who grew up very nearby and greatly influenced my life but of whom I was for long unaware.
I'll begin with Charlie Munger, my best pal for 64 years. In the 1930s, Charlie lived a block away from the house I have owned and occupied since 1958.
Early on, I missed befriending Charlie by a whisker. Charlie, 6 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.
After serving in World War II, Charlie graduated from Harvard Law and then moved permanently to California. Charlie, however, forever talked of his early years in Omaha as formative. For more than 60 years, Charlie had a huge impact on me and could not have been a better teacher and protective “big brother.” We had differences but never had an argument. “I told you so” was not in his vocabulary.
In 1958, I bought my first and only home. Of course, it was in Omaha, located about two miles from where I grew up (loosely defined), less than two blocks from my in-laws, about six blocks from the Buffett grocery store and a 6-7-minute drive from the office building where I have worked for 64 years.
Let's move on to another Omahan, Stan Lipsey. Stan sold the Omaha Sun Newspapers (weeklies) to Berkshire in 1968 and a decade later moved to Buffalo at my request. The Buffalo Evening News, owned by a Berkshire affiliate, was then locked in a battle to the death with its morning competitor who published Buffalo's only Sunday paper. And we were losing. Stan eventually built our new Sunday product, and for some years our paper -- formerly hemorrhaging cash -- earned over 100% annually (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was important money to Berkshire in the early 1980s.
Stan grew up about five blocks from my home. One of Stan's neighbors was Walter Scott, Jr. Walter, you will remember, brought MidAmerican Energy to Berkshire in 1999. He was also a valued Berkshire director until his death in 2021 and a very close friend. Walter was Nebraska's philanthropic leader for decades and both Omaha and the state carries his imprint. Walter attended Benson High School, which I was scheduled to attend as well -- until my dad surprised everyone in 1942 by beating a four-term incumbent in a Congressional race. Life is full of surprises.
Wait, there's more.
In 1959, Don Keough and his young family lived in a home located directly across the street from my house and about 100 yards away from where the Munger family had lived. Don was then a coffee salesman but was destined to become president of Coca-Cola as well as a devoted director of Berkshire.
When I met Don, he was earning $12,000 a year while he and his wife Mickie were raising five children, all destined for Catholic schools (with tuition requirements). Our families became fast friends. Don came from a farm in northwest Iowa and graduated from Omaha's Creighton University. Early on, he married Mickie, an Omaha girl. After joining Coke, Don went on to become legendary around the globe.
In 1985, when Don was president of Coke, the company launched its ill-fated New Coke. Don made a famous speech in which he apologized to the public and reinstated “Old” Coke. This change of heart took place after Don explained that Coke incoming mail addressed to “Supreme Idiot” was promptly delivered to his desk. His “withdrawal” speech is a classic and can be viewed on YouTube. He cheerfully acknowledged that, in truth, the Coca-Cola product belonged to the public and not to the company. Sales subsequently soared.
You can watch Don on CharlieRose.com in a wonderful interview. (Tom Murphy and Kay Graham have a couple of gems as well.) Like Charlie Munger, Don forever remained a Midwestern boy, enthusiastic, friendly and American to the core.
Finally, Ajit Jain, born and raised in India, as well as Greg Abel, our Canadian CEO-to-be, each lived in Omaha for several years late in the 20th Century. Indeed, in the 1990s, Greg lived only a few blocks away from me on Farnam Street, though we never met at the time.
Can it be that there is some magic ingredient in Omaha's water?
I lived a few teenage years in Washington, DC (when my dad was in Congress) and in 1954 I took what I thought would be a permanent job in Manhattan. There I was treated wonderfully by Ben Graham and Jerry Newman and made many life-long friends. New York had unique assets -- and still does. Nevertheless, in 1956, after only 1½ years, I returned to Omaha, never to wander again. Subsequently, my three children, as well as several grandchildren, were raised in Omaha. My children always attended public schools (graduating from the same high school that educated my dad (class of 1921), my first wife, Susie (class of 1950) as well as Charlie, Stan Lipsey, Irv and Ron Blumkin, who were key to growing Nebraska Furniture Mart, and Jack Ringwalt (class of 1923), who founded National Indemnity and sold it to Berkshire in 1967 where it became the base upon which our huge P/C operation was constructed.
