巴菲特致股东的信（2021年）③惊喜，惊喜

Surprise, Surprise

惊喜，惊喜

Here are a few items about your company that often surprise even seasoned investors:

关于伯克希尔，以下几点经常让经验丰富的投资者也感到惊讶：

● Many people perceive Berkshire as a large and somewhat strange collection of financial assets. In truth, Berkshire owns and operates more U.S.-based “infrastructure” assets – classified on our balance sheet as property, plant and equipment – than are owned and operated by any other American corporation. That supremacy has never been our goal. It has, however, become a fact.

很多人把伯克希尔看作一个大型的、有些古怪的金融资产集合体。事实上，伯克希尔拥有并运营的美国"基础设施"资产——在资产负债表上归类为财产、厂房和设备——比任何其他美国公司都多。这种领先地位从来不是我们刻意追求的目标，但它已经成为一个事实。

At yearend, those domestic infrastructure assets were carried on Berkshire’s balance sheet at $158 billion. That number increased last year and will continue to increase. Berkshire always will be building.

截至年末，这些国内基础设施资产在伯克希尔的资产负债表上价值1,580亿美元。这个数字去年还在增长，未来还会继续增长。伯克希尔永远都在建设。

● Every year, your company makes substantial federal income tax payments. In 2021, for example, we paid $3.3 billion while the U.S. Treasury reported total corporate income-tax receipts of $402 billion. Additionally, Berkshire pays substantial state and foreign taxes. “I gave at the office” is an unassailable assertion when made by Berkshire shareholders.

每年，伯克希尔都要缴纳大量的联邦所得税。例如，2021年我们缴纳了33亿美元，而美国财政部报告的企业所得税总收入为4,020亿美元。此外，伯克希尔还要缴纳大量的州税和外国税。当伯克希尔的股东说"我已经在公司里捐过钱了"时，这话绝对经得起推敲。

Berkshire’s history vividly illustrates the invisible and often unrecognized financial partnership between government and American businesses. Our tale begins early in 1955, when Berkshire Fine Spinning and Hathaway Manufacturing agreed to merge their businesses. In their requests for shareholder approval, these venerable New England textile companies expressed high hopes for the combination.

伯克希尔的历史生动地诠释了美国政府与企业之间那种看不见的、往往不被承认的财务合伙关系。我们的故事要从1955年初说起，当时伯克希尔精纺公司 (Berkshire Fine Spinning) 和哈撒韦制造公司 (Hathaway Manufacturing) 同意合并。在征求股东批准的文件中，这两家历史悠久的新英格兰纺织公司对合并寄予厚望。

The Hathaway solicitation, for example, assured its shareholders that “The combination of the resources and managements will result in one of the strongest and most efficient organizations in the textile industry.” That upbeat view was endorsed by the company’s advisor, Lehman Brothers (yes, that Lehman Brothers).

比如，哈撒韦公司在征求文件中向股东保证："两家公司资源和管理层的合并，将打造出纺织业中最强大、最高效的企业之一。"这一乐观观点得到了该公司顾问——雷曼兄弟 (Lehman Brothers) 的背书（没错，就是那个雷曼兄弟）。

I’m sure it was a joyous day in both Fall River (Berkshire) and New Bedford (Hathaway) when the union was consummated. After the bands stopped playing and the bankers went home, however, the shareholders reaped a disaster.

我敢肯定，合并完成的那天，对伯克希尔所在的福尔里弗 (Fall River) 和哈撒韦所在的新贝德福德 (New Bedford) 来说，都是欢天喜地的日子。然而，当乐队散场、银行家们打道回府之后，股东们收获的却是一场灾难。

In the nine years following the merger, Berkshire’s owners watched the company’s net worth crater from $51.4 million to $22.1 million. In part, this decline was caused by stock repurchases, ill-advised dividends and plant shutdowns. But nine years of effort by many thousands of employees delivered an operating loss as well. Berkshire’s struggles were not unusual: The New England textile industry had silently entered an extended and non-reversible death march.

合并后的九年里，伯克希尔的股东们眼睁睁看着公司的净资产从5,140万美元暴跌至2,210万美元。部分原因在于股票回购、不明智的分红和工厂关闭。但九年间数千名员工的辛勤劳动，也同样只换来了经营亏损。伯克希尔的困境并非个案：新英格兰纺织业已经悄悄步入了一场漫长而不可逆转的死亡行军。

During the nine post-merger years, the U.S. Treasury suffered as well from Berkshire’s troubles. All told, the company paid the government only $337,359 in income tax during that period – a pathetic $100 per day.

合并后的这九年里，美国财政部也因伯克希尔的困境而受损。这一时期，公司总共只缴纳了337,359美元的所得税——可怜巴巴的每天100美元。

Early in 1965, things changed. Berkshire installed new management that redeployed available cash and steered essentially all earnings into a variety of good businesses, most of which remained good through the years. Coupling reinvestment of earnings with the power of compounding worked its magic, and shareholders prospered.

