巴菲特致股东的信（1995年）⑪其它事项

Miscellaneous

Berkshire isn't the only American corporation utilizing the new, exciting ABWA strategy. At about 1:15 p.m. on July 14, 1995, Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, was walking up Wildflower Lane in Sun Valley. At the same time, I was leaving a lunch at Herbert Allen's home on that street to meet Tom Murphy, CEO of Cap Cities/ABC, for a golf game.

其它事项

伯克希尔并不是第一家采用新颖有趣的走动式并购策略的美国企业。1995 年 7 月 14 日下午 1:15，当时华特迪士尼的总裁 Michael Eisner 正在太阳谷(Sun Valley)野花大道上行走，此时，我刚好从同一条街上 HerberAllen 家中一场午宴离开，赶赴与大都会/ABC 总裁汤姆.墨菲的一场高尔夫球会。

That morning, speaking to a large group of executives and money managers assembled by Allen's investment bank, Michael had made a brilliant presentation about Disney, and upon seeing him, I offered my congratulations. We chatted briefly - and the subject of a possible combination of Disney and Cap Cities came up. This wasn't the first time a merger had been discussed, but progress had never before been made, in part because Disney wanted to buy with cash and Cap Cities desired stock.

就在当天早上，面对由 Allen 的投资银行召集一大群企业总裁与基金经理人，Michael 做了一场有关迪士尼相当精彩的演讲，会后在街上遇到他，于是我上前向他致意，我们做了短暂的交谈，聊到迪士尼与大都会进行合并的可能性，这并不是第一次讨论有关合并的可能，先前之所以一直没有进展，一部分的原因是由于迪士尼希望用现金进行交易，而大都会想要拿股票。

Michael and I waited a few minutes for Murph to arrive, and in the short conversation that ensued, both Michael and Murph indicated they might bend on the stock/cash question. Within a few weeks, they both did, at which point a contract was put together in three very busy days.

Michael 跟我花了几分钟等候 Murph 的到来，在接下来短暂的会谈后，双方同意在现金/股票的问题上互做让步，几个周后，双方达成协议，而经过连续三天马不停蹄的谈判后，终于拟订了合并契约。

The Disney/Cap Cities deal makes so much sense that I'm sure it would have occurred without that chance encounter in Sun Valley. But when I ran into Michael that day on Wildflower Lane, he was heading for his plane, so without that accidental meeting the deal certainly wouldn't have happened in the time frame it did. I believe both Disney and Cap Cities will benefit from the fact that we all serendipitously met that day.

我认为迪士尼与大都会的合并案是天造地设的一对，即使没有那天在 Sun Valley 的巧遇，双方终究还是会结合，不过要不是那天刚好我在野花大道碰到正要赶飞机的 Michael，整个合并案可能不会那么快地顺利完成，不可讳言的，迪士尼与大都会都将因为我们那天的巧遇而受惠良多。

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It's appropriate that I say a few words here about Murph. To put it simply, he is as fine an executive as I have ever seen in my long exposure to business. Equally important, he possesses human qualities every bit the equal of his managerial qualities. He's an extraordinary friend, parent, husband and citizen. In those rare instances in which Murph's personal interests diverged from those of shareholders, he unfailingly favored the owners. When I say that I like to be associated with managers whom I would love to have as a sibling, in-law, or trustee of my will, Murph is the exemplar of what I mean.

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在这里我特别要提一下 Murph，简单的说，他是我在投资生涯中，遇到最好的经理人之一，同时除了优秀的管理特质之外，他也拥有同等的人格特质，他是一位杰出的朋友、父亲、丈夫与公民，许多时候当其个人利益与股东利益相冲突时，他毫不犹豫地会选择后者，每当我提到我喜欢与那种我希望他们能够成为我的子孙、女婿或遗嘱执行人的经理人共事时，Murph 就是我所能引用的最佳典范。

If Murph should elect to run another business, don't bother to study its value - just buy the stock. And don't later be as dumb as I was two years ago when I sold one-third of our holdings in Cap Cities for $635 million (versus the $1.27 billion those shares would bring in the Disney merger).

