I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Buffett Associates, Ltd., which is the most famous and first “real” professional investment partnership that Warren Buffett established on May 1st, 1956 after he returned to Omaha following his time working for Benjamin Graham at the Graham-Newman Corporation. He was 25 at the time (would turn 26 that August). Buffett couldn’t stand people criticizing him if stocks went down so he only invited his friends and family into the first partnership. The starting capital accounts and partners were as follows:
最近我一直在思考 Buffett Associates Ltd.——这是沃伦·巴菲特于 1956 年 5 月 1 日成立的、最著名且首个真正意义上的职业投资合伙企业。当时他刚结束在 Graham-Newman 公司为本杰明·格雷厄姆工作的经历返回奥马哈，年仅 25 岁（当年 8 月将满 26 岁）。巴菲特无法忍受在股价下跌时遭人指责，因此首只合伙基金只邀请了亲朋好友。起始资本及合伙人如下：
Doc Thompson, Buffett’s father-in-law, contributed \$25,000. That is \$195,140 today.
Doc Thompson（巴菲特的岳父）出资 25,000 美元，折合今日约 195,140 美元。
Dorris Buffett, Warren’s sister, and her husband contributed \$10,000. That is \$78,056 today.
多丽丝·巴菲特（沃伦的妹妹）及其丈夫出资 10,000 美元，折合今日约 78,056 美元。
Aunt Alice Buffett contributed \$35,000, which is \$273,200 today.
巴菲特的阿姨 Alice Buffett 出资 35,000 美元，折合今日约 273,200 美元。
Chuck Peterson, Warren’s roommate during his ill-fated years at Wharton before he left that school, contributed \$5,000, which is \$39,028 today.
Chuck Peterson——巴菲特在沃顿商学院就读期间（后来辍学）的室友——出资 5,000 美元，折合今日约 39,028 美元。
Elizabeth Peterson, Chuck Peterson’s mother, contributed \$25,000 she inherited after her husband died the year before, which is \$195,140 today.
Chuck Peterson 的母亲 Elizabeth Peterson 用前年丈夫去世后继承的 25,000 美元出资，折合今日约 195,140 美元。
Dan Monen, a childhood friend of Warren’s, contributed \$5,000, which is \$39,028 today.
Dan Monen（巴菲特的童年好友）出资 5,000 美元，折合今日约 39,028 美元。
Warren himself kicked in \$100, which is \$781 today.
巴菲特本人投入 100 美元，折合今日约 781 美元。
The entire Buffett Associates, Ltd. partnership had \$105,100 in capital, which is roughly \$820,373 today. He had six partners plus himself, which brought the total to seven people.
Buffett Associates Ltd. 的总资本为 105,100 美元，按今日价值约 820,373 美元。除巴菲特外共有六位合伙人，总人数为七人。
The compensation formula was simple. The investors received 4% interest on their money from the partnership. After that threshold, Buffett got 50% of the gain and the limited partners got the other 50%. If there were a loss, Buffett took 25% of it himself. That means if he broke even, he lost money. His obligation to pay back losses was not limited to his capital; it was unlimited.
薪酬结构非常简单：投资人首先按其出资获得 4% 年利息。超过该门槛的收益部分，巴菲特取得 50%，有限合伙人取得其余 50%。若发生亏损，巴菲特需承担其中 25%。也就是说，即便盈亏相抵为零，他仍要亏钱；并且他对亏损的偿付义务不限于其投入资本，而是无限责任。
A Few Months After Buffett Associates, Ltd. Came Buffett Fund, Ltd.
在 Buffett Associates Ltd. 成立几个月后，随之而来的是 Buffett Fund Ltd.。
[mainbodyad]According to the Buffett biography by Alice Schroeder, Buffett had already been managing money for people. Specifically, he had been investing conservatively in government bonds for a small, modest fee for Anne Gottschaldt and Catherine Elberfeld, the mother and aunt of Fred Kuhlken, one of Warren’s friends from Columbia. He didn’t invite either of them into the partnership because he felt like it would be a higher fee structure. On the other hand, even accounting for that, those two women would have become much richer by investing in Buffett Associates, Ltd.
