巴菲特致股东的信（1992年）⑩其它事项

Miscellaneous

We have two pieces of regrettable news this year. First, Gladys Kaiser, my friend and assistant for twenty-five years, will give up the latter post after the 1993 annual meeting, though she will certainly remain my friend forever. Gladys and I have been a team, and though I knew her retirement was coming, it is still a jolt.

其它事项

今年我们有两件遗憾的消息，首先，我 25 年的朋友兼助理 Gladys Kaiser 决定在 1993 年股东会后，辞去助理职务，但她永远都是我的好朋友，长久以来 Gladys 与我已培养出相当好的团队默契，虽然我老早就知道她准备退休的计划，但一时之间我还是不太能够接受这项事实。

Secondly, in September, Verne McKenzie relinquished his role as Chief Financial Officer after a 30-year association with me that began when he was the outside auditor of Buffett Partnership, Ltd. Verne is staying on as a consultant, and though that job description is often a euphemism, in this case it has real meaning. I expect Verne to continue to fill an important role at Berkshire but to do so at his own pace. Marc Hamburg, Verne's understudy for five years, has succeeded him as Chief Financial Officer.

第二，去年 9 月维恩·麦肯齐(Verne McKenzie)辞去在本公司的 CFO 职位，他与我共事长达 30 年，早期Verne 曾担任巴菲特合伙企业的签证会计师。不过他将以顾问的名义继续留在伯克希尔，虽然在大部分的情形下，这种顾问名义只是形式性的，但 Verne 却是真的会在伯克希尔扮演重要的角色，只是会稍做调整以符合他本身的步调，而跟着 Verne 已有五年之久的马克·汉伯格(Marc Hamburg)，将会接替 Verne 担任伯克希尔 CFO。

I recall that one woman, upon being asked to describe the perfect spouse, specified an archeologist: "The older I get," she said, "the more he'll be interested in me." She would have liked my tastes: I treasure those extraordinary Berkshire managers who are working well past normal retirement age and who concomitantly are achieving results much superior to those of their younger competitors. While I understand and empathize with the decision of Verne and Gladys to retire when the calendar says it's time, theirs is not a step I wish to encourage. It's hard to teach a new dog old tricks.

我一直记得有个女人曾经被问到：什么样的男人是最理想的终身伴侣？她回答说：考古学家！因为我越老，他就越对我有兴趣。”我想她也应该会喜欢我的品味，对于伯克希尔这群老早就超过他们退休年龄的资深经理人，我特别珍惜，因为相较之下他们远比那些年轻许多的同侪表现要出色的多，不过我还是相当尊重 Verne 与Gladys 决定退休的想法，时间到了就必须休息，当然我也绝对不鼓励其它人这样做，因为实在很难教会新狗老把戏。

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I am a moderate in my views about retirement compared to Rose Blumkin, better known as Mrs. B. At 99, she continues to work seven days a week. And about her, I have some particularly good news.

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对于退休年龄的看法，与 B 夫人相比，我可算是温和的多，现年 99 岁的她还是一样每周工作七天，提到她我有一项好消息要报告。

You will remember that after her family sold 80% of Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) to Berkshire in 1983, Mrs. B continued to be Chairman and run the carpet operation. In 1989, however, she left because of a managerial disagreement and opened up her own operation next door in a large building that she had owned for several years. In her new business, she ran the carpet section but leased out other home-furnishings departments.

大家应该记得当 B 夫人家族在 1983 年把内布拉斯加家具店 80%的股权卖给伯克希尔时，B 夫人还是继续留下来担任经理人并经营地毯生意，然而在 1989 年，她因为管理意见与其它家族成员不合而决定在隔壁自己再开一家店，在那里她亲自经营地毯生意，至于家具的部分则租给其它家具百货业者经营。

At the end of last year, Mrs. B decided to sell her building and land to NFM. She'll continue, however, to run her carpet business at its current location (no sense slowing down just when you're hitting full stride). NFM will set up shop alongside her, in that same building, thereby making a major addition to its furniture business.

不过去年底，B 夫人决定把这家店连同土地全部卖回给内布拉斯加家具店，但她还是会继续在原来的地方经营她的地毯生意(在这样的情况下，她还是一点都没有停下来的意思)，内布拉斯加家具店将会在她店的旁边增设家具部门以扩大营运。

I am delighted that Mrs. B has again linked up with us. Her business story has no parallel and I have always been a fan of hers, whether she was a partner or a competitor. But believe me, partner is better.

