巴菲特致股东的信（2008年）⑪年度股东大会

The Annual Meeting

年度股东大会

Our meeting this year will be held on Saturday, May 2nd. As always, the doors will open at the Qwest Center at 7 a.m., and a new Berkshire movie will be shown at 8:30. At 9:30 we will go directly to the question-and-answer period, which (with a break for lunch at the Qwest’s stands) will last until 3:00. Then, after a short recess, Charlie and I will convene the annual meeting at 3:15. If you decide to leave during the day’s question periods, please do so while Charlie is talking.

今年我们的年会将在 5 月 2 日周六举行。像往常一样， Qwest 中心大门将在早上 7 点中打开，新的伯克希尔大电影将在 8 点半播放。9 点半我们将直接进入问答环节(午餐将稍作休息，在 Qwest 的观众席举行)，会议将持续到下午 3 点。短时间的休息过后，查理和我就很喜欢在 3 点 15 分召开的年度大会。如果你决定在当天的问题环节离开，请在查理说话的时候离开。

The best reason to exit, of course, is to shop. We will help you do that by filling the 194,300-squarefoot hall that adjoins the meeting area with the products of Berkshire subsidiaries. Last year, the 31,000 people who came to the meeting did their part, and almost every location racked up record sales. But you can do better. (A friendly warning: If I find sales are lagging, I lock the exits.)

离开的最好理由，当然就是购物。我们会在连接会场的 194300 平方英尺的大堂摆放伯克希尔子公司的产品。去年，3.1 万到会的人们都在这里购物，几乎每个摊位都创出了新的销售记录。但你可以做得更好(友情提醒：如果我发现销售情况差，我会把出口的门锁上。)

This year Clayton will showcase its new i-house that includes Shaw flooring, Johns Manville insulation and MiTek fasteners. This innovative “green” home, featuring solar panels and numerous other energy-saving products, is truly a home of the future. Estimated costs for electricity and heating total only about $1 per day when the home is sited in an area like Omaha. After purchasing the i-house, you should next consider the Forest River RV and pontoon boat on display nearby. Make your neighbors jealous.

今年，Clayton 会陈列出他新的预制房屋，包括 Shaw 地毯，JohnsManville 隔音墙和 Mitek 紧固件。这个创新的"绿色"住宅以太阳能板和其他众多节能产品为特征，是真正意义上的未来房子。如果这个房子在像奥马哈这样的地区的话，电热费加起来估计总共才 1 美元一天。买了 i-house 之后，你会接下来考虑在旁边陈列的森林之河房车和浮艇。一定会让你的邻居很羡慕。

GEICO will have a booth staffed by a number of its top counselors from around the country, all of them ready to supply you with auto insurance quotes. In most cases, GEICO will be able to give you a shareholder discount (usually 8%). This special offer is permitted by 44 of the 50 jurisdictions in which we operate. (One supplemental point: The discount is not additive if you qualify for another, such as that given certain groups.) Bring the details of your existing insurance and check out whether we can save you money. For at least 50% of you, I believe we can.

GEICO 将会有一个摊位，员工都是全国最好的顾问，他们都会为你提供汽车保险定价。许多时候，GEICO 会给你们一个股东优惠折扣(通常是 8%).这个特殊的优惠在我们的 50 个管辖区内，有 44 个管辖区得到许可。(补充：如果你满足其他优惠团体的要求，这个优惠将不会附加上去。)带上你现有保险的详细资料，检查一下我们是否可以帮你省钱。我相信，至少有 50%的人可以。

On Saturday, at the Omaha airport, we will have the usual array of NetJets aircraft available for your inspection. Stop by the NetJets booth at the Qwest to learn about viewing these planes. Come to Omaha by bus; leave in your new plane. And take along – with no fear of a strip search – the Ginsu knives that you’ve purchased at the exhibit of our Quikut subsidiary.

