巴菲特1985年致股东的信（英文版）

以下是 1985 年巴菲特致股东的信英文版全文：

You may remember the wildly upbeat message of last year’s report: nothing much was in the works but our experience had been that something big popped up occasionally. This carefully - crafted corporate strategy paid off in 1985. Later sections of this report discuss (a) our purchase of a major position in Capital Cities/ABC, (b) our acquisition of Scott & Fetzer, (c) our entry into a large, extended - term participation in the insurance business of Fireman’s Fund, and (d) our sale of our stock in General Foods.

Our gain in net worth during the year was $613.6 million, or 48.2%. It is fitting that the visit of Halley’s Comet coincided with this percentage gain: neither will be seen again in my lifetime. Our gain in per - share book value over the last twenty - one years (that is, since present management took over) has been from $19.46 to $1643.71, or 23.2% compounded annually, another percentage that will not be repeated.

Two factors make anything approaching this rate of gain unachievable in the future. One factor, probably transitory, is the large realized and unrealized capital gains we have recorded in recent years. We cannot expect such gains to continue at anything like the rate of the past: the stock market is not a river that will flow in perpetuity at an ever - increasing rate. The second factor is mathematical: as our net worth grows, it becomes more difficult to earn a high rate of return. If Berkshire is to average 15% on its net worth in the future, it will have to earn far more than $1 billion annually - an amount that will be unattainable unless we are very lucky or unless our business ideas improve. We believe, however, that three elements will work in our favor: (1) we have no constraints as to the kind of businesses in which we can invest; (2) our scope is not circumscribed by history, structure, or concept; and (3) we love our work. All of these help. Even so, we will also need a full measure of good fortune to average our hoped - for 15%.

Our 1985 results include unusually large earnings from the sale of securities. This fact, in itself, does not mean that we had a particularly good year (though, of course, we did). Security profits in a given year bear similarities to a college graduation ceremony in which the knowledge gained over four years is recognized on a day when nothing further is learned. We may hold a stock for a decade or more, and during that period it may grow quite consistently in both business and market value. In the year in which we finally sell it there may be no increase in value, or there may even be a decrease. But all growth in values since purchase will be reflected in the accounting earnings of the year of sale. (If the stock owned is in our insurance subsidiaries, however, any gain or loss in market value will be reflected in net worth annually.) Thus, reported capital gains or losses in any given year are meaningless as a measure of how well we have done in the current year.

A large portion of the realized gain in 1985 ($338 million pre - tax out of a total of $488 million) came about through the sale of our General Foods shares. We held most of these shares since 1980, when we had purchased them at a price far below what we felt was their per - share business value. Year by year, the managerial efforts of Jim Ferguson and Phil Smith substantially increased General Foods’ business value and, last fall, Philip Morris made an offer for the company that reflected the increase. We thus benefited from four factors: a bargain purchase price, a business with fine underlying economics, an able management concentrating on the interests of shareholders, and a buyer willing to pay full business value. While that last factor is the only one that produces reported earnings, we consider identification of the first three to be the key to building value for Berkshire shareholders.

In selecting common stocks, we devote our attention to attractive purchases, not to the possibility of attractive sales. We have again reported substantial income from special distributions. This year we received such distributions from The Washington Post Company and General Foods. These special distributions occurred because the companies repurchased our shares, along with proportional amounts from other shareholders, under agreements that specified that our percentage ownership in the companies would remain the same before and after the transactions. These transactions were treated by the IRS as similar to dividend payments because, as a shareholder, we maintained our proportional interest in the companies even though we received cash.

We have told you in the past that our stock - market investments have fared best when we have been able to buy into businesses with good underlying economics at values well below those that knowledgeable business people would ascribe to them. We have also told you that we have found few such opportunities in recent years. That situation changed in 1985, with our purchases of Capital Cities/ABC and Scott & Fetzer. We are delighted with these acquisitions and with the managements that go with them.