Our country has many great companies, great schools, great medical facilities and each definitely has its own special advantages along with talented people. But I feel very lucky to have had the good fortune to make many lifelong friends, to meet both of my wives, to receive a great start in education at public schools, to meet many interesting and friendly adult Omahans when I was very young, and to make a wide variety of friends in the Nebraska National Guard. In short, Nebraska has been home.
Looking back I feel that both Berkshire and I did better because of our base in Omaha than if I had resided anywhere else. The center of the United States was a very good place to be born, to raise a family, and to build a business. Through dumb luck, I drew a ridiculously long straw at birth.
Now let's move on to my advanced age. My genes haven't been particularly helpful -- the family's all-time record for longevity (admittedly family records get fuzzy as you work backwards) was 92 until I came along. But I have had wise, friendly and dedicated Omaha doctors, starting with Harley Hotz, and continuing to this day. At least three times, my life has been saved, each with doctors based within a few miles from my home. (I have given up fingerprinting nurses, however. You can get away with many eccentricities at 95 . . . . . but there are limits.)
Those who reach old age need a huge dose of good luck, daily escaping banana peels, natural disasters, drunk or distracted drivers, lightning strikes, you name it.
But Lady Luck is fickle and -- no other term fits -- wildly unfair. In many cases, our leaders and the rich have received far more than their share of luck -- which, too often, the recipients prefer not to acknowledge. Dynastic inheritors have achieved lifetime financial independence the moment they emerged from the womb, while others have arrived, facing a hell-hole during their early life or, worse, disabling physical or mental infirmities that rob them of what I have taken for granted. In many heavily-populated parts of the world, I would likely have had a miserable life and my sisters would have had one even worse.
I was born in 1930 healthy, reasonably intelligent, white, male and in America. Wow! Thank you, Lady Luck. My sisters had equal intelligence and better personalities than I but faced a much different outlook. Lady Luck continued to drop by during much of my life, but she has better things to do than work with those in their 90s. Luck has its limits.
Father Time, to the contrary, now finds me more interesting as I age. And he is undefeated; for him, everyone ends up on his score card as “wins.” When balance, sight, hearing and memory are all on a persistently downward slope, you know Father Time is in the neighborhood. I was late in becoming old -- its onset materially varies -- but once it appears, it is not to be denied.
To my surprise, I generally feel good. Though I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am at the office five days a week where I work with wonderful people. Occasionally, I get a useful idea or am approached with an offer we might not otherwise have received. Because of Berkshire's size and because of market levels, ideas are few -- but not zero.
My unexpected longevity, however, has unavoidable consequences of major importance to my family and the achievement of my charitable objectives.
Let's explore them.
What Comes Next
My children are all above normal retirement age, having reached 72, 70 and 67. It would be a mistake to wager that all three -- now at their peak in many respects -- will enjoy my exceptional luck in delayed aging. To improve the probability that they will dispose of what will essentially be my entire estate before alternate trustees replace them, I need to step up the pace of lifetime gifts to their three foundations. My children are now at their prime in respect to experience and wisdom but have yet to enter old age. That “honeymoon” period will not last forever.
Fortunately, a course correction is easy to execute. There is, however, one additional factor to consider: I would like to keep a significant amount of “A” shares until Berkshire shareholders develop the comfort with Greg that Charlie and I long enjoyed. That level of confidence shouldn't take long. My children are already 100% behind Greg as are the Berkshire directors. All three children now have the maturity, brains, energy and instincts to disburse a large fortune. They will also have the advantage of being above ground when I am long gone and, if necessary, can adopt policies both anticipatory and reactive to federal tax policies or other developments affecting philanthropy. They may well need to adapt to a significantly changing world around them. Ruling from the grave does not have a great record, and I have never had an urge to do so.
Fortunately, all three children received a dominant dosage of their genes from their mother. As the decades have passed, I have also become a better model for their thinking and behavior. I will never, however, achieve parity with their mother.
My children have three alternate trustees in case of any premature deaths or disabilities. The alternates are not ranked or tied to a specific child. All three are exceptional humans and wise in the ways of the world. They have no conflicting motives.