周六，在奥马哈机场，我们会像往常一样有一系列 NetJets 飞机让你检阅。在 Qwest 的 NetJets 的摊位停留一下，学习如何观赏这些飞机.乘坐公车到达奥马哈，进入你的新飞机。不用担心光身检查，带上你在我们 Quikut 子公司展示上买的 Ginsu 小刀。

Next, if you have any money left, visit the Bookworm, which will be selling about 30 books and DVDs. A shipping service will be available for those whose thirst for knowledge exceeds their carrying capacity.

接下来，如果你还有钱，可到访一下书虫书店，这里出售大约 30 种书籍和 DVD。现场有运输服务，为那些渴望学习新知识却不够能力搬运的人解决问题。

Finally, we will have three fascinating cars on the exhibition floor, including one from the past and one of the future. Paul Andrews, CEO of our subsidiary, TTI, will bring his 1935 Duesenberg, a car that once belonged to Mrs. Forrest Mars, Sr., parent and grandparent of our new partners in the Wrigley purchase. The future will be represented by a new plug-in electric car developed by BYD, an amazing Chinese company in which we have a 10% interest.

最后，我们的展示厅有三辆迷人的汽车，其中一辆来自过去和一辆来自未来。我们 TTI 子公司的CEO：PaulAndrews 将会带来他 1935 年版的 Duesenberg，这辆车曾经属于我们在 Wrigley收购案中新合伙人的母亲和外祖母 MrsForrestMars,Sr.。而未来的那一辆由一个令人惊奇的中国汽车公司 BYD 所生产的(插电汽车)作为代表，同时我们也拥有这个公司 10%的产权。

An attachment to the proxy material that is enclosed with this report explains how you can obtain the credential you will need for admission to the meeting and other events. As for plane, hotel and car reservations, we have again signed up American Express (800-799-6634) to give you special help. Carol Pedersen, who handles these matters, does a terrific job for us each year, and I thank her for it. Hotel rooms can be hard to find, but work with Carol and you will get one.

连同这份报告书一起附上的委托书附件里解释了如何取得参加会议以及其它活动所需要的凭证。至于飞机，酒店以及汽车的预订，我们已与美国快递(800-799-6634)签署合约，他们将为您提供详尽的服务。每年负责这些事项的 CarolPedersen 工作十分出色，在此我对她表示谢意。酒店预订可能会有难度，请和 Carol 联系她会帮你解决这个问题。

At Nebraska Furniture Mart, located on a 77-acre site on 72nd Street between Dodge and Pacific, we will again be having “Berkshire Weekend” discount pricing. We initiated this special event at NFM twelve years ago, and sales during the “Weekend” grew from $5.3 million in 1997 to a record $33.3 million in 2008. On Saturday of that weekend, we also set a single day record of $7.2 million. Ask any retailer what he thinks of such volume.

位于 Dodge 和 Pacific 中间 72 大街，占地 77 英亩的内布拉斯加家具店今年仍会举行"伯克希尔周末"折扣活动。这项特殊的活动于 12 年前在内布拉斯加家具店首次举行，活动期间的销售额由 1997 年的 530 万美元上升到2008 年的 3330 万美元。仅周六一天，我们就创造了单日 720 万美元的销售记录。问一问任何一个零售商他对这个数量的看法吧。

To obtain the Berkshire discount, you must make your purchases between Thursday, April 30th and Monday, May 4th inclusive, and also present your meeting credential. The period’s special pricing will even apply to the products of several prestigious manufacturers that normally have ironclad rules against discounting but which, in the spirit of our shareholder weekend, have made an exception for you. We appreciate their cooperation. NFM is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. On Saturday this year, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., NFM is having a western cookout to which you are all invited.