1965年初，一切开始改变。伯克希尔迎来了新的管理层，重新配置了可用资金，基本上把所有收益都投入到了各种好生意中，其中大部分在此后多年一直保持优秀。收益再投资加上复利的力量产生了奇妙的效果，股东们变得富有。

Berkshire’s owners, it should be noted, were not the only beneficiary of that course correction. Their “silent partner,” the U.S. Treasury, proceeded to collect many tens of billions of dollars from the company in income tax payments. Remember the $100 daily? Now, Berkshire pays roughly $9 million daily to the Treasury.

值得注意的是，伯克希尔的股东并非这次方向调整的唯一受益者。他们"沉默的合伙人"——美国财政部——随后从公司累计收取了数百亿美元的所得税。还记得当初每天100美元的日子吗？现在，伯克希尔每天向财政部缴纳大约900万美元。

In fairness to our governmental partner, our shareholders should acknowledge – indeed trumpet – the fact that Berkshire’s prosperity has been fostered mightily because the company has operated in America. Our country would have done splendidly in the years since 1965 without Berkshire. Absent our American home, however, Berkshire would never have come close to becoming what it is today. When you see the flag, say thanks.

公平地说，我们的股东应该承认——不，应该大声宣扬——伯克希尔的繁荣在很大程度上得益于它在美国经营。自1965年以来，即便没有伯克希尔，我们的国家照样会蓬勃发展。但如果离开了美国这片土地，伯克希尔绝不可能发展到今天的规模。当你看到美国国旗时，请道一声谢谢。

● From an $8.6 million purchase of National Indemnity in 1967, Berkshire has become the world leader in insurance “float” – money we hold and can invest but that does not belong to us. Including a relatively small sum derived from life insurance, Berkshire’s total float has grown from $19 million when we entered the insurance business to $147 billion.

从1967年以860万美元收购国民保险公司 (National Indemnity) 开始，伯克希尔已经成为保险"浮存金"领域的世界领导者——浮存金是我们持有并可以用于投资、但并不属于我们的资金。加上来自人寿保险业务的一小部分浮存金，伯克希尔的浮存金总额已从我们进入保险业时的1,900万美元增长到了1,470亿美元。

So far, this float has cost us less than nothing. Though we have experienced a number of years when insurance losses combined with operating expenses exceeded premiums, overall we have earned a modest 55-year profit from the underwriting activities that generated our float.

到目前为止，这笔浮存金的使用成本还不到零。虽然有些年份，保险赔付加上运营费用超过了保费收入，但总体而言，在产生浮存金的55年承保业务中，我们获得了适度的利润。

Of equal importance, float is very sticky. Funds attributable to our insurance operations come and go daily, but their aggregate total is immune from precipitous decline. When it comes to investing float, we can therefore think long-term.

同样重要的是，浮存金具有极强的粘性。保险业务的资金每天进进出出，但其总量不会骤然下降。因此，在运用浮存金进行投资时，我们可以着眼长远。

If you are not already familiar with the concept of float, I refer you to a long explanation on page A-5. To my surprise, our float increased $9 billion last year, a buildup of value that is important to Berkshire owners though is not reflected in our GAAP (“generally-accepted accounting principles”) presentation of earnings and net worth.

如果你对浮存金的概念还不太熟悉，我建议你参阅A-5页的详细说明。让我意外的是，去年我们的浮存金增加了90亿美元——这对伯克希尔的股东来说是重要的价值增长，尽管它并未反映在我们按通用会计准则 (GAAP) 编制的收益和净资产报表中。

Much of our huge value creation in insurance is attributable to Berkshire’s good luck in my 1986 hiring of Ajit Jain. We first met on a Saturday morning, and I quickly asked Ajit what his insurance experience had been. He replied, “None.”

我们保险业务创造的巨大价值，很大程度上要归功于伯克希尔在1986年有幸聘用了阿吉特·贾恩 (Ajit Jain)。我们第一次见面是在一个周六早上，我赶紧问阿吉特有什么保险行业经验。他回答说："没有。"

I said, “Nobody’s perfect,” and hired him. That was my lucky day: Ajit actually was as perfect a choice as could have been made. Better yet, he continues to be – 35 years later.

我说："没有人是完美的。"然后就聘用了他。那天真是我的幸运日：阿吉特实际上是最完美的人选。更棒的是，35年后他依然如此。

One final thought about insurance: I believe that it is likely – but far from assured – that Berkshire’s float can be maintained without our incurring a long-term underwriting loss. I am certain, however, that there will be some years when we experience such losses, perhaps involving very large sums.

关于保险，最后说一点：我认为伯克希尔很可能——但远非确定——能在不产生长期承保亏损的前提下维持其浮存金。不过，我可以确定的是，未来有些年份我们一定会遭受承保损失，而且可能涉及非常大的金额。

Berkshire is constructed to handle catastrophic events as no other insurer – and that priority will remain long after Charlie and I are gone.

伯克希尔在应对灾难性事件方面的实力是其他任何保险公司都无法企及的——在查理和我离开之后，这一优先级也将长期保持。