We purchased about 3 million shares of Capital Cities/ABC at $172.50 per share early in 1985. I have followed the management performance of this company for many years and believe that they are among the very best in public - company management. Tom Murphy and Dan Burke are not only outstanding managers but also the kind of people you would be happy to have as neighbors and the kind you would want your daughter to marry. It is a pleasure and an honor to be associated with them. Our investment in Capital Cities will enable the company to obtain the $3.5 billion of funds it needs to acquire American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. (ABC). While the benefits of the ABC acquisition to Capital Cities may not be immediately apparent, we are patient. After all, even with talent and effort, it takes time for the dough to rise. You can’t have nine women pregnant and expect a baby in one month.

To demonstrate our confidence in the management of Capital Cities, we have entered into an agreement with them under which, for a specified period, we will turn over our voting rights to Tom Murphy (or, if he should step down, to Dan Burke). In fact, this proposal was initiated by Charlie and me. We have also placed some self - imposed restrictions on our ability to sell our shares. These actions are designed to ensure that our shares will not be sold to anyone without the approval of the existing management. This is similar to an arrangement we made with The Washington Post Company several years ago.

We acquired Scott & Fetzer in a transaction that closed late in 1985. Scott & Fetzer is a fine company with a long history of profitable operations. It has a number of well - known consumer brands, including Kirby vacuum cleaners and World Book encyclopedias. We are very pleased to have Dick Kiphart and Ralph Schey join the Berkshire team. They have run Scott & Fetzer extremely well in the past and we have every confidence that they will continue to do so.

Our entry into a large, extended - term participation in the insurance business of Fireman’s Fund is described in detail in the section of this report devoted to our insurance operations. This is an important new venture for us and we are excited about the opportunities it presents.

We sold our remaining shares in General Foods in 1985. As noted earlier, we had held these shares since 1980 and had benefited from the company’s increasing business value and the offer made by Philip Morris. We have no plans to repurchase shares of General Foods in the future.

In addition to our major investments described above, we have a number of other stock holdings that are of significant value to us. We continue to hold our shares in The Washington Post Company, even though I will be leaving the company’s board in 1986 due to our acquisition of Capital Cities. We expect the value of The Washington Post Company to continue to grow over time, and we know that its management is both capable and committed to the interests of shareholders. However, the company’s market capitalization has now grown to $1.8 billion, and it will be more difficult for the company to grow at the same rate as it did when its market capitalization was only $100 million.

We also have a significant investment in Beatrice Companies, Inc. This is a short - term arbitrage position and is a temporary parking place for our excess cash. (It is not without risk, as transactions sometimes fall through and cause significant losses.) We generally participate only in announced mergers and acquisitions. We would much prefer to find long - term, attractive investments for our cash, but have not been able to do so at present.

Our insurance subsidiaries held approximately $400 million of tax - exempt bonds at the end of 1985. About half of these were bonds issued by the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS). I described our investment in WPPSS bonds in detail last year and also explained why we were reluctant to discuss our activities in this area until the situation had been resolved. As of the end of 1985, our unrealized gain on these bonds was $62 million. About one - third of this gain was due to a general increase in bond prices, and the remainder was due to a more favorable view by investors of the WPPSS projects 1, 2, and 3. Our annual tax - exempt income from this investment is approximately $30 million.

We have told you in the past that we do not believe in splitting our stock. We believe that a high stock price helps to attract long - term investors who are interested in the underlying value of our business, rather than short - term speculators who are interested only in price movements. We also believe that a high stock price is more likely to result in a market price that is in line with the underlying value of our business. In 1985, the market price of our stock was generally higher than in the past, and we believe that this was due in part to the increasing recognition by investors of the value of our business. However, we cannot control the price of our stock, and we will continue to focus on running our business in a way that maximizes its long - term value.

In conclusion, we are very pleased with the results of 1985. We have made some important acquisitions, and our existing businesses have performed well. We believe that we are well - positioned for the future, but we also know that we will face many challenges. We will continue to work hard to increase the value of Berkshire Hathaway for the benefit of our shareholders.

Thank you for your continued interest and support.

Warren E. Buffett

Chairman of the Board

February 28, 1986