如果 Murph 决定另创事业，不必费心去研究其可行性，闭着眼睛投资就对了，而且绝对不要笨到像我前年一样把大都会三分之一的持股以 6.35 亿美元卖掉，这批股票在与迪士尼合并后，价值超过 12.7 亿美元。

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About 96.3% of all eligible shares participated in Berkshire's 1995 shareholder-designated contributions program. Contributions made were $11.6 million and 3,600 charities were recipients. A full description of the shareholder-designated contributions program appears on pages 54-55.

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大约有 96.3%的有效股权参与 1995 年的股东指定捐赠计划，总计约 1,160 万美元捐出的款项分配给 3,600家慈善机构，详细的名单参阅附录。

Every year a few shareholders miss out on the program because they don't have their shares registered in their own names on the prescribed record date or because they fail to get their designation form back to us within the 60-day period allowed. That second problem pained me especially this year because two good friends with substantial holdings missed the deadline. We had to deny their requests to be included because we can't make exceptions for some shareholders while refusing to make them for others.

每年都有一小部分的股东由于没有将股份登记在本人的名下，或是没能在 60天的期限内，将指定捐赠的表格送回给我们，而没办法参加我们的指定捐赠计划，尤其是第二个原因让我感到特别头痛，因为今年有二位伯克希尔大股东同时也是我个人的好朋友，未能在截止日以前将表格送达，我们必须忍痛将他们的指定捐赠剔除，因为我们不可能在拒绝其它不符合规定股东的同时，还破例让他们参与。

To participate in future programs, you must own Class A shares that are registered in the name of the actual owner, not the nominee name of a broker, bank or depository. Shares not so registered on August 31, 1996, will be ineligible for the 1996 program. When you get the form, return it promptly so that it does not get put aside or forgotten.

想要参加这项计划者，请必须拥有 A 级普通股，同时确定您的股份是登记在自己而非股票经纪人或保管银行的名下，同时必须在 1996 年 8 月 31 日之前完成登记，才有权利参与 1996 年的捐赠计划，当你收到表格后，请立即填写后寄回，以免被丢在一旁给忘记了。

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When it comes to our Annual Meetings, Charlie and I are managerial oddballs: We thoroughly enjoy the event. So come join us on Monday, May 6. At Berkshire, we have no investor relations department and don't use financial analysts as a channel for disseminating information, earnings "guidance," or the like. Instead, 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.

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每次提到年度股东年会，查理跟我就变成啰嗦的老头，我们实在是很喜欢这场盛会，所以请大家务必在 5 月6 日周一大驾光临，在伯克希尔我们没有投资人公关部门，也从不依赖股票分析师作为信息沟通的桥梁，公司收益的预估解说等等，相反地，我们比较喜欢股东与经理人直接面对面的沟通，而且相信年度股东会正是观念沟通的最佳场所，与各位一谈对我们来说一点也不会浪费时间，同时也让各位以相当民主的方式听到我们想要跟各位传达的理念。

Last year, for the first time, we had the Annual Meeting at the Holiday Convention Centre and the logistics seemed to work. The ballroom there was filled with about 3,200 people, and we had a video feed into a second room holding another 800 people. Seating in the main room was a little tight, so this year we will probably configure it to hold 3,000. This year we will also have two rooms for the overflow.

去年我们首度在 Holiday 会议中心召开年度股东会，当初预定的准备动作事后看起来相当正确，中央大厅坐满了 3200 个人，同时藉由视听器材的辅助，旁边的会议室还有 800 人得以参与，大厅显得有点拥挤，所以今年我们打算只排 3000 个座位，同时另外会再准备二间会议室以容纳更多的人参与。

All in all, we will be able to handle 5,000 shareholders. The meeting will start at 9:30 a.m., but be warned that last year the main ballroom was filled shortly after 8:00 a.m.

会场总共可以容纳 5000 人，会议预定在 9 点 30 分开始，不过大家可能要早一点到，因为去年中央大厅在 8 点过后不久便已座无虚席。

Shareholders from 49 states attended our 1995 meeting - where were you, Vermont? - and a number of foreign countries, including Australia, Sweden and Germany, were represented. As always, the meeting attracted shareholders who were interested in Berkshire's business - as contrasted to shareholders who are primarily interested in themselves - and the questions were all good. Charlie and I ate lunch on stage and answered questions for about five hours.

