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 .69
you save – at least that’s what my wife and daughter tell me. (Both were
impressed early in life by the story of the boy who, after missing a street car,
walked home and proudly announced that he had saved 5￠ by doing so. His
father was irate: “Why didn’t you miss a cab and save 85￠?”)
从星期四到星期一的股东会期间，波仙都将提供股东特惠价，所以如果你希望避开
星期五晚上到星期天的拥挤人潮，你可以在其它的时间上门光顾，记得表明股东的
身分，星期六我们会营业到晚上6点，波仙的营业毛利要比其它主要竞争对手要低
20个百分点以上，所以买得越多省得越多，这是我的老婆跟女儿告诉我的，她们两
人都谨记从前一个小男孩的故事，他因为错过一班公车而走路回家，同时骄傲的表
示自己因此省下了五毛钱，他爸爸听到之后，很生气的说，要是你错过的是计程
车，不就可以省下十块钱吗?
In the mall outside of Borsheim’s, we will have Bob Hamman and Sharon
Osberg, two of the world’s top bridge experts, available to play with our
shareholders on Sunday afternoon. Additionally, Patrick Wolff, twice U.S. chess
champion, will be in the mall, taking on all comers . blindfolded! I’ve watched,
and he doesn’t peek.
星期天下午，照例会在波仙珠宝店外面大厅为股东们举办的一场桥牌大赛，这次我
们了邀请两位世界级桥牌顶尖高手Bob Hamman、Sharon Osberg与大家同乐，此外
Patrick Wolff-美国棋两度冠军，也会再度在会场蒙着眼与所有挑战者对奕，去年我
特定留意了一下，他确实没有偷看。
Gorat’s . my favorite steakhouse . will again be open exclusively for Berkshire
shareholders on Sunday, May 2, and will be serving from 4 p.m. until 10 p.m.
Please remember that to come to Gorat’s on Sunday, you must have a
reservation. To make one, call 402-551-3733 on April 1 (but not before). If
Sunday is sold out, try Gorat’s on one of the other evenings you will be in town.
Flaunt your mastery of fine dining by ordering, as I do, a rare T-bone with a
double order of hash browns.
我个人最爱的牛排馆-Gorat's为了Berkshire股东年会破例在5/2星期天开门营业，从
下午4点开始营业，一直到晚上10点，请记得星期天事先若没有订位的人请勿前往
以免向隅，要预约请在4/1以后打电话(402-551-3733)，若订不到星期天的位子，也
可以试试其它晚上，记得跟我一样，老练一点地点丁骨\牛排加上双份的牛肉丸。
We will have a special reception on Saturday afternoon from 4:00 to 5:00 for
shareholders who come from outside of North America. Every year our meeting
draws many people from around the globe, and Charlie and I want to be sure
we personally meet those who have come so far. Any shareholder who comes
from other than the U.S. or Canada will be given special credentials and
instructions for attending this function.
星期六下午四点到五点，我们也会为来自北美以外地区的股东举行欢迎会，每年股
东年会吸引了来自世界各地的人们参与，查理跟我不想错过与所有参加过的人会面
的机会，任何来自美国与加拿大地区以外的股东事先都会拿到参与这项仪式的证明
与注意事项。
Charlie and I have a great time at the annual meeting. And you will, too. So
join us at the Qwest for our annual Woodstock for Capitalists.
每年股东大会查理跟我都相当尽兴，而我相信你也一样，所以再次欢迎大家到
Qwest中心参与资本主义家的伍斯达克年度音乐会。
Warren E. Buffett
February 27, 2004 Chairman of the Board
华伦．巴菲特
董事会主席
2004年2月27日
Notes from the 2004 Berkshire
Hathaway Annual Meeting
Berkshire 2004年年度股东会议记录
May 1, 2004
Omaha, Nebraska
2004.05.01
奥玛哈 内布拉斯加州
By Whitney Tilson
WRTilson@T2PartnersLLC.com
Notes: This is not a transcript. No recording devices were allowed at the
meeting, so this is based on many hours of rapid typing, combined with
my memory (egads!). I have reorganized the content of the meeting by
subject area. All quotes are Buffett’s unless otherwise noted. Words in
[brackets] are my comments or edits, and all web link insertions are mine.