[mainbodyad]根据艾丽斯·施罗德的《巴菲特传》，巴菲特当时已替他人理财：他以较低费用替安妮·戈特沙尔特与凯瑟琳·埃尔伯菲尔德（巴菲特在哥伦比亚大学的朋友弗雷德·库尔肯的母亲和姨妈）保守投资政府债券。他没有邀请她们加入合伙企业，因为那将意味着更高的收费结构。尽管如此，如果她们投资于 Buffett Associates Ltd.，仍会变得更加富有。
Buffett also had a little partnership with his father, called Buffett & Buffett, on which he charged no fee.
巴菲特还与父亲共同成立了一个小型合伙企业 “Buffett & Buffett”，且不收取任何费用。
It was in the years that followed that Warren started establishing other investment partnerships. On September 1st, 1956, he raised \$120,000 from Homer Dodge, a physics professor who had attended Harvard University. That is almost \$937,000 in today’s money. With it, Buffett setup Buffett Fund, Ltd. This second fund had more money than the Buffett Associates, Ltd. partnership.
随后几年，沃伦陆续建立了其他投资合伙企业。1956 年 9 月 1 日，他从曾就读于哈佛大学的物理学教授霍默·道奇筹得 120,000 美元，按今日价值约 937,000 美元。据此，巴菲特设立了 Buffett Fund Ltd.，其规模已超过 Buffett Associates Ltd.。
Then Came the B-C Partnership
随后出现了 B-C Partnership
Then, in October 1, 1956, Warren founded another partnership for a friend of his, John Cleary, who was his father’s secretary in Congress. (Buffett’s father served in the House of Representatives.) It had \$55,000 in capital, which is the equivalent of \$429,300 today.
随后，在 1956 年 10 月 1 日，沃伦为朋友约翰·克利里——其父在国会时的秘书——成立了另一只合伙基金（巴菲特的父亲当时是众议员）。该基金资本 55,000 美元，折合今日约 429,300 美元。
To summarize, he was definitely off to a good start. At 26, Warren Buffett was the son of a United States Congressman, he had an MBA from Columbia University, had already worked for the legendary Benjamin Graham, had \$1,358,200 in inflation-adjusted investments in his own portfolio, plus he was managing \$2,186,700 in inflation-adjusted terms of other peoples’ money that he got an override on depending upon performance. That is a very good basis upon which to build a career if you have the skills of someone like Warren Buffett. The next year, he raised even more money …
总而言之，他的开局十分顺利。26 岁的沃伦·巴菲特既是美国国会议员之子，又拥有哥伦比亚大学 MBA 学位，还曾为传奇投资人本杰明·格雷厄姆工作。他个人投资组合经通胀调整后已达 1,358,200 美元，并管理着经通胀调整后 2,186,700 美元的他人资金，按绩效提取分成。若拥有巴菲特那样的能力，这是一份建立事业的绝佳基础。翌年，他又筹集了更多资金……
The Underwood Partnership
Underwood 合伙企业
In June of 1957, Buffett started another partnership called Underwood, which was setup by one of the original partners of Buffett Associates, Ltd., Elizabeth Peters, with \$85,000. Today, that is \$640,500.
1957 年 6 月，巴菲特设立了另一只名为 Underwood 的合伙基金，由 Buffett Associates Ltd. 原始合伙人之一 Elizabeth Peters 出资 85,000 美元发起，折合今日约 640,500 美元。
Then Came the Dacee Partnership
随后是 Dacee Partnership
It wasn’t until next year, on August 5, 1957, that Buffett started what was actually his fifth partnership, excluding Buffett & Buffett with his father, which was called Dacee. Eddie Davis and his wife Dorothy Davis had Buffett manage \$100,000 for themselves and their three children. In today’s dollars, that is \$753,400 or so in today’s inflation-adjusted dollars.