来自 49 个州的股东参与 1995 年的年度股东会(你从哪里来，是佛蒙特州吗？)，另外还有一些股东来自海外地区，包含澳洲、瑞典与德国等国家，一如往常，年会吸引了许多真正关心公司发展的股东参加，与其它公司只关心自己利益的股东相比有很大的不同，所提出的问题也相当好，查理跟我花了五个多小时回答问题，连午餐都直接在台上解决。

We feel that if owners come from all over the world, we should try to make sure they have an opportunity to ask their questions. Most shareholders leave about noon, but a thousand or so hardcore types usually stay to see whether we will drop. Charlie and I are in training to last at least five hours again this year.

因为我们认为股东们从世界各地远道而来，所以总是希望让他们都有机会可以发问，大部分的股东在中午过后就纷纷离席，但还是有一千多名比较死忠的股东想要瞧瞧我们到底能够撑多久，今年查理跟我希望尽量努力能够像去年那样至少撑五个小时以上。

We will have our usual array of Berkshire products at the meeting and this year will add a sales representative from GEICO. At the 1995 meeting, we sold 747 pounds of candy, 759 pairs of shoes, and over $17,500 of World Books and related publications. In a move that might have been dangerous had our stock been weak, we added knives last year from our Quikut subsidiary and sold 400 sets of these. (We draw the line at soft fruit, however.) All of these goods will again be available this year. We don't consider a cultural event complete unless a little business is mixed in.

依照惯例，我们在会场上展示了一些伯克希尔的产品，今天将会新增一位 GEICO 保险公司的业务代表，去年股东会总计卖出了 747 磅的糖果、759 双的鞋子以及价值超过 17,500 美元的世界百科全书与相关出版品，另外我们临时还增加了旗下子公司 Quikut 所生产的小刀，总计卖出 400 把(幸好去年公司股价表现不错，否则这可能是相当危险的一项举动)，今年这些商品将再度与会，我觉得这项盛会总要带点商业气息才算完整圆满。

Because we expect a large crowd for the meeting, we recommend that you promptly get both plane and hotel reservations. Those of you who like to be downtown (about six miles from the Centre) may wish to stay at the Radisson Redick Tower, a small (88 rooms) but nice hotel, or at the much larger Red Lion Hotel a few blocks away. In the vicinity of the Centre are the Holiday Inn (403 rooms), Homewood Suites (118 rooms) and Hampton Inn (136 rooms). Another recommended spot is the Marriott, whose west Omaha location is about 100 yards from Borsheim's and a ten-minute drive from the Centre. There will be buses at the Marriott that will leave at 7:30, 8:00 and 8:30 for the meeting and return after it ends.

由于预期会有相当多的人与会，我们建议大家最好先预订机位与住宿，想要住在市中心的人(距离会场约 6 英哩)可以选择拥有 88 个房间 Radisson-Redick 旅馆，或是旁边较大一点的 RedLion 旅馆，至于会场附近则有Holiday Inn(403 个房间)、Homewood Suites(118 个房间)或 Hampton Inn(136 个房间)，另一个推荐的旅馆是位在奥马哈西区的 Marriott，离波仙珠宝店约 100 公尺，距离会场约 10 分钟的车程，届时在哪里将会有巴士分 7:30、8:00 跟 8:30 三班，接送大家往返股东会会场。

An attachment to our proxy material explains how you can obtain the card you will need for admission to the meeting. A good-sized parking area is available at the Centre, while those who stay at the Holiday Inn, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn will be able to walk to the meeting. As usual, we will have buses to take you to the Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borsheim's after the meeting and to take you from there to hotels or the airport later.

后面附有股东会开会投票的相关资料，跟各位解释如何拿到入场所许的识别证。当天会场有相当大的停车场，住在 Holiday Inn、Homewood Suites 或 Hampton Inn 的人可以直接走路过来开会，一如往年，会后我们备有巴士带大家到内布拉斯加家具店与波仙珠宝店或是到饭店与机场。

NFM's main store, on its 64-acre site about two miles north of the Centre, is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Rose Blumkin - "Mrs. B" - is now 102, but will be hard at work in Mrs. B's Warehouse. She was honored in November at the opening of The Rose, a classic downtown theater of the 20's that has been magnificently restored, but that would have been demolished had she not saved it. Ask her to tell you the story.