请注意：这并非正式记录，因为现场不准携带录音设备，所凭借的是快速的打字以
及个人的记忆(天啊!)，同时按照主题不同，我已调整内容顺序，除非特别注明，所
有引用的数字都是巴菲特本人提出，至于框线中的字以及网络连结，则是我个人的
评论。
For more on this meeting, see my 5/3/04 column, Buffett’s Wit and
Wisdom. To read my columns and notes from previous Berkshire and
Wesco meetings, click here. Links to all of my published columns are here.
。
COMMENTS ON BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
关于Berkshire
Succession
继任人选
[When asked why he doesn’t ask Bill Gates to take over Berkshire when
he’s gone – there are always a few whacko questions – Buffett replied:]
[当被问到是否可能请比尔盖兹接掌Berkshire时-总是有人会问到一些关键问题，巴
菲特回答说：]。
Did Bill put you up to that [question]? [Laughter.]
是比尔盖兹派你来的吗 [现场一片笑声]。
We have four people today in the organization who can do my job – in
some cases better than I can, in some ways not quite as well. That wasn’t
true 15 years ago.
目前公司内部有四位人选可以接任我的工作-也时甚至可以做得比我好，有时则没有
那么理想。这与15年前情况不同。
We will have someone take over Berkshire who’s been in the organization
a long time. One reason is that we like the culture and want someone who
knows the culture and how it works. Also, we’ve gotten to know them and
observe them.
我们将从公司内部资深人员中寻找，理由之一是我们很重视企业文化，所以希望接
手的人了解并知道它如何运作，当然我们也必须对他有足够的了解，并花很长的时
间观察。
Maintaining the Culture
维持企业文化
If I die first, all my stock goes to my wife. She might put it in the [Buffett]
foundation then, or it’ll go there when she dies. It has approximately 30%
of the votes. By law, the foundation would have to get down to 20% within
five years.
如果我先死，我个人所有的Berkshire股份将归我太太所有，届时她很有可能会把它
摆在巴菲特基金会，这部份的股权约达30%，但根据法令，基金会的持股比率在五
年内必须降到20%以下。
I think Berkshire has a far better chance than any major company of
maintaining its culture [when Charlie and I are gone]. The people running
it have grown up in the culture. My wife and son are there [on the board]
as guardians of the culture.
我认为Berkshire应该比任何一家大公司都能够维持既有的企业文化[在查理跟我死
后]，可能的接任人选皆已受到本公司企业文化的熏陶，而我内人与儿子在董事会也
能确保文化可以维系下去。
A great example [of how this can work] is Wal-Mart when Sam Walton
died. The Walton family has done a magnificent job of hiring successors to
run the place and maintain the culture. The Waltons are there to step in if
needed, but they don’t run the business.
最好的例子就是威名百货，当Sam Walton死后，Walton家族成功地聘请继任者并
维持其企业文化，当然若有必要Walton家族也会适时介入，只不过他们并不负责实
际的经营管理。
I think my family and Berkshire’s managers will retain the culture.
所以我有信心，我的家人以及Berkshire旗下的经理人也能维持企业文化。
Munger: If anyone would have a reason to worry, it would be me, but
having known the Buffett family for decades, I say to you: “Don’t worry
about it. You should be so lucky.”
曼格：如果有人担忧这个问题，那应该是我本人，不过认识巴菲特家族已经好几十
年，我可以告诉各位：大家大可不必担心，我们的运气还算不错。
[During the initial official-business part of the meeting, a shareholder
asked Buffett why he had his son and wife on the board, rather than
Berkshire operating managers, who (according to the shareholder) have
more business experience. Buffett did not answer the question – perhaps
because it was not the appropriate forum (the shareholder could have
gotten in line and asked the question during the Q&A period) – but I think
the answer is quite simple: Buffett is increasingly sensitive to making
Berkshire a role model for good corporate governance (it always has been,
but appearances are especially important these days). Hence, Berkshire
added a number of world-class independent board members this year.
However, Buffett also wants to be sure that Berkshire’s unique culture is
maintained forever, and he trusts his wife and son to ensure this more
than anyone else.]
