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but to do so at his own pace。 Marc Hamburg； Verne's understudy for five years； has succeeded him as Chief Financial Officer。
第二去年九月Verne McKenzie辞去在本公司长达30年的财务长职位，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Berkshire，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Berkshire扮演重要的角色，只是会稍做调整以符合他本身的步调，而跟在Verne已有五年之久的Marc Hamburg，将会接替Verne担任Berkshire财务长的位置。
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 conitantly are achieving results much superior to those of their younger petitors。 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Berkshire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，因为实在很难教新狗老把戏。
I am a moderate in my views about retirement pared 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。
对于退休年龄的看法比起B太太我可算是温和的多，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太太家族在1983年买NFM 80％的股权卖给Berkshire时， B太太还是继续留下来担任负责人并经营地毯生意，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，至于家具的部份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太太决定把这家店连同土地全部卖回给NFM，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），NFM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 petitor。 But believe me； partner is better。
我很高兴B太太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…pete 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…pete 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太太的首肯，同意签下竞业禁止的条款了，B太太有好几项记录可以名列金氏世界记录之中，在99岁签下竞业禁止条款，只不过是再增添一项罢了。
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 pany 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 pany uses only minor amounts of borrowed money （except for the debt it employs … appropriately … in its finance subsidiary）。
Ralph Schey…史考特飞兹的总裁，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，总计去年创造出1。1亿美元的税前获利，更令人印象深刻的是史考特飞兹总计也不过用了1。16亿美元的资本，就缔造出这样惊人的盈余数字，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 pany 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。
史考特飞兹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，所赚到的盈余全部分配给我们，同时还能继续保持获利能力大幅度的成长，Ralph不断地超越自我，而Berkshire欠他的也越来越多。
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。）
眼尖的读者应该会发现，1992年420万美元的营业费用，比起1991年的560万还要少的多，或是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。
其实公司营业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早期1970年代纺织事业与环境相关的费用所致，而现在一切回复正常，所以我们税后的费用占帐列税后盈余的比率不到1％，占年度透视盈余的比率更低于0。5％，在Berkshire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，虽然我必须说查理还是觉得我们的组织过于庞杂。
At some panies； 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，营业费用可能占营业利益10％以上，这种十分法不但对于盈余有来说，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Wal…Mart、Nucor、Dover、GEICO与Golden West等公司。
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 pletely 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。
去年底Berkshire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份股份，却发现Berkshire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