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，相較於去年又都老了一歲，所幸比起其他美國大企業來說，我們的主要經理人老化的速度可以說要慢得多(年度/年齡)，而且這種差異以後還會越來越大。　Charlie and I continue to aim at increasing Berkshire’s per-share value at a rate that, over time, will modestly exceed the gain from owning the S&P 500. As the table on the facing page shows, a small annual advantage in our favor can, if sustained, produce an anything-but-small long-term advantage. To reach our goal we will need to add a few good businesses to Berkshire’s stable each year, have the businesses we own generally gain in value, and avoid any material increase in our outstanding shares. We are confident about meeting the last two objectives; the first will require some luck. 就長期而言，查理跟我還是一樣把Berkshire每股實質價值成長的速度鎖定在稍微超過 S&P500指數的目標上，如同封面上那張表所顯示的，雖然只是每年幾個百分點的差異，但只要能夠持之以恆，久而久之也能產生不少的差距，當然每年為了達到這個目標，我們都必須固定再為Berkshire增添幾家好公司，並讓原先就已經擁有這些好公司的價值保持成長，同時還要避免流通在外的股數繼續大幅膨脹，個人覺得要做到後兩點沒有太大問題，但第一點則真的要碰運氣。　It’s appropriate here to thank two groups that made my job both easy and fun last year - just as they do every year. First, our operating managers continue to run their businesses in splendid fashion, which allows me to spend my time allocating capital rather than supervising them. (I wouldn’t be good at that anyway.) 在這裡要特別感謝兩組團隊讓我去年的工作一如往年般的輕鬆愉快，首先，我們旗下事業的經理人依然繼續堅守崗位表現傑出，完全不讓我操心，(當然這本來就不是我的專長)，使我可以將大部分的心思擺在如何運用資金之上。　Our managers are a very special breed. At most large companies, the truly talented divisional managers seldom have the job they really want. Instead they yearn to become CEOs, either at their present employer or elsewhere. Indeed, if they stay put, they and their colleagues are likely to feel they have failed. 我們旗下的經理人是非常特殊的一群，在大部分的公司，真正有能力的部門經理很少樂在本身的工作，他們通常渴望能夠盡快晉升成為總裁，不論是在現在的公司或跳槽到別家公司都可以，而要是他們不積極爭取，他自己本身以及其同事，反而會認定他為懦夫。　At Berkshire, our all-stars have exactly the jobs they want, ones that they hope and expect to keep throughout their business lifetimes. They therefore concentrate solely on maximizing the long-term value of the businesses that they "own" and love. If the businesses succeed, they have succeeded. And they stick with us: In our last 36 years, Berkshire has never had a manager of a significant subsidiary voluntarily leave to join another business. 在Berkshire，我們所有的明星經理人都樂在本身的工作，一份他們想要而且期望能夠終生擁有的事業，也因此他們可以完全專注在如何把這份他們擁有且熱愛事業的長期價值極大化，如果這份事業成功了，也就等於他們本身成功了，他們一直與我們同在，在 Berkshire過去36年來，還沒有聽說過任何一位旗下事業經理人自動跳槽離開Berkshire 的。 The other group to which I owe enormous thanks is the home-office staff. After the eight acquisitions more than doubled our worldwide workforce to about 112,000, Charlie and I went soft last year and added one more person at headquarters. (Charlie, bless him, never lets me forget Ben Franklin’s advice: "A small leak can sink a great ship.") Now we have 13.8 people. 還有另外一群夥伴，我要深深致上謝意，那就是Berkshire企業總部的員工，在新購併的八個事業加入之後，我們全球的員工總數增加到112,000人，為此查理跟我的態度稍微軟化，答應讓總部人員編制增加一名成為13.8人(查理這小子，總是提醒我富蘭克林的名言，為山九仞，功虧一簣)。　This tiny band works miracles. In 2000 it handled all of the details connected with our eight acquisitions, processed extensive regulatory and tax filings (our tax return covers 4,896 pages), smoothly produced an annual meeting to which 25,000 tickets were issued, and accurately dispensed checks to 3,660 charities designated by our shareholders. In addition, the group dealt with all the routine tasks served up by a company with a revenue run-rate of $40 billion and more than 300,000 owners. And, to add to all of this, the other 12.8 are a delight to b