直到次年——1957 年 8 月 5 日——巴菲特才创建了他实际上的第五只合伙基金（不计与父亲共建的 Buffett & Buffett），名为 Dacee。Eddie Davis 与妻子 Dorothy Davis 将 100,000 美元交由巴菲特为他们及三个孩子管理，按今日通胀调整后价值约 753,400 美元。
The Mo-Buff Partnership
Mo-Buff Partnership
On May 5, 1958, Dan Monen and his wife, Mary Ellen, formed the basis of Warren’s next partnership, called Mo-Buff. They put in \$70,000. That is \$527,400 today.
1958 年 5 月 5 日，Dan Monen 与妻子 Mary Ellen 成为巴菲特下一只名为 Mo-Buff 合伙基金的基础投资人，他们投入 70,000 美元，折合今日约 527,400 美元。
The Glenoff Partnership
Glenoff Partnership
[mainbodyad]The seventh Buffett partnership (again excluding the Buffett & Buffett he had with his father), was called Glenoff, and consisted of \$50,000 contributed by a local businessman and two sons in one of Omaha’s most prominent families. It was established in February of 1959. Today, that is \$364,000.
[mainbodyad]第七只巴菲特合伙基金（同样不含他与父亲共建的 Buffett & Buffett）名为 Glenoff，由奥马哈当地一位知名商人与其两位儿子共同出资 50,000 美元，于 1959 年 2 月成立，折合今日约 364,000 美元。
The thing is, by mid-way through 1959, Buffett, who had only contributed \$100 to each partnership, had earned fees, counting reinvested earnings, of \$83,085 and owned approximately 9.5% of the combined partnerships due to his performance. That is about \$605,000 today. Not bad! Plus, of course, he still had his personal investments.
事实上，到 1959 年年中，巴菲特仅向每只合伙基金投入 100 美元，但凭借其业绩并计入再投资收益后已累计获得 83,085 美元的管理费，并拥有这些合伙基金合计约 9.5% 的权益，按今日价值约 605,000 美元。不赖！当然，他还保有个人投资组合。
That means, by the time he was about to turn 30, he was managing almost \$7,300,000 in today’s money, had his personal investments, managed Buffett & Buffett with his father, and some other side commitments.
这意味着，在他即将年满 30 岁时，他已管理着按今日价值近 7,300,000 美元的资产，同时拥有个人投资组合，与父亲共同管理 Buffett & Buffett，并承担其他一些附带职责。
This article, by Warren Buffett, as told to Randall Lane, appears in the upcoming April issue of ForbesLife magazine, as part of its "When I Was 25" series.
这篇文章由沃伦·巴菲特口述、兰德尔·莱恩执笔，刊载于即将出版的《福布斯生活》四月号“当我25岁时”系列。
By Warren Buffett
作者：沃伦·巴菲特
Benjamin Graham had been my idol ever since I read his book The Intelligent Investor. I had wanted to go to Columbia Business School because he was a professor there, and after I got out of Columbia, returned to Omaha, and started selling securities, I didn’t forget about him. Between 1951 and 1954, I made a pest of myself, sending him frequent securities ideas. Then I got a letter back: “Next time you’re in New York, come and see me.”
自从我读到本杰明·格雷厄姆的《聪明的投资者》以来，他一直是我的偶像。我想去哥伦比亚商学院就是因为他在那里任教；在我毕业于哥伦比亚、回到奥马哈并开始销售证券后，我也从未忘记他。1951年至1954年间，我频繁给他寄去投资想法，几乎成为他的“烦人精”。后来我收到他的一封回信：“下次你来纽约时，来见我一面。”
So there I went, and he offered me a job at Graham-Newman Corp., which he ran with Jerry Newman. Everyone says that A.W. Jones started the hedge fund industry, but Graham-Newman’s sister partnership, Newman and Graham, was actually an earlier fund. I moved to White Plains, New York, with my wife, Susie, who was four months pregnant, and my daughter. Every morning, I got on a train to Grand Central and went to work.
