巴菲特致股东的信（1996年）
⑭年度股东大会

The Annual Meeting

     Our capitalist's version of Woodstock -the Berkshire Annual Meeting-will be held on Monday, May 5. Charlie and I thoroughly enjoy this event, and we hope that you come. We will start at 9:30 a.m., break for about 15 minutes at noon (food will be available - but at a price, of course), and then continue talking to hard-core attendees until at least 3:30. Last year we had representatives from all 50 states, as well as Australia, Greece, Israel, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The annual meeting is a time for owners to get their business-related questions answered, and therefore Charlie and I will stay on stage until we start getting punchy. (When that happens, I hope you notice a change.)

年度股东大会

资本家版的 Woodstock 伯克希尔股东年会将在 5 月 5 日周一举行，查理跟我实在是很喜欢这场盛会，所以我们很希望大家都能来，会议预计从早上 9 点半正式开始，中午休息 15 分钟(现场备有餐点，不过必须付费)，然后会继续与许多死忠的股东谈到下午三点半。去年全美 50 州都有股东代表出席，另外还有来自海外地区，如澳洲、希腊、以色列、葡萄牙、新加坡、瑞典、瑞士以及英国等国家。股东年会是公司股东可以得到有关公司经营所有问题解答的场合，所以查理跟我一定会竭尽所能地回答各位提出的问题，直到我们头昏脑胀为止(如果查理跟我有异状时，希望各位能及时发现)。

     Last year we had attendance of 5,000 and strained the capacity of the Holiday Convention Centre, even though we spread out over three rooms. This year, our new Class B shares have caused a doubling of our stockholder count, and we are therefore moving the meeting to the Aksarben Coliseum, which holds about 10,000 and also has a huge parking lot. The doors will open for the meeting at 7:00 a.m., and at 8:30 we will - upon popular demand - show a new Berkshire movie produced by Marc Hamburg, our CFO. (In this company, no one gets by with doing only a single job.)

去年总共有 5000 名股东与会，虽然我们预先另外准备了三间小会议室，不过还是把 Holiday 会议中心给挤爆了，今年由于发行 B 级普通股的关系使得我们的股东人数又增加了整整一倍，因此我们决定把开会的场地移到可以容纳 10000 人同时备有巨大停车场的 Aksarben 体育馆，大门会在当天早上 7 点开放，同时在 8:30 我们会播放由财务官 Marc Hamburg 制作的全新伯克希尔电影短片供大家欣赏(在伯克希尔所有人都必须身兼数职)。

     Overcoming our legendary repugnance for activities even faintly commercial, we will also have an abundant array of Berkshire products for sale in the halls outside the meeting room. Last year we broke all records, selling 1,270 pounds of See's candy, 1,143 pairs of Dexter shoes, $29,000 of World Books and related publications, and 700 sets of knives manufactured by our Quikut subsidiary. Additionally, many shareholders made inquiries about GEICO auto policies. If you would like to investigate possible insurance savings, bring your present policy to the meeting. We estimate that about 40% of our shareholders can save money by insuring with us. (We'd like to say 100%, but the insurance business doesn't work that way: Because insurers differ in their underwriting judgments, some of our shareholders are currently paying rates that are lower than GEICO's.)

为了克服大家对于商业气息的厌恶，我们在会场外大厅备有伯克希尔各式各样的产品供大家选购，去年我们打破记录，总共卖出 1,270 磅的糖果、1,143 双的鞋子以及价值超过 29,000 美元的世界百科全书与相关出版品，外加 700 只由旗下子公司 Quikut 所生产的刀具，另外在现场许多股东询问有关 GEICO 保险汽车保险的信息，如果你想在汽车保险费上省一笔钱，记得把你现在的保单带到现场，我们估计至少有 40%的股东可以因此而节省不少保费(我很想说 100%，不过保险业实务的经营并非如此，因为每家保险业者对于风险的估计都不同，事实上，我们有些股东支付的保费就比跟 GEICO 保险投保要来得低)。  

     An attachment to the proxy material enclosed with this report explains how you can obtain the card you will need for admission to the meeting. We expect a large crowd, so get both plane and hotel reservations promptly. American Express (800-799-6634) will be happy to help you with arrangements. As usual, we will have buses servicing the larger hotels to take you to and from the meeting, and also to take you to Nebraska Furniture Mart, Borsheim's and the airport after it is over.

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，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，美国运通(电话 800-799-6634)将会很高兴为您提供相关安排服务，如同以往，我们会安排巴士接送大家往返各大旅馆与会场之间，并在会后接送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, located on a 75-acre site about a mile from Aksarben, 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. Come by and say hello to "Mrs. B" (Rose Blumkin). She's 103 now and sometimes operates with an oxygen mask that is attached to a tank on her cart. But if you try to keep pace with her, it will be you who needs oxygen. NFM did about $265 million of business last year - a record for a single-location home furnishings operation - and you'll see why once you check out its merchandise and prices.