[在会议正式开始时，有股东问到巴菲特为何要让他的老婆及儿子而不是公司专业的
经理人担任公司的董事，后者应该比较有商务经验，巴菲特当时并没有回答这个问
题-有可能是因为还没到讨论时间(在Q&A阶段股东可以排队轮流发问)-不过我认为
答案很简单：巴菲特越来越有意致力让Berkshire成为公司治理的典范，(虽然实际
上它已经是，但近年来表面的规定越来越重要)，这也是为何今年Berkshire又增加
了几位独立董事的原因，然而巴菲特也想确保Berkshire特有的文化得以永久地维持
下去，关于这点他太太及儿子是最让他信得过的人选]。
Compensation Systems at Berkshire
Berkshire的薪资报酬体系
You could make a lot of money working for Berkshire, but it will relate to
performance. No-one’s going to make a lot of money for average
performance.
在Berkshire工作，也是有可能赚大钱，但这绝对要与本身的绩效相关，没有人可以
依着平庸的表现坐领高薪。
We have some extraordinary management at MidAmerican [Energy
Holdings]. In terms of compensation, there are two key individuals [David
Sokol and Greg Abel]. For their compensation, I took a yellow pad,
sketched out a proposal in two minutes, talked to Walter Scott (who’s our
partner in this business) and when he said it looked OK, talked to the
managers. The only change was that we had more than 50% of the
rewards going to the CEO, David Sokol, and he said to make it 50/50.
比如美中能源[控股公司]的经营阶层相当杰出，主要有两位重要人物[David Sokol
and Greg Abel]，关于他们的薪资报酬，我先拿了一张便条纸，花了两分钟简单地
早拟我们的想法，然而直接跟Walter Scott谈(他是这项事业的主要合伙人)，他表示
看起来合理后，就跟他们两人敲定，唯一的改变是我们本来将超过半数的奖励划归
总裁David Sokol，但他个人表示一半一半就好。
Charlie and I spend a couple of minutes [designing compensation plans].
It’s not highly complex, but you have to understand the business. No one
formula can work – that would be asinine. Take Chuck Huggins at See’s –
he’s had the same plan for 30 years. For GEICO, there are two variables
[that determine compensation] for Tony Nicely on down.
查理跟我只花了几分钟的时间来拟定[薪资报酬计画]，它并不是很复杂，但你必须
对这产业有基本的了解，没有固定的公式-那未免太愚蠢了，又以喜斯糖果的
Chuck Huggins来说，他的薪资计算公式已经维持30年了，至于GEICO，则有两
项变量来决定自Tony Nicely以下所有员工的薪资报酬。
[From Buffett’s 1996 annual letter, the two are: "Today, the bonuses
received by dozens of top executives, starting with Tony, are based upon
only two key variables: (1) growth in voluntary auto policies and (2)
underwriting profitability on "seasoned" auto business (meaning policies
that have been on the books for more than one year). In addition, we use
the same yardsticks to calculate the annual contribution to the company's
profit-sharing plan. Everyone at GEICO knows what counts." [premium
growth and combined ratio, I believe].
。
We do not bring in compensation consultants and we don’t have a human
resources department, legal department, etc. That makes life way to
complicated, and people get vested in going to conferences.
我们从未雇用人力顾问，我们也没有人力资源部门或法务部门来处理这些事务，那
未免将事情过于复杂化，人们在会议时习惯自我防卫。
In some businesses, like network television, you’ll earn a huge return on
equity even if your nitwit nephew runs it (as long as you keep him out of
the office). But other businesses are the opposite.
就某些产业而言，比如说像地方电视台，就算你找个笨蛋亲戚也能够赚大钱(只要你
不要让他常进办公室)，但某些产业的情况却正好相反。
You should charge some cost of capital. Measure the key metrics, set a
hurdle and only pay for adding value [above this hurdle], even if the
returns appear low [but would have been a lot lower without the value the
manager added]. If you had a group of network television stations, you
would have 35% pretax margins if a chimp ran it, so you’d only pay for
excess above this. It would be silly to have 10% or 15% hurdle, but a bad
manager will try to get this.
你必须先计算资金成本，然而衡量主要的变量，设立一个基本门槛，然而仅就增添
的价值[亦即高于门槛的部份]，就算得到的报酬看起来很低[但如果没有这些经理人
的贡献结果可能会更惨]，如果你拥有一系列的地方电视台，就算是阿达在管，也可
以轻松的赚取35%的税前利益，所以你只能就超出的部份给予奖励，单单设10%或
15%的门槛是件很蠢的事，当然不良的经理人会企图争取这样的门槛。
In the end, if you have a great manager, you want to pay them very well.
