巴菲特致股东的信（2024年）③皮特·利格尔—

Pete Liegl – One of a Kind

皮特·利格尔——独一无二

Let me pause to tell you the remarkable story of Pete Liegl, a man unknown to most Berkshire shareholders but one who contributed many billions to their aggregate wealth. Pete died in November, still working at 80.

让我暂且停下来，给你们讲讲皮特·利格尔 (Pete Liegl) 的传奇故事。大多数伯克希尔股东都不认识他，但他为股东们的整体财富贡献了数十亿美元。皮特于去年11月去世，享年80岁，临终前仍在工作。

I first heard of Forest River – the Indiana company Pete founded and managed – on June 21, 2005. On that day I received a letter from an intermediary detailing relevant data about the company, a recreational vehicle (“RV”) manufacturer. The writer said that Pete, the 100% owner of Forest River, specifically wanted to sell to Berkshire. He also told me the price that Pete expected to receive. I liked this no-nonsense approach.

2005年6月21日，我第一次听说森林河公司 (Forest River)——这家由皮特在印第安纳州创立并管理的公司。那天，我收到一位中间人的来信，详细介绍了这家房车（RV）制造商的相关数据。写信人说，森林河公司的唯一股东皮特特别希望把公司卖给伯克希尔。他还告诉了我皮特期望的售价。我喜欢这种干脆利落的方式。

I did some checking with RV dealers, liked what I learned and arranged a June 28th meeting in Omaha. Pete brought along his wife, Sharon, and daughter, Lisa. When we met, Pete assured me that he wanted to keep running the business but would feel more comfortable if he could assure financial security for his family.

我向一些RV经销商做了核实，对了解到的情况很满意，便安排了6月28日在奥马哈见面。皮特带着妻子莎伦 (Sharon) 和女儿丽莎 (Lisa) 一起来了。见面时，皮特表示他想继续经营公司，但如果能确保家人的财务安全，他会更安心。

Pete next mentioned that he owned some real estate that was leased to Forest River and had not been covered in the June 21 letter. Within a few minutes, we arrived at a price for those assets as I expressed no need for appraisal by Berkshire but would simply accept his valuation.

接着皮特提到，他名下有一些租赁给森林河公司的房地产，这部分在6月21日的信中没有涉及。几分钟之内，我们就这些资产的价格达成了一致——我表示伯克希尔无需另外评估，直接接受他的估价。

Then we arrived at the other point that needed clarity. I asked Pete what his compensation should be, adding that whatever he said, I would accept. (This, I should add, is not an approach I recommend for general use.)

然后我们转到了另一个需要明确的问题。我问皮特他觉得薪酬应该定多少，并补充说不管他开什么价，我都接受。（我得说明，这不是我建议大家普遍效仿的做法。）

Pete paused as his wife, daughter and I leaned forward. Then he surprised us: “Well, I looked at Berkshire’s proxy statement and I wouldn’t want to make more than my boss, so pay me $100,000 per year.” After I picked myself off the floor, Pete added: “But we will earn X (he named a number) this year, and I would like an annual bonus of 10% of any earnings above what the company is now delivering.” I replied: “OK Pete, but if Forest River makes any significant acquisitions we will make an appropriate adjustment for the additional capital thus employed.” I didn’t define “appropriate” or “significant,” but those vague terms never caused a problem.

皮特停顿了一下，他的妻子、女儿和我都不由得探前了身子。然后他的回答出乎我们所有人的意料："嗯，我看了伯克希尔的委托声明书，我可不想挣得比我的老板还多，所以每年给我10万美元就好了。"等我从地板上爬起来之后，皮特又补充道："不过今年我们会赚到X（他报了一个数字），我希望将超出这个数字的利润的10%作为年度奖金。"我回答说："没问题，皮特。但如果森林河公司进行任何重大收购，我们会根据投入的额外资本做出合理调整。"我没有精确定义"合理"或"重大"，但这些模糊的说法从未引起任何问题。

The four of us then went to dinner at Omaha’s Happy Hollow Club and lived happily ever after. During the next 19 years, Pete shot the lights out. No competitor came close to his performance.