占地 75 英亩的内布拉斯加家具店主馆距离会场约 1 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，记得去向 RoseBlumkin-B 夫人问好，她今年高龄 103 岁，有时还会戴上氧气罩在轮椅上工作，不过如果你想要跟上她的脚步，需要氧气的可能是你，内布拉斯加家具店去年的营业额高达 2.65 亿美元，这是全美单一家具店营业的新高记录，记得去现场查一查商品的种类与标价，你就会知道原因了。

     Borsheim's normally is closed on Sunday but will be open for shareholders from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 4th. Last year on "Shareholder Sunday" we broke every Borsheim's record in terms of tickets, dollar volume and, no doubt, attendees per square inch. Because we expect a capacity crowd this year as well, all shareholders attending on Sunday must bring their admission cards. Shareholders who prefer a somewhat less frenzied experience will get the same special treatment on Saturday, when the store is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., or on Monday between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Come by at any time this year and let Susan Jacques, Borsheim's CEO, and her skilled associates perform a painless walletectomy on you.  

平时礼拜天不营业的波仙珠宝，特地在五月四日股东会当天为股东与来宾开放，从中午开到下午 6点，去年在周六股东会前一天，我们打破了波仙单日的订单量与营业额记录，当然还包括每平方英吋的参观人数记录，今年我们考量到参观人数还会再增加，所以大家在当天一定要准备好入场证，当然不想人挤人的股东可以选择在前一天或后一天前往参观，周六从早上 10 点开到下午 5 点半，周一则从早上 10 点开到晚上 8 点，无论如何今年大家一定要来看看波仙的总裁 Susan 是如何施展她的技巧将你的荷包给掏空。

     My favorite steakhouse, Gorat's, was sold out last year on the weekend of the annual meeting, even though it added an additional seating at 4 p.m. on Sunday. You can make reservations beginning on April 1st (but not earlier) by calling 402-551-3733. I will be at Gorat's on Sunday after Borsheim's, having my usual rare T-bone and double order of hashbrowns. I can also recommend - this is the standard fare when Debbie Bosanek, my invaluable assistant, and I go to lunch - the hot roast beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. Mention Debbie's name and you will be given an extra boat of gravy.

我个人最爱的牛排馆 Gorat's 去年在股东年会的那个周末完全客满，虽然临时还在周日下午四点多排出的一个空档，今年该餐厅从四月一号开始接受预订(电话 402-551-3733)，我会在周日参加完波仙珠宝的活动后到Gorat's 享用我最常点的丁骨牛排加上双份的肉丸，当然我也推荐我的宝贝助理 Debbie 标准的菜单-生烤牛肉三明治外加马铃薯泥与肉汤，记得报上 Debbie 的名号，你就可以多得到一碗肉汤。

     The Omaha Royals and Indianapolis Indians will play baseball on Saturday evening, May 3rd, at Rosenblatt Stadium. Pitching in my normal rotation - one throw a year - I will start.

在前一天 5 月 3 日周六晚上，Rosenblatt 体育馆将会有一场奥马哈皇家队对印第安纳拿波里市印第安人队的比赛，一如往年轮到由我先发，每一年就投那么一球。

     Though Rosenblatt is normal in appearance, it is anything but: The field sits on a unique geological structure that occasionally emits short gravitational waves causing even the most smoothly-delivered pitch to sink violently. I have been the victim of this weird phenomenon several times in the past but am hoping for benign conditions this year. There will be lots of opportunities for photos at the ball game, but you will need incredibly fast reflexes to snap my fast ball en route to the plate.

虽然 Rosenblatt 球场的外观看起来与其它球场没有多大的不同，不过它的投手丘地形却相当特殊，有时会发出特殊的重力短波，导致本来很平稳投出的球突然急速往下坠，过去有好几次我都成为这种怪异自然现象的受害者，不过我还是希望今年的情况会好一点，虽然当天会场有许多拍照的机会，不过我还是奉劝大家的快门要抓准一点，才能完整捕捉由我投出的快速球。

     Our proxy statement includes information about obtaining tickets to the game. We will also provide an information packet listing restaurants that will be open on Sunday night and describing various things that you can do in Omaha on the weekend. The entire gang at Berkshire looks forward to seeing you.

股东会资料将告诉大家如何取得球赛入场的门票，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，伯克希尔总部所有成员都期待能够见到大家。

Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board
February 28, 1997

沃伦.巴菲特
董事会主席
1997年2月28日

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