巴菲特致股东的信（2024年）⑥你们的钱放在哪里

Where Your Money Is

你们的钱放在哪里

Berkshire’s equity activity is ambidextrous. In one hand we own control of many businesses, holding at least 80% of the investee’s shares. Generally, we own 100%. These 189 subsidiaries have similarities to marketable common stocks but are far from identical. The collection is worth many hundreds of billions and includes a few rare gems, many good-but-far-from-fabulous businesses and some laggards that have been disappointments. We own nothing that is a major drag, but we have a number that I should not have purchased.

伯克希尔的股权投资是双管齐下的。一方面，我们持有许多企业的控制权，通常持股比例不低于80%，一般都是100%。这189家子公司与流通股票有相似之处，但又远非一回事。这个组合价值数千亿美元，其中包含少数稀有的宝石、许多不错但远非卓越的企业，以及一些表现令人失望的落后者。我们没有持有任何严重拖后腿的业务，但确实有几项是我当初不该买的。

In the other hand, we own a small percentage of a dozen or so very large and highly profitable businesses with household names such as Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Moody’s. Many of these companies earn very high returns on the net tangible equity required for their operations. At yearend, our partial-ownership holdings were valued at $272 billion. Understandably, really outstanding businesses are very seldom offered in their entirety, but small fractions of these gems can be purchased Monday through Friday on Wall Street and, very occasionally, they sell at bargain prices.

另一方面，我们还持有十几家规模庞大、利润丰厚且家喻户晓的企业的一小部分股权，比如苹果 (Apple)、美国运通 (American Express)、可口可乐 (Coca-Cola) 和穆迪 (Moody's)。其中许多公司在经营所需的净有形权益上获得了非常高的回报。截至年底，我们这部分股权投资的市值为2720亿美元。可以理解，真正出色的企业极少会整体出售，但在华尔街，你可以在周一到周五买到这些明珠的一小部分股权，而且偶尔还能捡到便宜。

We are impartial in our choice of equity vehicles, investing in either variety based upon where we can best deploy your (and my family’s) savings. Often, nothing looks compelling; very infrequently we find ourselves knee-deep in opportunities. Greg has vividly shown his ability to act at such times as did Charlie.

在选择股权投资形式时，我们不偏不倚，视哪种方式能最好地运用你们（以及我家人的）积蓄来决定投资哪一类。多数时候，看不到什么令人心动的机会；极偶尔，我们会发现自己被机会淹没。格雷格已经生动展现了他在这种时刻迅速出手的能力，一如查理当年。

With marketable equities, it is easier to change course when I make a mistake. Berkshire’s present size, it should be underscored, diminishes this valuable option. We can’t come and go on a dime. Sometimes a year or more is required to establish or divest an investment. Additionally, with ownership of minority positions we can’t change management if that action is needed or control what is done with capital flows if we are unhappy with the decisions being made.

投资流通股票时，我犯了错更容易纠正。但必须强调，伯克希尔目前的体量削弱了这一宝贵的灵活性。我们不可能说走就走、说转就转。有时候，建仓或减仓一项投资需要一年甚至更久。此外，作为少数股权持有者，即使认为有必要更换管理层，我们也无能为力；如果我们对资本运用的决策不满意，也无法左右。

With controlled companies, we can dictate these decisions, but we have far less flexibility in the disposition of mistakes. In reality, Berkshire almost never sells controlled businesses unless we face what we believe to be unending problems. An offset is that some business owners seek out Berkshire because of our steadfast behavior. Occasionally, that can be a decided plus for us.

在控股子公司方面，我们可以自行做这些决定，但处理错误时灵活性要小得多。事实上，除非我们认为问题将无穷无尽，否则伯克希尔几乎从不出售控股型企业。相应的好处是，有些企业主恰恰因为我们这种坚定的风格而主动找上门来。这偶尔会成为我们的一大优势。

Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities. That preference won’t change. While our ownership in marketable equities moved downward last year from $354 billion to $272 billion, the value of our non-quoted controlled equities increased somewhat and remains far greater than the value of the marketable portfolio.

尽管一些评论人士目前认为伯克希尔持有的现金规模异常庞大，但你们的绝大部分资金仍然投资在股权资产上。这一偏好不会改变。虽然去年我们的可交易股票持仓市值从3540亿美元降至2720亿美元，但我们非上市控股股权的价值有所上升，并且仍远远超过可交易投资组合的价值。

Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities – mostly American equities although many of these will have international operations of significance. Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned.

伯克希尔的股东可以放心，我们将永远把绝大部分资金投入股权——主要是美国股票，尽管其中许多公司拥有举足轻重的国际业务。伯克希尔永远不会把持有现金等价物看得比拥有优质企业更重要，不管是控股还是部分持股。

Paper money can see its value evaporate if fiscal folly prevails. In some countries, this reckless practice has become habitual, and, in our country’s short history, the U.S. has come close to the edge. Fixed-coupon bonds provide no protection against runaway currency.