随后我们四个人到奥马哈的快乐谷俱乐部 (Happy Hollow Club) 共进晚餐，从此过上了幸福的生活。在接下来的19年里，皮特大放异彩。没有哪位竞争对手的业绩能望其项背。

Every company doesn’t have an easy-to-understand business and there are very few owners or managers like Pete. And, of course, I expect to make my share of mistakes about the businesses Berkshire buys and sometimes err in evaluating the sort of person with whom I’m dealing.

并非每家公司都有容易理解的业务，像皮特这样的所有者或管理者也极为罕见。当然，在评估伯克希尔收购的企业或者判断合作对象的为人方面，我自己也免不了犯错。

But I’ve also had many pleasant surprises in both the potential of the business as well as the ability and fidelity of the manager. And our experience is that a single winning decision can make a breathtaking difference over time. (Think GEICO as a business decision, Ajit Jain as a managerial decision and my luck in finding Charlie Munger as a one-of-a-kind partner, personal advisor and steadfast friend.) Mistakes fade away; winners can forever blossom.

但我同样经历过许多令人惊喜的时刻，无论是企业的潜力还是管理者的能力与忠诚度。而且我们的经验告诉我们，一个成功的决策，随着时间的推移，可以带来惊人的回报。（想想盖可保险 (GEICO) 作为一项商业决策，阿吉特·贾恩 (Ajit Jain) 作为一项人事决策，以及我何其幸运地找到了查理·芒格这位无与伦比的合伙人、私人顾问和坚定的挚友。）错误会渐渐褪色，而成功可以永远盛放。

One further point in our CEO selections: I never look at where a candidate has gone to school. Never!

关于我们选择CEO，还有一点：我从来不看候选人上过什么学校。从来不！

Of course, there are great managers who attended the most famous schools. But there are plenty such as Pete who may have benefitted by attending a less prestigious institution or even by not bothering to finish school. Look at my friend, Bill Gates, who decided that it was far more important to get underway in an exploding industry that would change the world than it was to stick around for a parchment that he could hang on the wall. (Read his new book, Source Code.)

固然，有很多出色的管理者毕业于最负盛名的学府。但也有很多人像皮特一样，也许正因为上了一所不那么出名的学校——甚至压根儿没读完——反而受益匪浅。看看我的朋友比尔·盖茨 (Bill Gates)，他认为投身一个即将改变世界的爆发式新兴产业，远比留在学校混一张挂在墙上的羊皮文凭重要得多。（去读读他的新书《源代码》(Source Code) 吧。）

Not long ago, I met – by phone – Jessica Toonkel, whose step-grandfather, Ben Rosner, long ago ran a business for Charlie and me. Ben was a retailing genius and, in preparing for this report, I checked with Jessica to confirm Ben’s schooling, which I remembered as limited. Jessica’s reply: “Ben never went past 6th grade.”

不久前，我通过电话认识了杰西卡·图恩克尔 (Jessica Toonkel)。她的继祖父本·罗森纳 (Ben Rosner) 很久以前曾替查理和我经营过一家企业。本是一位零售天才，我记得他学历不高。在准备这封信的过程中，我跟杰西卡确认了本的学历。杰西卡回答说："本只上到了六年级。"

I was lucky enough to get an education at three fine universities. And I avidly believe in lifelong learning. I’ve observed, however, that a very large portion of business talent is innate with nature swamping nurture.

我自己很幸运地在三所优秀的大学接受过教育。我也深信终身学习的重要性。但我观察到，商业才能在很大程度上是与生俱来的——先天远胜后天。

Pete Liegl was a natural.

皮特·利格尔就是天生的人才。