The Master of Investment: Warren Buffett

   For someone who is such an extraordinarily¹ successful investor², Warren Buffett comes off as a pretty ordinary guy. Born and bred in Omaha, Nebraska, for more than 40 years Buffett has lived in the same gray stucco house on Farnam Street that he bought for $31,500. He wears rumpled³, nondescript suits, drives his own car, drinks Cherry Coke, and is more likely to be found in a Dairy Queen than a four－star restaurant.

 世界投资大师：沃伦·巴菲特

    作为一个如此卓越的成功投资家，沃伦·巴菲特却又是一个非常平凡、普通的人。巴菲特在美国内布拉斯加州的奥马哈出生、长大，40多年来他一直居住的是法钠姆大街那栋自己以31500美元购置的灰色水泥墙的房子。他穿皱巴巴的普通西装，亲自开车，常喝"樱桃可乐"，多数情况下是光顾"戴瑞王后"这样的小饭馆，而不是四星级的豪华酒店。

 But the 68－year－old Omaha native has led an extraordinary life. Looking back on his childhood, one can see the budding of a savvy⁴ businessman. Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, the middle child of three. His father, Howard Buffett, came from a family of grocers but himself became a stockbroker⁵ and later a U. S. congressman⁶.

    但这位68岁、土生土长的奥马哈人却有着不平凡的生活经历。回顾他的童年时代，就可以很好地了解这个机敏的生意人的成长过程。沃伦·爱德华·巴菲特生于1930年8月30日，在家里３个孩子中排行老二。他父亲霍华德·巴菲特成长于一个杂货商的家庭中，但后来却成了一名股票经纪人，之后又成为美国国会的议员。

 Even as a young child, Buffett was pretty serious about making money. He used to go door－to－door and sell soda⁷ pop. He and a friend used math to develop a system for picking winners in horseracing and started selling their"Stable－Boy Selections"tip sheets until they were shut down for not having a license⁸. Later, he also worked at his grandfather's grocery store. At the ripe age of 11, Buffett bought his first stock.

   甚至在很小的时候，巴菲特就对赚钱很用心。那时他常常挨家挨户地推销苏打汽水。他和一个朋友利用数学知识开发了一个在赛马比赛中选拔冠军的识别系统，然后开始推销他们的"马童筛选器"的内部消息传单，但因为无许可证被迫关停。后来他还在祖父的杂货店干过一段时间。在１１岁的时候，已近成熟的巴菲特买进了自己的第一支股票。

　When his family moved to Washington, D. C. , Buffett became a paperboy for The Washington Post and its rival the Times－Herald. Buffett ran his five paper routes like an assembly line and even added magazines to round out his product offerings. While still in school, he was making $175 a month, a full－time wage for many young men.

    在巴菲特全家搬至华盛顿特区后, 他开始为《华盛顿邮报》和该报的对手《时代先驱报》送报纸。巴菲特把自己送报的５条线路安排得就像生产线一样有条不紊, 后来他甚至还添加了杂志的递送, 这样他提供的订阅品种就更丰富了。在校读书期间, 他每月的收入就已经有175美元了, 相当于当时年轻人全职工作的月收入。

 When he was 14, Buffett spent $1,200 on 40 acres of farmland in Nebraska and soon began collecting rent from a tenant⁹ farmer. He and a friend also made $50 a week by placing pinball machines in barber shops. They called their venture Wilson Coin Operated Machine Co.

   14岁那年, 巴菲特花了1200美元在内布拉斯加州购置了一片40公顷的农田, 然后开始从佃户那里收取租金。他还和一个朋友为理发店安装弹球游戏机从而每周赚得50美元。他们把自己的"企业"称作"威尔森钱币运作机器公司"。

 Already a successful albeit¹⁰ small－time businessman, Buffett wasn't keen on going to college but ended up at Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania－－his father encouraged him to go. After two years at Wharton, Buffett transferred to his parents'alma mater, the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, for his final year of college. There Buffett took a job with the Lincoln Journal supervising 50 paper boys in six rural counties.

   这时巴菲特尽管并不起眼, 但已是一个小获成功的商人。他对上大学并不感兴趣, 不过后来还是在父亲的敦促下去了宾西法尼亚大学的沃顿学院。在沃顿学习了两年后, 巴菲特转学到其父母的母校--林肯的内布拉斯加大学, 在那儿修完了大学最后一年的课程。这期间巴菲特还在《林肯日报》谋得了一份工作, 负责管理６个乡村地区的５０个报童。

 Buffett applied¹¹ to Harvard Business School but was turned down in what had to be one of the worst admissions decisions in Harvard history. The outcome ended up profoundly affecting Buffett's life, for he ended up attending Columbia Business School, where he studied under revered¹² mentor¹³ Benjamin Graham, the father of securities analysis who provided the foundation for Buffett's investment strategy.