于是我去了，他为我提供了格雷厄姆-纽曼公司的职位，他与杰里·纽曼共同经营这家公司。大家都说A.W.琼斯开创了对冲基金行业，但格雷厄姆-纽曼的姊妹合伙企业“纽曼与格雷厄姆”实际上更早。我带着怀孕四个月的妻子苏茜和女儿搬到纽约州怀特普莱恩斯，每天清晨乘火车到大中央车站然后去上班。
It was a short-lived position: The next year, when I was 25, Mr. Graham—that’s what I called him then—gave me a heads-up that he was going to retire. Actually, he did more than that: He offered me the chance to replace him, with Jerry’s son Mickey as the new senior partner and me as the new junior partner. It was a very tiny fund—\$6 million or \$7 million—but it was a famous fund.
然而这份工作很短暂：第二年，我25岁时，格雷厄姆先生——那时我都这样称呼他——提前告诉我他准备退休。事实上，他还做了更多：他让我接替他的位置，由杰里的儿子米奇出任新高级合伙人，而我成为新初级合伙人。那是一只非常小的基金——只有600万到700万美元——但却名声在外。
This was a traumatic decision. Here was my chance to step into the shoes of my hero—I even named my first son Howard Graham Buffett. (Howard was for my father.) But I also wanted to come back to Omaha. I probably went to work for a month thinking every morning that I would tell Mr. Graham I was going to leave. But it was hard to do.
这是一项令人纠结的决定。我有机会穿上偶像的鞋子——我甚至给长子取名为霍华德·格雷厄姆·巴菲特（霍华德纪念我父亲）。但我也想回奥马哈。我大概有一个月的时间，每天早晨去上班时都在想要告诉格雷厄姆先生我要离开，但这话实在难以启齿。
The thing is, when I got out of college, I had \$9,800, but by the end of 1955, I was up to \$127,000. I thought, I’ll go back to Omaha, take some college classes, and read a lot—I was going to retire! I figured we could live on \$12,000 a year, and off my \$127,000 asset base, I could easily make that. I told my wife, “Compound interest guarantees I’m going to get rich.”
问题在于，我大学毕业时只有9,800美元，但到1955年底已增至127,000美元。我想，我会回奥马哈上些大学课程，多读书——我要退休了！我算过，我们一年花12,000美元就够了，而靠着127,000美元的资产，我轻松就能赚到这笔钱。我告诉妻子：“复利保证我会变得富有。”
My wife and kids went back to Omaha just ahead of me. I got in the car, and on my way west checked out companies I was interested in investing in. It was due diligence. I stopped in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, to visit the Jeddo-Highland Coal Company. I visited the Kalamazoo Stove & Furnace Company in Michigan, which was being liquidated. I went to see what the building looked like, what they had for sale. I went to Delaware, Ohio, to check out Greif Bros. Cooperage. (Who knows anything about cooperage anymore?) Its chairman met with me. I didn’t have appointments; I would just drop in. I found that people always talked to me. All these people helped me.
妻子和孩子先我一步回到奥马哈。我开车向西，一路顺道考察我想投资的公司，这算是尽调。我在宾夕法尼亚州黑兹尔顿停下来参观Jeddo-Highland煤炭公司；又去了正在清算中的密歇根州卡拉马祖炉具公司，看看他们的厂房和待售资产；还到俄亥俄州特拉华市考察格瑞夫兄弟木桶公司（如今还有谁了解木桶业务？）。董事长亲自接待了我。我没有预约，只是直接登门；我发现人们总愿意与我交谈，所有这些人都帮了我。
In Omaha, I rented a house at 5202 Underwood for \$175 a month. I told my wife, “I’d be glad to buy a house, but that’s like a carpenter selling his toolkit.” I didn’t want to use up my capital.