为了享受伯克希尔公司的折扣，请您在 4 月 30 日周四到 5 月 4 日周一这段期间购买，届时请出示你的与会凭证。在此优惠期间，本着此次活动的精神，折扣价格甚至适用于某些享有很高声望但通常有严格规定不许折价出售的商品，我们非常感谢这些生产商的配合。内布拉斯加家具店的营业时间是周一至周六早上 10点到晚上 9 点，周日早上 10 点到下午 6 点。此外，今年周六下午 5 点 30 分到晚上 8 点钟，内布拉斯加家具店将会举办西式野外烹饮聚会，欢迎各位参加。

At Borsheims, we will again have two shareholder-only events. The first will be a cocktail reception from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, May 1st. The second, the main gala, will be held on Sunday, May 3rd, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday, we will be open until 6 p.m.

在波仙珠宝将有两项专为股东举办的活动。首先是 5 月 1 日周五晚上6-10 点的鸡尾酒会。其次是 5 月 3 日周日早上 9 点至下午 4 点的大型售卖活动，周六则持续到下午 6 点。

We will have huge crowds at Borsheims throughout the weekend. For your convenience, therefore, shareholder prices will be available from Monday, April 27th through Saturday, May 9th. During that period, please identify yourself as a shareholder by presenting your meeting credentials or a brokerage statement that shows you are a Berkshire holder.

预计周末波仙珠宝会有大量的人潮，出于您的方便考虑，股东价格优惠期间由 4 月 27 日周一起至 6 月 9 日周六止。在此期间，请出示您的股东与会凭证或代理委托书以证实您是伯克希尔公司持有人的身份。

On Sunday, in the mall outside of Borsheims, a blindfolded Patrick Wolff, twice U.S. chess champion, will take on all comers – who will have their eyes wide open – in groups of six. Nearby, Norman Beck, a remarkable magician from Dallas, will bewilder onlookers. Additionally, we will have Bob Hamman and Sharon Osberg, two of the world’s top bridge experts, available to play bridge with our shareholders on Sunday afternoon.

周日在波仙珠宝大卖场的外面，两届美国象棋冠军 PatrickWolff 将蒙眼挑战所有前来的参赛者，六人为一组，参赛者眼睛无需蒙上。在此附近，来自达拉斯的著名魔术大师 NormanBeck 将使旁观者们不知所措。另外，两位世界顶尖的棋牌专家 BobHamman 和 SharonOsberg 将在周日下午与股东们进行切磋。

Gorat’s will again be open exclusively for Berkshire shareholders on Sunday, May 3rd, and will be serving from 1 p.m. until 10 p.m. Last year Gorat’s, which seats 240, served 975 dinners on Shareholder Sunday. The three-day total was 2,448 including 702 T-bone steaks, the entrée preferred by the cognoscenti. Please don’t embarrass me by ordering foie gras. Remember: To come to Gorat’s on that day, you must have a reservation. To make one, call 402-551-3733 on April 1st (but not before).

Gorat's 将在 5 月 3 日周日下午 1 点至 10 点专为伯克希尔公司股东们提供服务。去年，足以容纳 240 人的Gorat's 在周日提供了 975 道餐点，3 天里一共提供了 2448 道，其中包括 702 行家们青睐的主菜——T 骨牛排。如果你要点鹅肝，请不要觉得让我为难。请记住：如果你选择那天在 Gorat's 用餐，请在 4 月 1 日订位(无需提前)，预订电话为：402-551-3733。

We will again have a reception at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon for shareholders who have come from outside North America. Every year our meeting draws many people from around the globe, and Charlie and I want to be sure we personally greet those who have come so far. Last year we enjoyed meeting more than 700 of you from many dozens of countries. Any shareholder who comes from outside the U.S. or Canada will be given a special credential and instructions for attending this function.