占地 60 英亩的内布拉斯加家具店主馆距离会场约 2 英哩远，营业时间平日从早上 10 点到下午 9 点，周六从早上 10 点到下午 6 点，周日则从中午开到下午 6 点，Rose Blumkin-B 夫人今年高龄 102 岁，不过每天还是会到 B 夫人仓库工作，去年十一月她应邀到 Rose 表演中心担任开幕剪彩嘉宾，原本是 20 年代老旧的戏院在 B 夫人大力的支持下得以重新修复，记得问她有关这一段的故事。

Borsheim's normally is closed on Sunday but will be open for shareholders and their guests from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 5th. Additionally, we will have a special opening for shareholders on Saturday, the 4th, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Last year, on Shareholders Day, we wrote 1,733 tickets in the six hours we were open - which is a sale every 13 seconds. Remember, though, that records are made to be broken.

平时礼拜天不营业的波仙珠宝，特地在 5 月 5 日股东会当天会为股东与来宾开放，从中午开到下午 6 点，此外今年在 5 月 4 日周六股东会的前一晚从下午 6 点到晚上 9 点，还将特地为股东开放，去年股东会当天，在短短六个小时的营业时间内，我们总共收到 1,733 张定单，等于每 13 秒就有一笔生意成交，各位请记得记录本来就是用来打破的。

At Borsheim's, we will also have the world's largest faceted diamond on display. Two years in the cutting, this inconspicuous bauble is 545 carats in size. Please inspect this stone and let it guide you in determining what size gem is appropriate for the one you love.

在波仙珠宝店，将会展出一颗全世界最大的切面钻石，花费两年的时间切割，这颗不甚起眼的玩意儿总共有 545 克拉重，请大家好好看看这一颗宝石，然后再决定你应该为你心爱的人买一颗多大的。

On Saturday evening, May 4, there will be a baseball game at Rosenblatt Stadium between the Omaha Royals and the Louisville Redbirds. I expect to make the opening pitch - owning a quarter of the team assures me of one start per year - but our manager, Mike Jirschele, will probably make his usual mistake and yank me immediately after. About 1,700 shareholders attended last year's game. Unfortunately, we had a rain-out, which greatly disappointed the many scouts in the stands. But the smart ones will be back this year, and I plan to show them my best stuff.

在前一天 5 月 4 日，周六晚上，Rosenblatt 体育馆将会有一场奥马哈皇家队对路易维里红鸟队的比赛，我准备在开幕时担任开球工作，拥有该队 25%的所有权确保我可以每年担任一次首发，不过一如往常我们的球队经理Mike 大概都会做出错误的决定，很快地就把我拉下场，去年大约有 1,700 位股东出席这项盛会，可惜的是当晚因雨停赛，使得旁边的球童失望不已，今年好戏将会重新上演，而我也准备将拿手绝活展现出来。

Our proxy statement will include information about obtaining tickets to the game. We will also offer an information packet this year listing restaurants that will be open on Sunday night and describing various things that you can do in Omaha on the weekend.

股东会资料将告诉大家如何取得入场的门票，同时我们也会提供周日晚上会开张的餐厅信息，同时列出假日期间在奥马哈你可以从事的活动介绍。

For years, I've unsuccessfully tried to get my grade school classmate, "Pal" Gorat, to open his steakhouse for business on the Sunday evening preceding the meeting. But this year he's relented. Gorat's is a family-owned enterprise that has thrived for 52 years, and if you like steaks, you'll love this place. I've told Pal he will get a good crowd, so call Gorat's at 402-551-3733 for a reservation. You'll spot me there - I'll be the one eating the rare T-bone with a double order of hash browns.

多年来我一直无法成功说服我的小学同学 Gorat 所开的餐厅在年会当天晚上开门营业，不过今年他终于屈服，Gorat's 是一家有 52 年历史的老牌餐厅，如果你爱吃牛排，包准你会爱上这个地方，我已向 Gorat 拍胸脯保证一定会有很多顾客上门，所以记得打电话(402-551-3733)去预订，我保证大家一定可以在那里看到我，通常我会点一大份丁骨牛排加上双份的肉丸。

Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board
March 1, 1996