总而言之，如果你拥有一位杰出的经理人，你一定要善待他们。
Views on Berkshire Hathaway shareholders
关于对Berkshire股东的看法
[When asked why Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t meet with analysts or large
shareholders, Buffett replied:]
[当被问到为何Berkshire不召开大型法说会，固定与分析师及大股东会面，巴菲特
回答：]
I have some problems with having meetings with some sub-groups of
investors. If we had them, I’d want meetings with everyone. We try to
convey a lot about our business in our annual report.
我不习惯与特定一小群投资人会面，如果我跟他们单独谈过，那么我觉得就应该也
跟所有股东见面，所以我们选择利用年报跟所有股东传达公司的理念。
I don’t think it fits our temperament at all. Many corporations spend a lot
of time talking to analysts. One of our strengths is not doing this. It’s very
time-consuming and gives some shareholders an advantage. We’re very
egalitarian.
所以那并不是我们的调调，许多公司花很多时间跟分析师沟通，但坚持不这样做反
而是我们的优势，我认为那很浪费时间而且可能让少部份股东得利，在Berkshire我
们对股东一视同仁。
Munger: We like our current shareholders and don’t want to entice anyone
to become one. It would help current shareholders to hear our CEOs [of
the Berkshire operating subsidiaries], but we promised them they could
spend 100% of their time on their business. We place no impediments on
them running their businesses. Many have expressed to me how happy
they are that they don’t have to spend 25% of time on activities they didn’t
like.
曼格：我们很满意现有的股东组合，也不想吸引其它人加入，虽然让股东与
Berkshire旗下专业经理人碰面有助于他们了解公司，但同样地我们也承诺让这些经
理人可以百分之百专注于他们的本业，关于企业经营，我们完全没有设限，许多经
理人一再跟我表示很高兴可以不必花25%的时间强迫他们去做不喜欢的事。
Buffett: We ask ourselves: “Are we telling you what we’d want to know if
our positions were reversed?” We really try to put everything in our annual
report that’s germane to that. Anything that counts, in aggregate, we
include.
巴菲特：我们不断反问自己：「假设今天我们站在股东的立场，我们是否已经把我
们所有想知道的告诉各位了 」我们确实很努力地想要把该说的东西放进年报中，
所有相关的，全部都已经放进去了。
The Washington Post has a shareholder day, which is very useful, because
the annual meeting has turned into a farce, with so many people
complaining about particular articles that were in the paper. But I really
think that if we spend six hours here and spend time writing the annual
report, we can convey the information we need to.
华盛顿邮报订有一个股东日，就相当有用，因为许多人利用每年股东会来批评报纸
刊登的某些文章，使得股东年会已逐渐变成一场，但我还是认为倒不如利用这六个
小时的时间静下心来好好地撰写年报以传达我们的理念。
We’re not trying to appeal to people who care about next quarter or year.
We want to appeal to people who view this as a lifetime investment. There
are relatively few investors who think about buying and putting it away
forever like a farm.
我们不希望吸引只在乎短期利益的人加入，我们要找的是把Berkshire看作是个人终
生投资的人，当然把投资Berkshire视同购置家园的人毕竟是少数。
COMMENTS ON BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY’S
INVESTMENTS & BUSINESSES
关于Berkshire的投资与旗下事业
Junk bonds
垃圾债券
When we were buying junk bonds, we focused on ones we could
understand. They were yielding 30%, 35%, 40% to maturity. We thought of
them like equities. Within 12 months, they went to yielding 6%. This is
amazing, given that there were no major events. Prices do amazing things.
当我们在买进垃圾债券时，我们只专注于那些我们可以了解的，持有到到期日，其
报酬率高达30%、35%、40%，我们把他们当作股票一样看待，只是不到一年，他
们的报酬率骤降到6%，这实在很夸张，尤其是基本面根本就没有什么变化，价格的
波动实在是太离谱了。
Super-Cat Insurance
霹雳猫保险
[When asked how one might price super-cat insurance policies, Buffett
replied:]
[当被问到霹雳猫的保单是如何订价的，巴菲特回答：]
Try to be as realistic as you can on those numbers [the key variables] – err
on being conservative – and then when you’re through, make sure you
have a margin of safety.
尽量让某些数字(主要的变量)越明确越好，不要过于保守，等你算出来后，确定保
留一些安全边际。
In pricing earthquake insurance, look at the number of major quakes in
past century – there have been 26 – so we’d assume 30 or 32 going