周六下午 4 点钟同样会有一场专为来自非北美地区的股东而设的招待会。每一年我们举办的会议都会吸引来自世界各地的人士前来参加，为了表示热诚的欢迎，我和查理将会亲自迎接来自远方的客人们。去年我们就接见了来自不同国家的 700 多个贵客。来自非北美和加拿大的股东们都会收到特别的入场凭证以及参加本场招待会的指南。

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This year we will be making important changes in how we handle the meeting’s question periods. In recent years, we have received only a handful of questions directly related to Berkshire and its operations. Last year there were practically none. So we need to steer the discussion back to Berkshire’s businesses.

今年我们在处理股东提问的环节上会有重大的改变。最近几年，我们只收到了少量与伯克希尔公司及其运作相关的问题，而去年几乎没有收到。所以我们必须将讨论的主题引导到伯克希尔公司的业务事务上。

In a related problem, there has been a mad rush when the doors open at 7 a.m., led by people who wish to be first in line at the 12 microphones available for questioners. This is not desirable from a safety standpoint, nor do we believe that sprinting ability should be the determinant of who gets to pose questions. (At age 78, I’ve concluded that speed afoot is a ridiculously overrated talent.) Again, a new procedure is desirable.

另一个相关的问题就是：当早上 7 点钟开门的时候曾经出现过混乱的场面，原因就是人们争先排队为了取得用于发问的扩音器。这从安全的角度出发是不可取的，我们也不认为奋力而跑的能力是决定能否发问的因素。(在 78 岁这一年我总结出徒步疾行是荒谬的被高估的才能。)因此，一个新的程序是迫切需要的。

In our first change, several financial journalists from organizations representing newspapers, magazines and television will participate in the question-and-answer period, asking Charlie and me questions that shareholders have submitted by e-mail. The journalists and their e-mail addresses are: Carol Loomis, of Fortune, who may be emailed at cloomis@fortunemail.com; Becky Quick, of CNBC, at BerkshireQuestions@cnbc.com, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, of The New York Times, at arsorkin@nytimes.com. From the questions submitted, each journalist will choose the dozen or so he or she decides are the most interesting and important. (In your e-mail, let the journalist know if you would like your name mentioned if your question is selected.)

第一个变化，一些来自报纸杂志以及电视媒体的金融新闻工作者将会参加问答环节，并向我和查理提出股东们通过电子邮件提交的问题。他们的名字和邮箱分别为：财富杂志 Carol Loomis，cllomis@fortunemail.com；CNBC 的 Becky Quick，berkshirequestion@cnbc.com；纽约时报的 Andrew Ross Sorkin，arsorkin@nytimes.com。每个记者都会从所提交的问题中选出他们认为最有趣和重要的一些问题参与讨论。(如果您的问题被选中而您希望记者在提问时提及您的名字，请在电子邮件中注明。)

Neither Charlie nor I will get so much as a clue about the questions to be asked. We know the journalists will pick some tough ones and that’s the way we like it.

我和查理都无法从中得到太多关于所要问及问题的线索。我们知道记者们会选一些比较尖锐的问题，而我们喜欢这种方式。

In our second change, we will have a drawing at 8:15 at each microphone for those shareholders hoping to ask questions themselves. At the meeting, I will alternate the questions asked by the journalists with those from the winning shareholders. At least half the questions – those selected by the panel from your submissions – are therefore certain to be Berkshire-related. We will meanwhile continue to get some good – and perhaps entertaining – questions from the audience as well.

我们的第二个变化是，我们会在 8 点 15 分为那些想提问题的股东进行一个麦克风的抽签。在会上，我会轮流回答记者和在场股东的提问。因此，至少一半的问题是从你们的提交中选出的并且是与伯克希尔公司有关的。同时我们也会继续回答一些来自观众的好的问题，也许涉及娱乐的。

So join us at our Woodstock for Capitalists and let us know how you like the new format. Charlie and I look forward to seeing you.

所以请参加我们为资本家们举办的年度伍德斯托克音乐节，并让我们知道你是否喜欢这一新形式。我和查理非常期待您的光临。

Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board

February 27, 2009

沃伦.巴菲特
董事会主席
2009年2月27日