I have assured my children that they do not need to perform miracles nor fear failures or disappointments. These are inevitable, and I have made my share. They simply need to improve somewhat upon what generally is achieved by government activities and/or private philanthropy, recognizing these other methods of redistribution of wealth have shortcomings as well. Early on, I contemplated various grand philanthropic plans. Though I was stubborn, these did not prove feasible. During my many years, I've also watched ill-conceived wealth transfers by political hacks, dynastic choices and, yes, inept or quirky philanthropists.
If my children simply do a decent job, they can be certain that their mother and I would be pleased. Their instincts are good and they each have had years of practice with very small sums initially that have been irregularly increased to more than $500 million annually. All three like working long hours to help others, each in their own way.
The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children's foundations in no way reflects any change in my views about Berkshire's prospects. Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire's next CEO. He understands many of our businesses and personnel far better than I now do, and he is a very fast learner about matters many CEOs don't even consider. I can't think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government -- you name it -- that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine. Greg understands, for example, far more about both the upside potential and the dangers of our P/C insurance business than do a great many long-time P/C executives. My hope is that his health remains good for several decades. With a little luck, Berkshire should require only five or six CEOs over the next century. It should particularly avoid those whose goal is to retire at 65, to become lookat-me rich or to initiate a dynasty.
One unpleasant reality: Occasionally, a wonderful and loyal CEO of the parent or a subsidiary will succumb to dementia, Alzheimer's or another debilitating and long-term disease. Charlie and I encountered this problem several times and failed to act. This failure can be a huge mistake. The Board must be alert to this possibility at the CEO level and the CEO must be alert to the possibility at subsidiaries. This is easier said than done; I could cite a few examples from the past at major companies. Directors should be alert and speak up is all that I can advise. During my lifetime, reformers sought to embarrass CEOs by requiring the disclosure of the compensation of the boss compared to what was being paid to the average employee. Proxy statements promptly ballooned to 100-plus pages compared to 20 or less earlier.
But the good intentions didn't work; instead they backfired. Based on the majority of my observations -- the CEO of company “A” looked at his competitor at company “B” and subtly conveyed to his board that he should be worth more. Of course, he also boosted the pay of directors and was careful who he placed on the compensation committee. The new rules produced envy, not moderation. The ratcheting took on a life of its own. What often bothers very wealthy CEOs -- they are human, after all -- is that other CEOs are getting even richer. Envy and greed walk hand in hand. And what consultant ever recommended a serious cut in CEO compensation or board payments?
In aggregate, Berkshire's businesses have moderately better-than-average prospects, led by a few non-correlated and sizable gems. However, a decade or two from now, there will be many companies that have done better than Berkshire; our size takes its toll.
Berkshire has less chance of a devastating disaster than any business I know. And, Berkshire has a more shareholder-conscious management and board than almost any company with which I am familiar (and I've seen a lot). Finally, Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that will make its existence an asset to the United States and eschew activities that would lead it to become a supplicant. Over time, our managers should grow quite wealthy -- they have important responsibilities -- but do not have the desire for dynastic or look-at-me wealth.
Our stock price will move capriciously, occasionally falling 50% or so as has happened three times in 60 years under present management. Don't despair; America will come back and so will Berkshire shares.
A Few Final Thoughts
One perhaps self-serving observation. I'm happy to say I feel better about the second half of my life than the first. My advice: Don't beat yourself up over past mistakes -- learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them. You can start with Tom Murphy; he was the best.
Remember Alfred Nobel, later of Nobel Prize fame, who -- reportedly -- read his own obituary that was mistakenly printed when his brother died and a newspaper got mixed up. He was horrified at what he read and realized he should change his behavior.
Don't count on a newsroom mix-up: Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.
Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, great amounts of publicity or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is costless but also priceless. Whether you are religious or not, it's hard to beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior.
I write this as one who has been thoughtless countless times and made many mistakes but also became very lucky in learning from some wonderful friends how to behave better (still a long way from perfect, however). Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman.
I wish all who read this a very happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the jerks; it's never too late to change. Remember to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. But it is -- inevitably -- capricious and sometimes venal in distributing its rewards.
Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.