我很高兴 B 夫人可以再度与我们合伙做生意，她成功的故事实在是前所未有，而我本人也是她忠实的支持者，不管她是我们的伙伴或是竞争对手，当然最好是能成为伙伴。

This time around, Mrs. B graciously offered to sign a non-compete agreement - and I, having been incautious on this point when she was 89, snapped at the deal. Mrs. B belongs in the Guinness Book of World Records on many counts. Signing a non-compete at 99 merely adds one more.

有鉴于上次她 89 岁时，我在签约时疏忽掉，这一次经过 B 夫人的首肯，同意签下竞业禁止的条款了，B 夫人有好几项记录可以名列吉尼斯世界记录之中，在 99 岁签下竞业禁止条款，只不过是再增添一项罢了。

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Ralph Schey, CEO of Scott Fetzer and a manager who I hope is with us at 99 also, hit a grand slam last year when that company earned a record $110 million pre-tax. What's even more impressive is that Scott Fetzer achieved such earnings while employing only $116 million of equity capital. This extraordinary result is not the product of leverage: The company uses only minor amounts of borrowed money (except for the debt it employs - appropriately - in its finance subsidiary).

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斯科特费泽的 CEO 拉尔夫·谢伊(Ralph Schey)，也是另一位我希望他能够一直工作到 99 岁的经理人，在去年击出了满贯全垒打，该部门去年创造出 1.1 亿美元的税前收益，更令人印象深刻的是斯科特费泽总计也不过使用了 1.16 亿美元的资本，就缔造出这样惊人的收益数字，而且这样的结果并没有靠任何的财务杠杆，整个公司只有少量的借款(扣除旗下的财务金融子公司所运用的借款不算)。

Scott Fetzer now operates with a significantly smaller investment in both inventory and fixed assets than it had when we bought it in 1986. This means the company has been able to distribute more than 100% of its earnings to Berkshire during our seven years of ownership while concurrently increasing its earnings stream - which was excellent to begin with - by a lot. Ralph just keeps on outdoing himself, and Berkshire shareholders owe him a great deal.

斯科特费泽现在在存货与固定资产上的投资比起当初我们在 1986 年买下该公司时还要少，这代表着公司不但可以将我们拥有该公司七年的期间，所赚到的收益全部分配给我们，同时还能继续保持盈利能力大幅度的成长，Ralph 不断地超越自我，而伯克希尔欠他的也越来越多。

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Those readers with particularly sharp eyes will note that our corporate expense fell from $5.6 million in 1991 to $4.2 million in 1992. Perhaps you will think that I have sold our corporate jet, The Indefensible. Forget it! I find the thought of retiring the plane even more revolting than the thought of retiring the Chairman. (In this matter I've demonstrated uncharacteristic flexibility: For years I argued passionately against corporate jets. But finally my dogma was run over by my karma.)

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眼尖的读者应该会发现，1992 年 420 万美元的经营费用，比起 1991 年的 560 万还要少的多，也许各位会以为是我把企业专机无可辩解号给卖掉了，别做梦！除非我退休，否则别想打这架飞机的主意，(对于这点我个人展现了前所未有的弹性，早年对于企业专机我曾大力反对，不过到最后我的理念还是屈服在个人的因果报应之下)。

Our reduction in corporate overhead actually came about because those expenses were especially high in 1991, when we incurred a one-time environmental charge relating to alleged pre-1970 actions of our textile operation. Now that things are back to normal, our after-tax overhead costs are under 1% of our reported operating earnings and less than 1/2 of 1% of our look-through earnings. We have no legal, personnel, public relations, investor relations, or strategic planning departments. In turn this means we don't need support personnel such as guards, drivers, messengers, etc. Finally, except for Verne, we employ no consultants. Professor Parkinson would like our operation - though Charlie, I must say, still finds it outrageously fat.

其实公司经营费用的减少主要是因为 1991 年的费用特别高的缘故，当时因为一次性地提列与 1970 年代之前纺织业务相关的环境费用所致，而现在一切回复正常，所以我们税后的费用占帐列税后收益的比率不到 1%，占年度透视收益的比率更低于 0.5%，在伯克希尔，我们没有法律、人事、公关或是营运企划部门，这同时也代表我们不需要警卫、司机或是跑腿的人，最后除了 Vernre 以外，我们也没有任何的顾问，Parkinson 教授一定会喜欢我们的营运模式，但我必须要说，查理还是觉得我们的组织过于庞杂。

At some companies, corporate expense runs 10% or more of operating earnings. The tithing that operations thus makes to headquarters not only hurts earnings, but more importantly slashes capital values. If the business that spends 10% on headquarters' costs achieves earnings at its operating levels identical to those achieved by the business that incurs costs of only 1%, shareholders of the first enterprise suffer a 9% loss in the value of their holdings simply because of corporate overhead. Charlie and I have observed no correlation between high corporate costs and good corporate performance. In fact, we see the simpler, low-cost operation as more likely to operate effectively than its bureaucratic brethren. We're admirers of the Wal-Mart, Nucor, Dover, GEICO, Golden West Financial and Price Co. models.

