这场经典的赛事，甚至还用慢动作播放精彩的第四节，我们以今年封面的颜色表 .32
developed far differently had he not been a part of it. Tony, Lou Simpson
and I visited Davy in August and marveled at his mental alertness --
particularly in all matters regarding GEICO. He was the company's
number one supporter right up to the end, and we will forever miss him.
在这里很遗憾地向各位报告， GEICO前董事长-Lorimer Davidson，于去年十
一月去世，享年97岁，对于GEICO来说，大卫是带领公司跃上台面的企业巨
人，而对我个人来说，他是我的偶像，亦师亦友，在过去年度的报告中，我不只
一次的提到他对我个人的关照，很显然的要是没有他，我个人的一生可能要完全
改观，Tony、Lou Simpson与我在去年八月还曾经去拜访他，对于他当时的记
忆力还佩服不已，尤其是有关GEICO的点点滴滴，一直以来，他就是GEICO公
司的头号支持者，我们将会永远地怀念他。
Aviation Services
航空服务业
Our two aviation services companies -- FlightSafety International ("FSI")
and Executive Jet Aviation ("EJA") -- are both runaway leaders in their
field. EJA, which sells and manages the fractional ownership of jet
aircraft, through its NetJetsR program, is larger than its next two
competitors combined. FSI trains pilots (as well as other transportation
professionals) and is five times or so the size of its nearest competitor.
我们旗下两家航空服务公司-国际飞安(FSI)以及企业主管飞行服务(EJA)都是各
自产业的领导者，EJA所推出的NetJets计画，专门出售并为客户管理其拥有的
专机部份所有权，目前的占有率超过其它两家主要竞争业者的总和，FSI则专门
训练机师(也包含其它专门运输人员)，其规模是其它最大竞争业者的五倍。
Another common characteristic of the companies is that they are still
managed by their founding entrepreneurs. Al Ueltschi started FSI in
1951 with $10,000, and Rich Santulli invented the fractional-ownership
industry in 1986. These men are both remarkable managers who have
no financial need to work but thrive on helping their companies grow
and excel.
这些公司另外还有一项特点就是到目前为止，都还是由原来的创办人在经营，Al
Ueltschi在1951年以10,000美元创立FSI，而Rich Santulli则是在1986
年开创部份所有权事业，这两位都是相当杰出的企业家，目前他们早已不需要为
了钱而工作，不过现在依然在自己的岗位上兢兢业业地让自己创立的公司继续发
扬光大。
Though these two businesses have leadership positions that are similar,
they differ in their economic characteristics. FSI must lay out huge
amounts of capital. A single flight simulator can cost as much as $15
million -- and we have 222. Only one person at a time, furthermore, can
be trained in a simulator, which means that the capital investment per
dollar of revenue at FSI is exceptionally high. Operating margins must
therefore also be high, if we are to earn a reasonable return on capital.
Last year we made capital expenditures of $215 million at FSI and
FlightSafety Boeing, its 50%-owned affiliate.
虽然两家公司所领导的产业相当类似，但却有很不相同的竞争形态，FSI需要相
当密集的资本，光是一台飞行仿真器就要耗资1,500万，现在我们拥有222台，
而且每一台仿真器，一次只能训练一位飞行员，这意味着每一元营收所要投入的
资本支出相当的高，也因此要维持一定的投资报酬，营业毛利一定要够高，去年
FSI与其持股50%的国际飞安-波音的资本支出达2.15亿美元。
At EJA, in contrast, the customer owns the equipment, though we, of
course, must invest in a core fleet of our own planes to ensure
outstanding service. For example, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, EJA's
busiest day of the year, strains our resources since fractions of 169
planes are owned by 1,412 customers, many of whom are bent on flying
home between 3 and 6 p.m. On that day, and certain others, we need a
supply of company-owned aircraft to make sure all parties get where
they want, when they want.
相对的由于EJA的设备所有权属于客户，当然我们也必须投资一部份资金取得核
心机队的所有权以维持高档的服务水准，举例来说，在EJA每年最忙碌的感恩节
后的那个星期天，简直就把我们给忙坏了，由于169架飞机分别属于1,412位
所有权人，许多人都想要在当天下午三点到六点使用飞机，所以我们绝对有必要
准备额外自有的飞机，好让每个客人在任何时候到达任何他想要到的地方。
Still, most of the planes we fly are owned by customers, which means
that modest pre-tax margins in this business can produce good returns
on equity. Currently, our customers own planes worth over $2 billion,
and in addition we have $4.2 billion of planes on order. Indeed, the
limiting factor in our business right now is the availability of planes. We
now are taking delivery of about 8% of all business jets manufactured in
the world, and we wish we could get a bigger share than that. Though
EJA was supply-constrained in 1999, its recurring revenues -- monthly
management fees plus hourly flight fees -- increased 46%.