   巴菲特曾申请哈佛商学院被拒, 这后来成为哈佛历史上最糟糕的录取决定之一。这个结果对巴菲特的一生产生了深远的影响, 他因此进入哥伦比亚商学院, 并从师著名的证券分析之父本杰明·格雷厄姆, 巴菲特从导师身上学到的东西为日后形成自己的投资策略奠定了基础。

 From the beginning, Buffett made his fortune from investing. He started with all the money he had made from selling pop, delivering papers, and operating pinball machines. Between 1950 and 1956, he grew his $9,800 kitty to $14,000. From there, he organized investment partnerships¹⁵ with his family and friends, and then gradually drew in other investors¹⁶ through word of mouth and very attractive terms.

　一开始, 巴菲特凭借投资来赚钱。他最初的资本来自卖苏打汽水、送报纸、安装弹球游戏机而攒下的积蓄。在1950到1956年期间, 他的原始资本积累由9800美元升至14万美元。此后, 巴菲特开始与家人和朋友结成伙伴投资关系, 后来又凭借口头游说和一些优惠条件拉拢其他投资者。

 Buffett's goal was to top the Dow Jones Industrial Average by an average of 10% a year. Over the length of the Buffett partnership¹⁴ between 1957 and 1969, Buffett's investments grew at a compound annual rate of 29.5%, crushing the Dow's return of 7.4% over the same period.

 Buffett's investment strategy mirrors his lifestyle and overall philosophy. He doesn't collect houses or cars or works of art, and he disdains¹⁷ companies that waste money on such extravagances as limousines¹⁸, private dining rooms, and high－priced real estate. He is a creature of habit－－same house, same office, same city, same soda－－and dislikes change. In his investments, that means holding on to "core holdings"such as American Express, Coca－Cola, and The Washington Post Co. "forever. "

  巴菲特的目的是以每年平均10％的比率超出道琼斯工业指数。在巴菲特倡导的"合伙投资"模式下, 从1957到1969年间, 巴菲特的投资以每年29.5％的综合速度增长, 大大挫败了道琼斯在同一时期7.4％的回报率。

   巴菲特的投资策略可映射出他的生活方式和人生哲学。他没有囤积房屋、收集汽车和艺术品的嗜好, 他厌恶那些把钱花在高级轿车、私人餐厅和豪华地产这类奢侈品上的公司。他是个善于遵循习惯的人--住同一栋房屋, 在同一间办公室办公, 在同一个城市生活, 喝同一牌子的可乐--他不喜欢变化。用在他的投资理念上, 就是紧抓住投资"核心"不变, 如美国捷运公司、可口可乐、华盛顿邮报公司, 而且是"永远不变"。

 Buffett's view of inherited money also departs from the norm. Critical of the self－indulgence of the super－rich, Buffett thinks of inheritances as"privately funded food stamps"that keep children of the rich from leading normal, independent lives. With his own three kids, he gave them each $10,000 a year－－the tax－deductible limit－－at Christmas. When he gave them a loan, they had to sign a written agreement. When his daughter, also named Susie like her mother, needed $20 to park at the airport, he made her write him a check for it.

  As for charity, Buffett's strict standards have made it difficult for him to give much away. He evaluates charities the same way he looks for stocks：value for money, return on invested capital. He has established the Buffett Foundation, designed to accumulate money and give it away after his and his wife's deaths－－though the foundation has given millions to organizations involved with population control, family planning, abortion¹⁹, and birth control. The argument goes that Buffett can actually give away a greater sum in the end by growing his money while he's still alive.

     巴菲特对待遗产的态度也与众不同。他对"超级富人"自我放纵的生活方式非常反感, 他把遗产看作是"私人资助的饭票", 这让有钱人家的孩子们无法过上正常而独立的生活。对自己的３个孩子, 巴菲特在每年圣诞节时给他们每人１万美元作为一年的花销--免征所得税收的最低限度。若是给他们贷款, 则需签订书面协议。有一次他的女儿苏茜--与母亲同名--在机场需要２０美元的停车费, 巴菲特虽然把钱借给了她, 但却要求女儿给自己写一张支票当作偿还。

    巴菲特严格的处事标准使他即使是面对慈善事业也很难慷慨解囊。他对待慈善事业的态度犹如对待股票：认真评估投入资本的有价回报。他建立了巴菲特基金会, 意在积累资金, 在自己和妻子死后发放。不过巴菲特基金会至今已为许多组织捐资数百万美元, 资助的项目包括人口控制、计划生育、堕胎和避孕等。许多人认为通过进一步扩张现有财力, 巴菲特在有生之年就可最终捐出一大笔款项。

 One thing's for sure about Buffett：He 's happy doing what he's doing. "I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year, "he says. "I get to do it with people I like, and I don't have to associate with anybody who causes my stomach to churn. I tap dance to work, and when I get there I think I'm supposed to lie on my back and paint the ceiling. It's tremendous fun." It's fun to watch the master at work, too.

　   对于巴菲特来说, 有一点可以肯定：他非常热爱自己的工作。"一年中的每一天我都在做自己喜欢做的事, 我与自己喜欢的人一起工作。我用不着与自己讨厌的人打交道。我欣欣然扑向工作, 到了公司我会觉得工作就好像是让自己仰面躺下, 用手中的笔绘制天花板一般轻松。工作让我乐趣无穷。"巴菲特说。当然看一位大师级人物工作也同样是乐趣无穷。