原文信息：

• 标题：1968 November Letter to Partners
• 作者：Warren Buffett
• 发表时间：1968-11-01
• 链接：To My Partners
• 中文翻译参考：RanRan
• 整理：Yoan

BUFFETT PARTNERSHIP. LTD.

610 KIEWIT PLAZA

OMAHA, NEBRASKA 68131

TELEPHONE 042-4110

November 1st, 1968

1968 年 11 月 1 日 

To My Partners:

致各位合伙人：

Enclosed are two copies of the Commitment Letter for 1969, one to be kept by you and one to be returned to us. You may amend the Commitment Letter right up to December 31, so get it back to us early and, if it needs to be changed, just let us know by letter or phone. Commitment Letters become absolutely final on December 31 - there can be no exceptions to this rule since I turn them over to Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. at that time.

随信附上两份 1969 年的承诺书，一份由你保留，一份寄还给我们。你可以在 12 月 31 日零点之前修改承诺书，所以请尽早返还给我们，如果需要更改，提前写信或打电话给我们即可。12 月 31 日，承诺书最终生效，不可更改。因为我会将承诺书转交给毕马威会计师事务所，所以此项规定没有例外。

Also enclosed is a copy of our ever popular "Ground Rules" to assist you in your annual re-indoctrination.

随信同时附上一份每年必备的“基本原则”，帮助各位每年把理念强化一次。

At present, the tax picture stands about as indicated in my letter of August 27th. However, there is a fair chance that one or more significant (from a tax standpoint) transactions may transpire between now and the end of the year. We will have a letter out on December 24th confirming the status of your Commitment Letter, and any material change in your anticipated tax liability will be reported to you at that time.

目前，税收情况与 8 月 27 日信中所述一致。在年底之前，我们很可能会进行一笔或多笔对纳税情况有重大影响的交易。12 月 24 日，我们会寄给大家一封信，确认各位的承诺书，如果预期纳税情况有变，会在这封信中向各位报告。

At yearend, we intend to value our eighty per cent interest in Diversified Retailing Company at $8,800,000. This compares to $7,200,000 last year and an original cost of $4,800,000. Our valuation method is consistent with that employed last year which, roughly, approximates cost plus our equity in retained earnings.

我们持有多元零售公司 80% 的股份。年末，我们打算将这部分权益的估值定为 8,800, 000 美元。这部分权益去年的估值是 7,200,000 美元，我们买入的初始成本是 4,800,000 美元。我们仍然使用去年的估值方法，即成本加归属于我们的留存收益。

Our yearend valuation for our seventy per cent interest in Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. will be $31 per share. As I have mentioned in previous letters, market price, which governs valuation of minority interest positions, is of virtually no importance in valuing a controlling interest. The dominant factors in such a controlling interest valuation (which is a business valuation - not a stock market one) are asset values and earning power. Berkshire Hathaway has made important progress during the year, warranting the increase from $25 per share used last year in valuing our position to the $31 figure this year. As an indication of the unimportance of market values, it may be noted that the $25 figure last year was somewhat above market value at the time, whereas the $31 price is somewhat below market quotations as I write this letter.

我们持有伯克希尔哈撒韦 70% 的股份。年末，我们对这部分权益的估值是每股 31 美元。我在先前的信件中已经说过：市场价格支配的是少数股东权益的价值，对控股权益估值没多大意义。在对控股权益估值时（这是从商业角度进行的估值，不是股市里的估值），主要决定因素是资产价值和盈利能力。今年，伯克希尔哈撒韦取得了长足的进步，我们将它的估值从去年的每股 25 美元提升到今年的 31 美元完全合理。去年我们的估值是 25 美元，当时的市场价值比 25 美元低；今年我们的估值是 31 美元，现在的市场报价比 31 美元高，这么一对比，大家就知道市场价值是次要的了。

Every year about this time I get some questions as to whether our "no admittance" policy is still in effect. The answer is unequivocally "yes". This is applied across the board, and I have had to turn down spouses, children, grandchildren, etc. of present partners (I'll leave it to you to figure out what an "etc." of a present partner is). I don't enjoy saying no to friends who are long-time partners, but adding new members could have a negative effect on all present partners and I certainly have no desire to say yes to some and no to others.

每年这个时候，总会有合伙人问我，合伙基金是否还不接受新合伙人。我总是毫不含糊地回答：“对。”这个规定没有例外，我没办法，只能把现有合伙人的配偶、儿子、女儿、孙子、孙女等等都拒绝了（“等等”二字省略的内容，请各位自行补充）。有些合伙人已经是我的老朋友了，我很难拒绝他们，但是允许新成员加入，会损害所有现有合伙人的利益，而且我也不愿意区别对待各位合伙人，答应这个，不答应那个。

We have also had some inquiries regarding the transfer of Partnership interests to trusts. This cannot be done, since the Partnership interests are not assignable and a trust would be a new partner. This decision reflects the nature of our Partnership contract, general Federal Income Tax regulations regarding partnerships, and our own particular tax letter which was issued by the Treasury Department to us in 1961, ruling that we are a partnership rather than an association taxable as a corporation.

还有合伙人询问能否将合伙人基金权益转移到信托。因为合伙基金权益是不可转让的，而且信托属于新合伙人，所以这个做不到。1961 年财政部寄发给我们的税收信函规定我们是合伙性质，纳税地位有别于公司法人，另外，根据我们的合伙基金合同，以及联邦所得税对合伙性质纳税实体的一般规定，都不允许将合伙基金权益转移到信托。

Results this year continue to be better than I expected. Despite unusually large holdings of cash equivalent securities throughout much of the year and only a bare trickle of worthwhile ideas, we have managed to achieve reasonably good results measured by the old standards as well as the new ones. The Dow is currently plus about 8%, and our margin over the Dow is now somewhat wider than the 15% edge that we had at mid-year. Our backlog of potentially profitable ideas for 1969 is virtually nil.

今年的业绩仍然高于我的预期。我们今年和往年不一样，大部分时间都持有大量可以作为现金等价物的证券，而且有价值的机会星星点点，但是无论按照新标准还是旧标准衡量，我们的业绩都相当好。道指目前上涨了 8% 左右，年中时我们领先道指 15 个百分点，现在我们领先的要更多一点。我们能在 1969 年能用得上的投资机会现在还一个都没有。

Once again, I urge you to try for our "Partner of the Year" award (it's honorary - no monetary consideration) by getting your Commitment Letter back to us promptly.

再提醒各位一下，请尽快将承诺书寄给我们，看谁能赢得“年度合伙人”大奖（这是个荣誉奖，没奖金）。

Cordially,

Warren E. Buffett

WEB/glk

沃伦 E. 巴菲特谨上