当然大部分的飞机还是属于客户所有，意思是说在这行只要有合理的税前毛利，
股东的投资报酬就相当可观，现在我们客户拥有的飞机价值超过20亿美元，后
续我们陆续又下了许多飞机订单，金额总计42亿美元，确实目前限制公司营运
成长的主要因素就在于飞机数量，现在我们的订单约占全世界飞机制造交货量的
8%，我们希望能够再提高这个比重，虽然EJA在1999年增加的供给量有限，
但其固定的营收，也就是客户每个月固定按飞行时数缴交的管理费仍然成长了
46%。
The fractional-ownership industry is still in its infancy. EJA is now
building critical mass in Europe, and over time we will expand around
the world. Doing that will be expensive -- very expensive -- but we will
spend what it takes. Scale is vital to both us and our customers: The
company with the most planes in the air worldwide will be able to offer
its customers the best service. "Buy a fraction, get a fleet" has real
meaning at EJA.
专机所有权的产业还在刚起步的阶段，EJA目前在欧洲尚在累积经济规模当中，
长期而言我们将计画进军全世界的市场，当然要这样做，必须再投入相当大的资
本，相当相当的大，不过只要值得，我们都愿意，对于我们与客户而言，规模经
济是最关键的因素，只有在全世界各地拥有最多飞机的公司才能提供给客户最好
的服务，"买下部份所有权，你就能拥有全部的机队"，在EJA将不只是个梦。
EJA enjoys another important advantage in that its two largest
competitors are both subsidiaries of aircraft manufacturers and sell only
the aircraft their parents make. Though these are fine planes, these
competitors are severely limited in the cabin styles and mission
capabilities they can offer. EJA, in contrast, offers a wide array of planes
from five suppliers. Consequently, we can give the customer whatever
he needs to buy -- rather than his getting what the competitor's parent
needs to sell.
EJA还享有另外一个非常重要的优势，那就是它的两家主要竞争对手都只是国际
飞机制造业者的子公司，所以它们被迫只能提供母公司制造的飞机，虽然这些都
是好飞机，但竞争对手却因此大大受限于机舱形式以及能够提供的机种用途，相
较之下，EJA则能够提供由全世界五大飞机制造公司所生产的全系列飞机，所以
我们可以给客户任何他想要的飞机形式，而不是被动接受其母公司的飞机。
Last year in this report, I described my family's delight with the onequarter
(200 flight hours annually) of a Hawker 1000 that we had owned
since 1995. I got so pumped up by my own prose that shortly thereafter
I signed up for one-sixteenth of a Cessna V Ultra as well. Now my
annual outlays at EJA and Borsheim's, combined, total ten times my
salary. Think of this as a rough guideline for your own expenditures
with us.
去年在年报当中，我曾经形容我的家族自从1995年来买下四分之一的(也就是
每年200小时)的霍克1000型飞机所有权的愉快经验，不久之后，我又再接再
厉签约买下一架Cessna V Ultra型六分之一的所有权，现在每年我在EJA以及
波仙珠宝的花费大概是我年薪的十倍，如此大家可以据此推算你可以负担的底限
在哪里。
During the past year, two of Berkshire's outside directors have also
signed on with EJA. (Maybe we're paying them too much.) You should be
aware that they and I are charged exactly the same price for planes and
service as is any other customer: EJA follows a "most favored nations"
policy, with no one getting a special deal.
去年，Berkshire有两位外部董事也与EJA签约买下部份所有权，(可见我们付
给他们的酬劳过高)，我可以向大家保证我们付出的价格与得到的服务和其它客
户并无二致，在EJA我们推行"最惠国待遇"政策，没有人可以得到特别的对待。
And now, brace yourself. Last year, EJA passed the ultimate test: Charlie
signed up. No other endorsement could speak more eloquently to the
value of the EJA service. Give us a call at 1-800-848-6436 and ask for
our "white paper" on fractional ownership.