在奥马哈，我以每月175美元的租金租下安德伍德街5202号的一套房子。我对妻子说：“我乐意买房，但那就像木匠卖掉自己的工具。”我不想动用我的资本。
I had no plans to start a partnership, or even have a job. I had no worries as long as I could operate on my own. I certainly did not want to sell securities to other people again. But by pure accident, seven people, including a few of my relatives, said to me, “You used to sell stocks, and we want you to tell us what to do with our money.” I replied, “I’m not going to do that again, but I’ll form a partnership like Ben and Jerry had, and if you want to join me, you can.” My father-in-law, my college roommate, his mother, my aunt Alice, my sister, my brother-in-law, and my lawyer all signed on. I also had my hundred dollars. That was the beginning—totally accidental.
我并不打算创办合伙企业，甚至没打算找工作。只要能自己操作，我就毫无担忧。我当然再也不想替别人卖证券了。然而纯属偶然，七个人，包括几位亲戚，对我说：“你以前卖股票，我们想请你帮我们理财。”我回答：“我不会再做那种事，但我可以像本和杰里那样组个合伙企业，如果你们愿意就加入。”我的岳父、大学室友、他母亲、我的阿姨爱丽丝、妹妹、妹夫和律师都加入了。我自己也出了100美元。就这样——完全偶然——开始了。
When I formed that partnership, we had dinner, the seven of them plus me—I’m 99 percent sure it was at the Omaha Club. I bought a ledger for 49 cents, and they brought their checks. Before I took their money, I gave them a half sheet of paper that I had made carbons of—something I called the ground rules. I said, “There are two or four pages of partnership legal documents. Don’t worry about that. I’ll tell you what’s in it, and you won’t get any surprises.
成立合伙企业时，我们八个人一起吃了顿饭——我99%确定是在奥马哈俱乐部。我花49美分买了本账簿，他们带来了支票。在收他们的钱之前，我给了每人半页复写纸——我称之为“基本规则”。我说：“合伙协议大概有两到四页法律文件，别担心，我会告诉你们里面的内容，不会有任何意外。”
“But these ground rules are the philosophy. If you are in tune with me, then let’s go. If you aren’t, I understand. I’m not going to tell you what we own or anything like that. I want to get bouquets when I deserve bouquets, and I want to get soft fruit thrown at me when I deserve it. But I don’t want fruit thrown at me if I’m down 5 percent, and the market’s down 15 percent—I’m going to think I deserve a bouquet for that.” We made everything clear, and they gave me their checks.
“但这些基本规则才是哲学。如果你们认同我，那我们就开始；如果不认同，我理解。我不会告诉你们我们持有什么。该获鲜花时我想要鲜花，该挨砖头时我也愿接受。但如果我亏5%，而市场跌15%，那时我觉得自己应当收鲜花而不是砖头。”我们把一切说清楚了，他们随即递上支票。
I did no solicitation, but more checks began coming from people I didn’t know. Back in New York, Graham-Newman was being liquidated. There was a college president up in Vermont, Homer Dodge, who had been invested with Graham, and he asked, “Ben, what should I do with my money?” Ben said, “Well, there’s this kid who used to work for me.…” So Dodge drove out to Omaha, to this rented house I lived in. I was 25, looked about 17, and acted like 12. He said, “What are you doing?” I said, “Here’s what I’m doing with my family, and I’ll do it with you.”
我没有做任何推介，但越来越多不认识的人的支票寄了过来。纽约那边，格雷厄姆-纽曼正在清算。佛蒙特州一位大学校长霍默·道奇曾把钱投在格雷厄姆那里，他问：“本，我该怎么处理我的钱？”本说：“有个以前替我工作的小伙子……”于是道奇驱车来到奥马哈，到我租住的房子。我当时25岁，看起来像17岁，行为像12岁。他问：“你在做什么？”我说：“这就是我为家人做的，我也可以替你做。”
Although I had no idea, age 25 was a turning point. I was changing my life, setting up something that would turn into a fairly good-size partnership called Berkshire Hathaway. I wasn’t scared. I was doing something I liked, and I’m still doing it.
我当时并不知道，25岁是个转折点。我正在改变人生，建立起后来相当规模、名为伯克希尔·哈撒韦的合伙企业。我并不害怕；我在做自己喜欢的事情，而且至今仍在做。