1982巴菲特致股东的信英文版

BERKSHIREHATHAWAYINC.March3,1983TotheStockholdersofBerkshireHathawayInc.:Operatingearningsof$31.5millionin1982amountedtoonly9.8%ofbeginningequitycapital(valuingsecuritiesatcost),downfrom15.2%in1981andfarbelowourrecenthighof19.4%in1978.Thisdeclinelargelyresultedfrom:(1)asignificantdeteriorationininsuranceunderwritingresults;(2)aconsiderableexpansionofequitycapitalwithoutacorrespondinggrowthinthebusinessesweoperatedirectly;and(3)acontinually-enlargingcommitmentofourresourcestoinvestmentinpartially-owned,nonoperatedbusinesses;accountingrulesdictatethatamajorpartofourpro-ratashareofearningsfromsuchbusinessesmustbeexcludedfromBerkshire抯reportedearnings.Itwasonlyafewyearsagothatwetoldyouthattheoperatingearnings/equitycapitalpercentage,withproperallowanceforafewothervariables,wasthemostimportantyardstickofsingle-yearmanagerialperformance.Whilewestillbelievethistobethecasewiththevastmajorityofcompanies,webelieveitsutilityinourowncasehasgreatlydiminished.Youshouldbesuspiciousofsuchanassertion.Yardsticksseldomarediscardedwhileyieldingfavorablereadings.Butwhenresultsdeteriorate,mostmanagersfavordispositionoftheyardstickratherthandispositionofthemanager.Tomanagersfacedwithsuchdeterioration,amoreflexiblemeasurementsystemoftensuggestsitself:justshootthearrowofbusinessperformanceintoablankcanvasandthencarefullydrawthebullseyearoundtheimplantedarrow.Wegenerallybelieveinpre-set,long-livedandsmallbullseyes.However,becauseoftheimportanceofitem(3)above,furtherexplainedinthefollowingsection,webelieveourabandonmentoftheoperatingearnings/equitycapitalbullseyetobewarranted.Non-ReportedOwnershipEarningsTheappendedfinancialstatementsreflect揳ccounting?earningsthatgenerallyincludeourproportionateshareofearningsfromanyunderlyingbusinessinwhichourownershipisatleast20%.Belowthe20%ownershipfigure,however,onlyourshareofdividendspaidbytheunderlyingbusinessunitsisincludedinouraccountingnumbers;undistributedearningsofsuchless-than-20%-ownedbusinessesaretotallyignored.Thereareafewexceptionstothisrule;e.g.,weownabout35%ofGEICOCorporationbut,becausewehaveassignedourvotingrights,thecompanyistreatedforaccountingpurposesasaless-than-20%holding.Thus,dividendsreceivedfromGEICOin1982of$3.5millionaftertaxaretheonlyitemincludedinour揳ccounting攅arnings.Anadditional$23millionthatrepresentsourshareofGEICO抯undistributedoperatingearningsfor1982istotallyexcludedfromourreportedoperatingearnings.IfGEICOhadearnedlessmoneyin1982buthadpaidanadditional$1millionindividends,ourreportedearningswouldhavebeenlargerdespitethepoorerbusinessresults.Conversely,ifGEICOhadearnedanadditional$100million-andretaineditall-ourreportedearningswouldhavebeenunchanged.Clearly揳ccounting?earningscanseriouslymisrepresenteconomicreality.Wepreferaconceptof揺conomic?earningsthatincludesallundistributedearnings,regardlessofownershippercentage.Inourview,thevaluetoallownersoftheretainedearningsofabusinessenterpriseisdeterminedbytheeffectivenesswithwhichthoseearningsareused-andnotbythesizeofone抯ownershippercentage.Ifyouhaveowned.01of1%ofBerkshireduringthepastdecade,youhavebenefitedeconomicallyinfullmeasurefromyourshareofourretainedearnings,nomatterwhatyouraccountingsystem.Proportionately,youhavedonejustaswellasifyouhadownedthemagic20%.Butifyouhaveowned100%ofagreatmanycapital-intensivebusinessesduringthedecade,retainedearningsthatwerecreditedfullyandwithpainstakingprecisiontoyouunderstandardaccountingmethodshaveresultedinminororzeroeconomicvalue.Thisisnotacriticismofaccountingprocedures.Wewouldnotliketohavethejobofdesigningabettersystem.It抯simplytosaythatmanagersandinvestorsalikemustunderstandthataccountingnumbersarethebeginning,nottheend,ofbusinessvaluation.Inmostcorporations,less-than-20%ownershippositionsareunimportant(perhaps,inpart,becausetheypreventmaximizationofcherishedreportedearnings)andthedistinctionbetweenaccountingandeconomicresultswehavejustdiscussedmatterslittle.Butinourowncase,suchpositionsareofverylargeandgrowingimportance.Theirmagnitude,webelieve,iswhatmakesourreportedoperatingearningsfigureoflimitedsignificance.Inour1981annualreportwepredictedthatourshareofundistributedearningsfromfourofourmajornon-controlledholdingswouldaggregateover$35millionin1982.Withnochangeinourholdingsofthreeofthesecompanies-GEICO,GeneralFoodsandTheWashingtonPost-andaconsiderableincreaseinourownershipofthefourth,R.J.ReynoldsIndustries,ourshareofundistributed1982operatingearningsofthisgroupcametowellover$40million.Thisnumber-notreflectedatallinourearnings-isgreaterthanourtotalreportedearnings,whichincludeonlythe$14millionindividendsreceivedfromthesecompanies.And,ofcourse,wehaveanumberofsmallerownershipintereststhat,inaggregate,hadsubstantialadditionalundistributedearnings.Weattachrealsignificancetothegeneralmagnitudeofthesenumbers,butwedon抰believetheyshouldbecarriedtotendecimalplaces.RealizationbyBerkshireofsuchretainedearningsthroughimprovedmarketvaluationsissubjecttoverysubstantial,butindeterminate,taxation.Andwhileretainedearningsovertheyears,andintheaggregate,havetranslatedintoatleastequalmarketvaluefo