在某些公司，经营费用可能占经营收益 10%或更多，这种做法不但对于收益有相当的影响，同时对企业价值也有很大的伤害，比起一家总部费用占其收益的 1%的公司来说，投资人可能因为企业总部额外的费用，立即就要遭受 9%以上的损失，查理跟我这么多年观察下来的结果，企业总部的高成本与公司的绩效改善之间可以说是完全没有关系，事实上我们认为，组织越简单、成本越低的公司，运作起来会比那些拥有庞大官僚组织的公司更有效率的多，就这点而言，我们相当佩服沃尔玛、纽柯钢铁(Nucor)、都福供应商(Dover)、GEICO 保险、金色西部贷款公司(Golden West)、Price 仓储会员店等公司。

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Late last year Berkshire's stock price crossed $10,000. Several shareholders have mentioned to me that the high price causes them problems: They like to give shares away each year and find themselves impeded by the tax rule that draws a distinction between annual gifts of $10,000 or under to a single individual and those above $10,000. That is, those gifts no greater than $10,000 are completely tax-free; those above $10,000 require the donor to use up a portion of his or her lifetime exemption from gift and estate taxes, or, if that exemption has been exhausted, to pay gift taxes.

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去年底伯克希尔的股价正式超越 10,000 美元大关，有许多股东反应高股价让他们产生相当的困扰，因为他们每年必须分出部分股份，却发现伯克希尔的股份价值超过 10,000 美元年度赠与税上限的门槛，因为超过上限代表捐赠人必须使得个人终身捐赠的上限额度，而且若是再超过的话，就必须要缴赠与税。

I can suggest three ways to address this problem. The first would be useful to a married shareholder, who can give up to $20,000 annually to a single recipient, as long as the donor files a gift tax return containing his or her spouse's written consent to gifts made during the year.

对于这个问题，我个人提出三种解决的方案，第一，对于已婚的股东，可以与配偶共同利用 20,000 美元的额度，只要在申报年度赠与税时，附上配偶的同意书即可。

Secondly, a shareholder, married or not, can make a bargain sale. Imagine, for example, that Berkshire is selling for $12,000 and that one wishes to make only a $10,000 gift. In that case, sell the stock to the giftee for $2,000. (Caution: You will be taxed on the amount, if any, by which the sales price to your giftee exceeds your tax basis.)

第二，不论结婚与否，股东可以考虑以较低的价格进行转让，例如假设伯克希尔的股价为 12,000 美元，则股东可以考虑用 2,000 元的价格进行转让，其间 10,000 美元的差价则视同赠与，(但是大家还是必须注意，若是价差超过你本身累积的免税额度时，还是要被课赠与税)。

Finally, you can establish a partnership with people to whom you are making gifts, fund it with Berkshire shares, and simply give percentage interests in the partnership away each year. These interests can be for any value that you select. If the value is $10,000 or less, the gift will be tax-free.

最后，你可考虑与你要赠与的对象成立合伙关系，以伯克希尔的股份参与合伙，然后每年再将部分权益慢慢移转给合伙人，金额的大小可以由你自行决定，只要每年不超过 10,000 美元的上限，即可免课赠与税。

We issue the customary warning: Consult with your own tax advisor before taking action on any of the more esoteric methods of gift-making.

不过照惯例我们还是要提出警告，在从事比这些例子更极端的交易之前，最好还是跟你的税务顾问咨询一下比较妥当。

We hold to the view about stock splits that we set forth in the 1983 Annual Report. Overall, we believe our owner-related policies - including the no-split policy - have helped us assemble a body of shareholders that is the best associated with any widely-held American corporation. Our shareholders think and behave like rational long-term owners and view the business much as Charlie and I do. Consequently, our stock consistently trades in a price range that is sensibly related to intrinsic value.