如果财政上胡来，纸币的价值可以灰飞烟灭。在一些国家，这种鲁莽行为已成常态，而在我们国家短短的历史中，美国也曾一度走到了悬崖边上。固定利息的债券无法抵御失控的通货膨胀。

Businesses, as well as individuals with desired talents, however, will usually find a way to cope with monetary instability as long as their goods or services are desired by the country’s citizenry. So, too, with personal skills. Lacking such assets as athletic excellence, a wonderful voice, medical or legal skills or, for that matter, any special talents, I have had to rely on equities throughout my life. In effect, I have depended on the success of American businesses and I will continue to do so.

然而，只要国民仍然需要其商品或服务，企业和拥有一技之长的个人通常都能找到应对货币不稳定的办法。个人技能同样如此。由于我既没有运动天赋，也没有好嗓子，更不懂医术或法律，实际上也没有任何特殊才能，我一辈子只能依靠股票投资。说白了，我一直在依赖美国企业的成功，今后也将如此。

One way or another, the sensible – better yet imaginative – deployment of savings by citizens is required to propel an ever-growing societal output of desired goods and services. This system is called capitalism. It has its faults and abuses – in certain respects more egregious now than ever – but it also can work wonders unmatched by other economic systems.

无论通过何种方式，要让社会持续产出越来越多人们需要的商品和服务，就需要公民明智地——最好还要富有想象力地——运用储蓄。这套体系叫做资本主义。它有缺陷和弊端——在某些方面如今比以往更加严重——但它也能创造出其他经济体制无法比拟的奇迹。

America is Exhibit A. Our country’s progress over its mere 235 years of existence could not have been imagined by even the most optimistic colonists in 1789, when the Constitution was adopted and the country’s energies were unleashed.

美国就是最好的明证。我们国家仅仅存在235年，所取得的进步是1789年宪法通过、国家能量释放之际，即便是最乐观的殖民者也难以想象的。

True, our country in its infancy sometimes borrowed abroad to supplement our own savings. But, concurrently, we needed many Americans to consistently save and then needed those savers or other Americans to wisely deploy the capital thus made available. If America had consumed all that it produced, the country would have been spinning its wheels.

诚然，我们国家在初创期有时会向海外举债来补充国内的储蓄。但与此同时，我们需要许多美国人持之以恒地储蓄，然后需要这些储蓄者或其他美国人将由此形成的资本明智地加以运用。如果美国人把生产出来的一切都消费掉了，这个国家只能原地打转。

The American process has not always been pretty – our country has forever had many scoundrels and promoters who seek to take advantage of those who mistakenly trust them with their savings. But even with such malfeasance – which remains in full force today – and also much deployment of capital that eventually floundered because of brutal competition or disruptive innovation, the savings of Americans has delivered a quantity and quality of output beyond the dreams of any colonist.

美国的发展历程并非总是美好的——这个国家从来不缺恶棍和骗子，专门盯着那些错误地将积蓄托付给他们的人。但即便有这些不法行为（直到今天依然猖獗），即便有大量资本投入最终因残酷竞争或颠覆性创新而付诸东流，美国人的储蓄所创造出的产出在数量和质量上，远远超出了任何殖民者的想象。

From a base of only four million people – and despite a brutal internal war early on, pitting one American against another – America changed the world in the blink of a celestial eye.

从仅仅400万人口起步——尽管早期经历了一场残酷的内战，让美国人自相残杀——美国在宇宙的一眨眼间便改变了世界。

In a very minor way, Berkshire shareholders have participated in the American miracle by foregoing dividends, thereby electing to reinvest rather than consume. Originally, this reinvestment was tiny, almost meaningless, but over time, it mushroomed, reflecting the mixture of a sustained culture of savings, combined with the magic of long-term compounding.

以非常微小的方式，伯克希尔股东也参与了这个美国奇迹——通过放弃分红，选择再投资而非消费。最初，这种再投资规模极小，几乎微不足道，但随着时间推移呈爆发式增长，体现了持续储蓄文化与长期复利魔力的完美结合。

Berkshire’s activities now impact all corners of our country. And we are not finished. Companies die for many reasons but, unlike the fate of humans, old age itself is not lethal. Berkshire today is far more youthful than it was in 1965.

伯克希尔的业务如今已遍及我们国家的每一个角落。而且我们还没有停下脚步。公司消亡的原因有很多，但与人类不同，老迈本身并不致命。今天的伯克希尔远比1965年时更朝气蓬勃。

However, as Charlie and I have always acknowledged, Berkshire would not have achieved its results in any locale except America whereas America would have been every bit the success it has been if Berkshire had never existed.

然而，正如查理和我一直坦言的，伯克希尔在美国以外的任何地方都不可能取得这样的成就；而即使伯克希尔从未存在过，美国也会一样地成功。

So thank you, Uncle Sam. Someday your nieces and nephews at Berkshire hope to send you even larger payments than we did in 2024. Spend it wisely. Take care of the many who, for no fault of their own, get the short straws in life. They deserve better. And never forget that we need you to maintain a stable currency and that result requires both wisdom and vigilance on your part.

所以，谢谢你，山姆大叔。将来有一天，你在伯克希尔的这些侄儿侄女们希望能向你缴纳比2024年更大的税款。请明智地花这笔钱吧。照顾好那些并非因自身过错却在人生中抽到下下签的人。他们值得过上更好的生活。永远不要忘记，我们需要你维护货币的稳定，而做到这一点需要你的智慧与警觉。