巴菲特致股东的信（1998年）
⑫给股东的报告⑬股东指定捐赠计划

Reports to Shareholders

         Berkshire's Internet site, www.berkshirehathaway.com, has become a prime source for information about the company. While we continue to send an annual report to all shareholders, we now send quarterlies only to those who request them, letting others read these at our site. In this report, we again enclose a card that can be returned by those wanting to get printed quarterlies in 1999.

给股东的报告

伯克希尔的官方网站 www.berkshirehathaway.com 成为取得本公司信息的最重要来源，除非事先要求，否则我们每季的季报都只通过网站对外公布，当然我们还是一如往来将每年的年报邮寄给各位股东，里面也包含了申请寄发 1999 年季报的申请表格。

         Charlie and I have two simple goals in reporting: 1) We want to give you the information that we would wish you to give us if our positions were reversed; and 2) We want to make Berkshire's information accessible to all of you simultaneously. Our ability to reach that second goal is greatly helped by the Internet.

在编写报告时，查理和我有两个简单的目标： 1) 我们希望向你们提供的信息，是我们在位置相反的情况下希望你们提供给我们的信息；2) 我们希望让你们所有人都能同时获得伯克希尔公司的信息。我们实现第二个目标的能力在很大程度上得益于互联网。

         In another portion of his September speech, Arthur Levitt deplored what he called "selective disclosure." His remarks were timely: Today, many companies matter-of-factly favor Wall Street analysts and institutional investors in a variety of ways that often skirt or cross the line of unfairness. These practices leave the great bulk of shareholders at a distinct disadvantage to a favored class.

阿瑟-莱维特(Arthur Levitt)在 9 月份演讲的另一部分中，谴责了他所谓的“选择性披露”。他的言论非常及时： 如今，许多公司实际上都在以各种方式袒华尔街分析师和机构投资者，这些方式往往绕过或越过了不公平的界限。这些做法使绝大多数股东处于明显不利的地位。

         At Berkshire, we regard the holder of one share of B stock as the equal of our large institutional investors. We, of course, warmly welcome institutions as owners and have gained a number of them through the General Re merger. We hope also that these new holders find that our owner's manual and annual reports offer them more insights and information about Berkshire than they garner about other companies from the investor relations departments that these corporations typically maintain. But if it is "earnings guidance" or the like that shareholders or analysts seek, we will simply guide them to our public documents.

在伯克希尔，我们将持有一股 B 股的人视为与我们的大型机构投资者同等的人。当然，我们热烈欢迎机构投资者成为我们的所有者，并通过通用再保险合并获得了许多机构投资者。我们也希望这些新的持有者发现，我们的所有者手册和年度报告为他们提供了更多关于伯克希尔公司的见解和信息，比他们从这些公司通常设立的投资者关系部门获得的关于其他公司的见解和信息要多得多。但是，如果股东或分析师需要的是 "盈利指导 "或类似信息，我们将引导他们查阅我们的公开文件。

         This year we plan to post our quarterly reports on the Internet after the close of the market on May 14, August 13, and November 12. We also expect to put the 1999 annual report on our website on Saturday, March 11, 2000, and to mail the print version at roughly the same time.

今年我们预计分别在 5 月 14 日、8 月 13 日及 11 月 12 日将季报公布在公司的网站上，另外也预计在2000年 3 月 11 日周六将年报公布在网站上，并在同一时间将年报邮寄出去给所有的股东。

         We promptly post press releases on our website. This means that you do not need to rely on the versions of these reported by the media but can instead read the full text on your computer. 

同时我们也会立即将相关的信息公布在我们的网站上，也就是说你不需要依赖经过报章媒体消化过的二手消息，而可以轻轻松松在家通过计算机直接读到最原始的内容。

         Despite the pathetic technical skills of your Chairman, I'm delighted to report that GEICO, Borsheim's, See's, and The Buffalo News are now doing substantial business via the Internet. We've also recently begun to offer annuity products on our website. This business was developed by Ajit Jain, who over the last decade has personally accounted for a significant portion of Berkshire's operating earnings. While Charlie and I sleep, Ajit keeps thinking of new ways to add value to Berkshire.

虽然本人对计算机一窍不通，但是我还是很高兴地向各位报告，我们旗下的事业，包含 GEICO 保险、波仙珠宝、喜诗糖果以及布法罗新闻在内现在皆已通过网络从事大量的商务活动，同时我们也开始在网站上销售相关的年金产品，这项业务主要是由阿吉特·贾恩所负责开发，他个人在过去十年来为伯克希尔贡献了大量的收益，每当查理跟我休息时，阿吉特还是无时无刻不在为伯克希尔想出增进价值的方法。

Shareholder-Designated Contributions

         About 97.5% of all eligible shares participated in Berkshire's 1998 shareholder-designated contributions program, with contributions totaling $16.9 million. A full description of the program appears on pages 54-55.

股东指定捐赠计划

大约有 97.5%的有效股权参与 1998 年的股东指定捐赠计划，捐出的款项总计约 1,690 万美元，详细的名单参阅附录。

         Cumulatively, over the 18 years of the program, Berkshire has made contributions of $130 million pursuant to the instructions of our shareholders. The rest of Berkshire's giving is done by our subsidiaries, which stick to the philanthropic patterns that prevailed before they were acquired (except that their former owners themselves take on the responsibility for their personal charities). In aggregate, our subsidiaries made contributions of $12.5 million in 1998, including in-kind donations of $2.0 million.

累计过去 18 年以来，伯克希尔总计已依照股东意愿捐赠出高达 1.3 亿美元的款项，除了之外，伯克希尔还通过旗下的子公司进行捐赠，而这些慈善活动都是早在他们被我们并购以前就进行多年(先前的老板自行本身负责的个人捐赠计划之外除外)，总的来说，我们旗下的关系企业在 1998 年总计捐出 1,250 万美元，其中包含200 万美元等值的物品。

         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, 1999, will be ineligible for the 1999 program. When you get the contributions form from us, return it promptly so that it does not get put aside or forgotten. Designations received after the due date will not be honored.

想要参加这项计划者，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 1999 年 8 月 31 日之前完成登记，才有权利参与 1999 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，逾期恕不受理。

上一页 下一页

〔译文源于芒格书院整理的巴菲特致股东的信〕

© Copyright 2023 Meitiandudian. All Rights Reserved.