在 1983 年的年报中，我们曾经提到对于股票分割我们持保留的态度，毕竟我们相信我们以股东利益为导向的政策，也包含不分割股份在内，使得我们得以组成一群全美国企业中，最优秀的股东阵容，我们的股东不论是在想法或是做法上，都是长期稳健的投资人，同时与查理跟我一样看重公司，也因此伯克希尔的股价也才能一直与公司本身的内在价值保持一致。

Additionally, we believe that our shares turn over far less actively than do the shares of any other widely-held company. The frictional costs of trading - which act as a major "tax" on the owners of many companies - are virtually non-existent at Berkshire. (The market-making skills of Jim Maguire, our New York Stock Exchange specialist, definitely help to keep these costs low.) Obviously a split would not change this situation dramatically. Nonetheless, there is no way that our shareholder group would be upgraded by the new shareholders enticed by a split. Instead we believe that modest degradation would occur.

此外，我相信伯克希尔股份的换手率比起其它公开发行的公司来说，要低的许多，股权交易所产生的摩擦成本，或是我们称之为持有股权主要的税负，在伯克希尔身上几乎是看不到，(在纽交所负责我们股份交易的交易员Jim Maguire 藉由其搓合市场的能力使得我们的交易成本进一步下降)，而很显然地，股份分割对于交易成本的降低贡献着实有限，而且股份分割也不可以使我们的股东阵容水准进一步提高，相反的我们认为因为股份分割而被引吸上门的新股东可能会使得我们的股东水准变得更低。

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As I mentioned earlier, on December 16th we called our zero-coupon, convertible debentures for payment on January 4, 1993. These obligations bore interest at 5 1/2%, a low cost for funds when they were issued in 1989, but an unattractive rate for us at the time of call.

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先前曾经提到过，在 12 月 16 日我们宣布将于 1993 年 1 月 4 号把先前所发行的零息可转换债券赎回，这些债务在 1989 年发行的时候，所背负的资金成本大约在 5.5%左右，在当时算是相当低的利率，但时至今日这样的利率水准并不吸引人，所以我们决定将它们赎回。

The debentures could have been redeemed at the option of the holder in September 1994, and 5 1/2% money available for no longer than that is not now of interest to us. Furthermore, Berkshire shareholders are disadvantaged by having a conversion option outstanding. At the time we issued the debentures, this disadvantage was offset by the attractive interest rate they carried; by late 1992, it was not.

这些债券其持有人可选择在 1994 年 9 月以 5.5%的利率要求公司赎回，此外伯克希尔有可转换的权利流通在外，对其他股东而言，实在不是件有利的事，当然当初债券发行时，其利率水准对我们相对有利。

In general, we continue to have an aversion to debt, particularly the short-term kind. But we are willing to incur modest amounts of debt when it is both properly structured and of significant benefit to shareholders.

总的来说，我们还是尽量避免举债，尤其是短期的借款，不过若是规划得当且对于股东有利的话，我们也不排斥承担少量的债务。

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About 97% of all eligible shares participated in Berkshire's 1992 shareholder-designated contributions program. Contributions made through the program were $7.6 million, and 2,810 charities were recipients. I'm considering increasing these contributions in the future at a rate greater than the increase in Berkshire's book value, and I would be glad to hear from you as to your thinking about this idea.

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大约有 97%的有效股权参与 1992 年的股东指定捐赠计划，总计约 760 万美元捐出的款项分配给 2,810 家慈善机构，目前我正考虑是否该提高提拨捐赠的比率使得其超越伯克希尔本身账面价值增加的幅度，同时我也很愿意听到各位对于这件事情的看法。

We suggest that new shareholders read the description of our shareholder-designated contributions program that appears on pages 48-49. To participate in future programs, you must make sure your shares are registered in the name of the actual owner, not in the nominee name of a broker, bank or depository. Shares not so registered on August 31, 1993 will be ineligible for the 1993 program.

我们敦促新加入的股东，仔细阅读年报上有关股东捐赠计划的详细内容，如果在未来年度内，你想要参加这类的计划，我们强烈建议你将股份登记在自己而不是受托人的名下，必须在 1993 年 8 月 31 日之前完成登记，才有权利参与 1993 年的捐赠计划。

In addition to the shareholder-designated contributions that Berkshire distributes, managers of our operating businesses make contributions, including merchandise, averaging about $2.0 million annually. These contributions support local charities, such as The United Way, and produce roughly commensurate benefits for our businesses.

伯克希尔除了通过股东指定捐赠计划对外捐赠之外，我们旗下事业的经理人每年也会通过公司对外捐赠，包含商品在内每年平均金额约在 150 万美元左右。这些捐赠主要是赞助当地像是联合劝募等慈善团体，所得的效益应该与我们所捐出的相当。

However, neither our operating managers nor officers of the parent company use Berkshire funds to make contributions to broad national programs or charitable activities of special personal interest to them, except to the extent they do so as shareholders. If your employees, including your CEO, wish to give to their alma maters or other institutions to which they feel a personal attachment, we believe they should use their own money, not yours.