现在赶快加入我们的行列吧!因为EJA已经通过最严格的考验，连查理都已经签
约了，再也没有比这个更能说明EJA提供的服务所代表的价值，记得打电话1-
800-848-6436索取申请部份所有权的表格。
Acquisitions of 1999
1999年的购并活动
At both GEICO and Executive Jet, our best source of new customers is
the happy ones we already have. Indeed, about 65% of our new owners
of aircraft come as referrals from current owners who have fallen in love
with the service.
不管是GEICO或者是EJA，我们新客户的来源主要还是来自于现有客户的介绍，
事实上，在专机部份所有权计画中有65%的新客户是来自于现有满意公司服务
的老客户所推介。
Our acquisitions usually develop in the same way. At other companies,
executives may devote themselves to pursuing acquisition possibilities
with investment bankers, utilizing an auction process that has become
standardized. In this exercise the bankers prepare a "book" that makes
me think of the Superman comics of my youth. In the Wall Street version,
a formerly mild-mannered company emerges from the investment
banker's phone booth able to leap over competitors in a single bound
and with earnings moving faster than a speeding bullet. Titillated by the
book's description of the acquiree's powers, acquisition-hungry CEOs
-- Lois Lanes all, beneath their cool exteriors -- promptly swoon.
我们的购并行动发生的形态一向很类似，在别的公司，高阶主管通常亲自与投资
银行家一起寻求可能的购并机会，所运用的拍卖程序相当制式化，在过程中银行
业者准备的帐册让我想到童年时代读到的"超人"漫画，只不过在华尔街版，换成
一家本来平淡无奇的公司进到了银行业者特地准备的电话亭后，摇身一变成了一
跃升天，盈余成长飞快的超人，而抵挡不住卖方帐册所叙述的神力，购并案饥渴
成痴的买方，就像是具有冷艳外表的露易丝，立刻融化在其膝下。
What's particularly entertaining in these books is the precision with
which earnings are projected for many years ahead. If you ask the
author-banker, however, what his own firm will earn next month, he will
go into a protective crouch and tell you that business and markets are
far too uncertain for him to venture a forecast.
而在这其中最有趣的是，这些资料所显示未来几年的盈余预测都相当明确，不过
要是你问问编造这些报表的银行业者，他们自己银行下个月的盈余预估，他会马
上露出警戒的神色告诉你，产业与市场的状况是如何变化多端，以致于他无法妄
下定论。
Here's one story I can't resist relating: In 1985, a major investment
banking house undertook to sell Scott Fetzer, offering it widely -- but
with no success. Upon reading of this strikeout, I wrote Ralph Schey,
then and now Scott Fetzer's CEO, expressing an interest in buying the
business. I had never met Ralph, but within a week we had a deal.
Unfortunately, Scott Fetzer's letter of engagement with the banking firm
provided it a $2.5 million fee upon sale, even if it had nothing to do with
finding the buyer. I guess the lead banker felt he should do something
for his payment, so he graciously offered us a copy of the book on Scott
Fetzer that his firm had prepared. With his customary tact, Charlie
responded: "I'll pay $2.5 million not to read it."
以下有一则故事我忍不住想补充，故事发生在1985年，有一家非常大的投资银
行受委托负责出售史考特-飞兹公司，然而在经过多方的推销后却仍无功而返，
在得知这样的情况后，我立即写信给史考特-飞兹当时的总裁-Ralph Schey表
达买下该公司的意愿，在这之前我从来没有与Ralph见过面，不过在一个礼拜
之内我们便达成协议，可惜令人遗憾的是，在该公司与投资银行所签订的意向书
中明订，一旦公司顺利找到买主便须支付250万美元给银行，即便最后的买主
与该银行无关也要照付，事后我猜想，或许是该银行认为既然拿了钱，多少都应
该办点事，所以他们好心地将先前准备的财务资料提供一份给我们，收到这样的
礼物时，查理冷冷地响应说：「我宁愿再多付250万美元也不要看这些垃圾。」
At Berkshire, our carefully-crafted acquisition strategy is simply to wait
for the phone to ring. Happily, it sometimes does so, usually because a
manager who sold to us earlier has recommended to a friend that he
think about following suit.
在Berkshire，我们精心设计的购并策略很简单-就是静静地等待电话铃响，可
喜的是，有时还真管用，通常是先前加入我们集团的经理人，甲好道休报，建议
其周遭的好朋友可以如法炮制。
Which brings us to the furniture business. Two years ago I recounted
how the acquisition of Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983 and my
subsequent association with the Blumkin family led to follow-on
transactions with R. C. Willey (1995) and Star Furniture (1997). For me,
these relationships have all been terrific. Not only did Berkshire acquire
three outstanding retailers; these deals also allowed me to become
friends with some of the finest people you will ever meet.
