巴菲特1984年致股东的信（英文版）

Here is the full text of Buffett's letter to shareholders in 1984:

Berkshire's net worth increased by about $150 million in 1984, or $133 per share. That may sound like a reasonable performance, but in relation to the capital employed, it was actually only average. Over the past two decades, our net worth has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 22.1% (from $19.46 in 1965 to $1,108.77 in 1984). Last year, the growth rate was only 13.6%.

The capital gains and losses of various companies are not included separately but are summarized in the "Realized Gains on Sale of Securities" column at the end of the following table (we believe that the realized gains on the sale of securities in a single year are not of much significance, but the cumulative figures added up each year are quite important). The amortization of goodwill is shown in a separate column. Although the presentation method in this table is different from generally accepted accounting principles, the final profit and loss figures are the same.

As I reported last year, (1) in 1983, GEICO announced a stock repurchase; (2) at the same time, we signed an agreement to allow GEICO to repurchase an equal - proportion of shares from us; (3) finally, we sold 350,000 shares back to GEICO and received $21 million in cash, while our ownership percentage in GEICO remained unchanged; (4) our well - known law firm recognized this entire transaction as a capital reduction; (5) according to tax laws, we only had to pay a 6.9% inter - corporate dividend tax; (6) most importantly, this $21 million in cash was much less than our unrecognized undistributed earnings, so in essence, we regarded it as a dividend distribution.

The same situation occurred with General Foods in 1984, except that the latter repurchased shares directly from the open market. Therefore, we sold a small number of shares every day to keep our ownership percentage in the company unchanged. Similarly, the two parties had signed an agreement before the transaction, and the cash we received was less than our unrecognized undistributed earnings in the company. In total, we received $21 million in cash, and our ownership percentage remained at 8.75%.

This year, we have signed a similar agreement with General Foods. To ensure that it can be recognized as a dividend distribution in tax law, we will still maintain our ownership percentage in the company. Of course, if there are similar situations in the future, we will definitely report to all shareholders. In May of this year, Mrs. B was awarded an honorary doctorate by New York University. (She is a skip - grade student. Before receiving this degree, she had never attended a single day of school.) Before her, those who had received this honor included the presidents of Exxon, Citibank, IBM, General Motors, and other outstanding business people.

We are always on the lookout for large - scale acquisitions of businesses that meet the following criteria:
(1) Are understandable.
(2) Have favorable long - term prospects.
(3) Are run by honest and capable managers.
(4) Are available at a reasonable price.

We will not engage in hostile takeovers and promise complete confidentiality and a prompt response regarding our interest (usually within five minutes). We prefer cash transactions and will not consider issuing shares unless the intrinsic value we receive is at least equal to what we give up. We welcome potential sellers to inquire with those who have worked with us in the past. For good companies and good management teams, we can provide a good home.

A record 97.2% of the outstanding shares participated in the 1984 Shareholder - Designated Contributions Program. A total of approximately $3 million was donated to 1,519 charitable organizations. The shareholder meeting materials include information that allows you to express your opinions on this program (such as whether to continue, how much to donate per share, etc.). You may be interested to know that, in fact, no company has ever before let shareholders decide where the company's donations should go. While managers believe in capitalism, they don't seem to trust capitalists very much.

We recommend that new shareholders read the relevant information carefully. If you also want to participate, we strongly suggest that you promptly transfer your shares from the broker to your own name.

Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting is scheduled to be held in Omaha on May 21, 1985. I hope you will all be able to attend. Most company annual shareholder meetings are a waste of time for both shareholders and management. Sometimes it is because management is reluctant to discuss the company's fundamentals in depth, and sometimes it is because some shareholders are only concerned about showing off themselves and not really caring about the company's affairs. What should have been a discussion about running the business often turns into a farce (it's a very cost - effective idea. Just buy one share, and you can let a large group of people sit and listen to your grandstanding). Eventually, bad money drives out good, causing the shareholders who are truly concerned about the company to stay away, leaving only a bunch of show - off clowns.

Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting is completely different. Although the number of shareholders attending the meeting has increased year by year, so far, we have rarely encountered stupid questions or self - centered remarks. On the contrary, everyone asks insightful business questions. Because everyone comes to the meeting for this purpose, Charlie and I are very happy to answer such questions for everyone, no matter how much time it takes. (However, we are sorry that we cannot answer questions in writing or by phone at other times. Because for a company with 3,000 shareholders, it would be very inefficient to answer one by one.) The only business questions we cannot answer are those about our stock market transactions, especially how much it costs to prove our integrity.

Finally, I usually take some time to brag about how good our company's management team is. Welcome to the annual meeting, and you will understand why. Those from out - of - town can consider visiting the Nebraska Furniture Mart. If you decide to buy something, you will find that the money you save is enough to cover your travel expenses. I believe you will find it worthwhile.

Subsequent event: On March 18, one week after the report was printed, we agreed to buy 3 million shares of Capital Cities Communications at $172.5 per share. There is a condition that Capital Cities must be able to successfully acquire ABC, otherwise the contract will be invalid. In the past few years, we have repeatedly praised the leadership of Capital Cities - including Tom Murphy and Dan Burke. The reason is simple. Because in terms of both ability and character, they are the best of the best. Next year's annual report will elaborate on the details of this investment.

Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board

In the letter, Buffett also mentioned some views on dividend policy and stock repurchases. He believed that not all earnings are the same. Due to inflation, the reported earnings of some companies may contain "ersatz" parts, which are "restricted" earnings and cannot be distributed as dividends if the company wants to maintain its economic position. He also said that companies should retain earnings only when they can be reinvested at a higher rate of return than what investors can generally obtain, and the rest should be paid out as dividends or used to repurchase shares. When a company's shares are sold far below their intrinsic value in the market, repurchasing shares is the best way to benefit shareholders.