然而不管是旗下事业或是母公司的经理人在利用伯克希尔的资金对外捐赠给全国性组织或特别利益团体时，都是以站在股东利益立场所应该做的，相对地若是你的员工也包含 CEO 在内，想要与其校友会或其它人建立个人关系的，我们认为他们最好是用自己的钱，而不是从你的口袋里掏钱。

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This year the Annual Meeting will be held at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Omaha at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, April 26, 1993. A record 1,700 people turned up for the meeting last year, but that number still leaves plenty of room at the Orpheum.

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今年的股东会预计在 1993 年 4 月 26 日周一早上 9 点 30 分，在位于奥马哈市中心的奥芬剧院(Orpheum)召开，去年股东会参加人数又创新高突破 1700 人，不过会场还是剩下很多座位。

We recommend that you get your hotel reservations early at one of these hotels: (1) The Radisson-Redick Tower, a small (88 rooms) but nice hotel across the street from the Orpheum; (2) the much larger Red Lion Hotel, located about a five-minute walk from the Orpheum; or (3) the Marriott, located in West Omaha about 100 yards from Borsheim's, which is a twenty minute drive from downtown. We will have buses at the Marriott that will leave at 8:30 and 8:45 for the meeting and return after it ends.

我们建议大家最好先向以下旅馆预订房间(1)Radisson-Redick 旅馆，就在 Orpheum 中心对街，是拥有 88个房间的一家小旅馆。(2)较大一点的 RedLion 旅馆，离 Orpheum 中心约五分钟路程。(3)Marriott 位在奥马哈西区，离波仙珠宝店约 100 公尺，开车到市中心约需 20 分钟，届时将会有巴士接送大家往返股东会会场。

Charlie and I always enjoy the meeting, and we hope you can make it. The quality of our shareholders is reflected in the quality of the questions we get: We have never attended an annual meeting anywhere that features such a consistently high level of intelligent, owner-related questions.

查理跟我一向都很喜欢开股东会，我也希望大家能够来参加，我们股东的素质可由大家所提出的问题看得出来，我们参加过很多股东会，但从来没有别的公司的股东像伯克希尔的股东一样由高智能水准与经营者同甘共苦的股东组合。

An attachment to our proxy material explains how you can obtain the card you will need for admission to the meeting. With the admission card, we will enclose information about parking facilities located near the Orpheum. If you are driving, come a little early. Nearby lots fill up quickly and you may have to walk a few blocks.

后面附有股东会开会投票的相关资料，跟各位解释如何拿到入场所许的识别证，由于开会当天会场不好停车，如果你开车过来，记得早一点到，否则附近的车位很快就会停满，你可能就必须要停远一点，再走路过来。

As usual, we will have buses to take you to Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borsheim's after the meeting and to take you from there to downtown hotels or the airport later. I hope that you will allow plenty of time to fully explore the attractions of both stores. Those of you arriving early can visit the Furniture Mart any day of the week; it is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays and from noon to 5:30 p.m. on Sundays. While there, stop at the See's Candy Cart and find out for yourself why Charlie and I are a good bit wider than we were back in 1972 when we bought See's.

一如往年，会后我们备有巴士带大家到内布拉斯加家具店与波仙珠宝店或是到饭店与机场，我希望大家能有多一点的时间好好探索这两家店的奥妙，当然早几天到的股东也可利用假日逛逛家具店，周六从早上 10 点到下午5 点 30 分，周日则从中午开到下午 5 点 30 分，到那里时记得到喜诗糖果摊逛逛，你就知道为何我跟查理在1972 年买下喜诗之后，腰围会有如此大的变化了。

Borsheim's normally is closed on Sunday but will be open for shareholders and their guests from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 25. Charlie and I will be in attendance, sporting our jeweler's loupes, and ready to give advice about gems to anyone foolish enough to listen. Also available will be plenty of Cherry Cokes, See's candies, and other lesser goodies. I hope you will join us.

波仙周日通常不开门营业，但在股东会期间特别为股东与来宾开放，4 月 25 日周日从中午开到下午 6 点，当天查理跟我都会带着放大镜出席，预备提供任何人都知道的，如何鉴定宝石的基本常识，现场还备有樱桃可乐、喜诗糖果及其它纪念品，我希望大家都能够来参加。

Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board
March 1, 1993

沃伦.巴菲特
董事会主席
1993年3月1日

* * * * * * * * * * * * I am a moderate in my views about retirement compared to Rose Blumkin, better known as Mrs. B. At 99, she continues to work seven days a week. And about her, I have some particularly good news.