在这里我不免要提到我们的家具事业，两年前我回想到当初在1983年我是如何
买下内布拉斯加家具店，以及如何透过B太太家族与R.C.威利家具(1995年)及
星辰家具(1997年)结缘的经过，就我个人而言，这些经验实在是棒极了，
Berkshire不但得到了三家杰出的零售事业，同时也让我得以认识全天下最好的
朋友。
Naturally, I have persistently asked the Blumkins, Bill Child and Melvyn
Wolff whether there are any more out there like you. Their invariable
answer was the Tatelman brothers of New England and their remarkable
furniture business, Jordan's.
因此自然而然地，我就不断地询问B太太家族、Bill及Melvyn身旁有没有像你
们一样好的人，他们异口同声的回答都是住在新英格兰州的Tatelman兄弟，以
及他们优秀的事业-乔丹家具。
I met Barry and Eliot Tatelman last year and we soon signed an
agreement for Berkshire to acquire the company. Like our three
previous furniture acquisitions, this business had long been in the
family -- in this case since 1927, when Barry and Eliot's grandfather
began operations in a Boston suburb. Under the brothers' management,
Jordan's has grown ever more dominant in its region, becoming the
largest furniture retailer in New Hampshire as well as Massachusetts.
终于在去年我见到了Tatelman兄弟-Barry以及Eliot，很快地我们就签下由
Berkshire买下乔丹家具的契约，如同先前的三次购并案，这也是一家家族企
业，时间要追溯至1927年，当时由两兄弟的祖父在波士顿市郊创立，之后在两
兄弟戮力经营下，不但成为当地家具业的龙头，更进一步跃升为新罕布什尔州以及
麻州最大的家具零售店。
The Tatelmans don't just sell furniture or manage stores. They also
present customers with a dazzling entertainment experience called
"shoppertainment." A family visiting a store can have a terrific time,
while concurrently viewing an extraordinary selection of merchandise.
The business results are also extraordinary: Jordan's has the highest
sales per square foot of any major furniture operation in the country. I
urge you to visit one of their stores if you are in the Boston area --
particularly the one at Natick, which is Jordan's newest. Bring money.
Tatelman兄弟不光只是贩卖家具或者是管理店面，他们还提供上门的顾客一种
全新的消费经验，他们称之为"血拼秀"，合家光顾的客人不但可以见到各式各样
的商品，同时还可享受一段愉快的时光，这样的经营成果无疑让人印象深刻，乔
丹家具拥有全美每平方英吋最高的营业额，如果你家住在波士顿地区，衷心建议
你可上门看一看，尤其是位于Natick新开幕的那一家，记得要带钱!
Barry and Eliot are classy people -- just like their counterparts at
Berkshire's three other furniture operations. When they sold to us, they
elected to give each of their employees at least 50￠ for every hour that
he or she had worked for Jordan's. This payment added up to $9 million,
which came from the Tatelmans' own pockets, not from Berkshire's. And
Barry and Eliot were thrilled to write the checks.
Barry与Eliot堪称为谦谦君子，就像是Berkshire旗下其它三家家具店一样，
当他们顺利把公司卖给Berkshire之后，他们决定至少为店里的每位员工加发每
小时50美分，乘以他们在该店任职时间的薪水，总计最后的金额是900万美
元，全部由两兄弟个人而不是Berkshire的口袋支应，记得当时两兄弟在签支票
时手还会发抖。
Each of our furniture operations is number one in its territory. We now
sell more furniture than anyone else in Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Texas, Nebraska, Utah and Idaho. Last year Star's Melvyn Wolff and his
sister, Shirley Toomim, scored two major successes: a move into San
Antonio and a significant enlargement of Star's store in Austin.
我们旗下每一家家具店都是当地首屈一指的业者，目前我们在麻州、新罕布什尔
州、德州、内布拉斯加州、犹它州以及爱达荷州等地的市场占有率都是第一，去
年星辰家具的Melvyn连同他姊姊Shirly又再下两城，成功在圣安东尼奥以及奥
斯丁大展身手。
There's no operation in the furniture retailing business remotely like the
one assembled by Berkshire. It's fun for me and profitable for you. W. C.
