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Below we list our fifteen common stock investments that at yearend were our largest in market value. We exclude our Kraft Heinz holding — 325,442,152 shares — because Berkshire is part of a control group and therefore must account for that investment using the “equity” method. On its balance sheet, Berkshire carries the Kraft Heinz holding at a GAAP figure of $13.3 billion, an amount that represents Berkshire’s share of the audited net worth of Kraft Heinz on December 31, 2020. Please note, though, that the market value of our shares on that date was only

下面我们列出了15种普通股投资，这些投资在年底时是我们市值最大的。我们将卡夫亨氏（325,442,152股）的股份排除在外，因为伯克希尔哈撒韦是控制组的一部分，因此必须使用“权益”法核算该投资。在其资产负债表上，伯克希尔持有的卡夫亨氏按公认会计原则计算的金额为133亿美元，该金额代表伯克希尔在2020年12月31日经审计的卡夫亨氏净资产中所占的份额。但是请注意，我们的市值该日期的股份仅为113亿美元。

 *Excludes shares held by pension funds of Berkshire subsidiaries.

*不包括伯克希尔哈撒韦公司子公司的养老基金所持股份。

**This is our actual purchase price and also our tax basis.

**这是我们的实际购买价格，也是我们的税基。

***Includes a $10 billion investment in Occidental Petroleum, consisting of preferred stock and warrants to buy common stock, a combination now being valued at $9 billion.

***包括对西方石油（Occidental Petroleum）的100亿美元投资，包括优先股和购买普通股的认股权证，目前合并后的价值为90亿美元。

A Tale of Two Cities

双城记

Success stories abound throughout America. Since our country’s birth, individuals with an idea, ambition and often just a pittance of capital have succeeded beyond their dreams by creating something new or by improving the customer’s experience with something old.

在美国各地，成功的故事比比皆是。自从我们国家诞生以来，有想法，雄心勃勃且常常只有少量资金的个人已经通过创造新的事物或通过改善旧事物的客户体验来超越自己的梦想而取得了成功。

Charlie and I journeyed throughout the nation to join with many of these individuals or their families. On the West Coast, we began the routine in 1972 with our purchase of See’s Candy. A full century ago, Mary See set out to deliver an age-old product that she had reinvented with special recipes. Added to her business plan were quaint stores staffed by friendly salespeople. Her first small outlet in Los Angeles eventually led to several hundred shops, spread throughout the West.

我和查理（Charlie）遍及全国，与其中许多人或他们的家人在一起。在西海岸，我们从1972年购买See’s Candy开始了日常活动。整整一个世纪以前，玛丽·西（Mary See）着手提供一种经过特殊配方重新发明的古老产品。她的商业计划中还增加了由友好的销售人员组成的古朴商店。她在洛杉矶的第一个小商店最终导致了数百家商店，遍布整个西部。

Today, Mrs. See’s creations continue to delight customers while providing life-long employment for thousands of women and men. Berkshire’s job is simply not to meddle with the company’s success. When a business manufactures and distributes a non-essential consumer product, the customer is the boss. And, after 100 years, the customer’s message to Berkshire remains clear: “Don’t mess with my candy.” (The website is https://www.sees.com/; try the peanut brittle.)

时至今日，See太太的作品在继续为顾客带来欢乐的同时，为成千上万的男女提供了终身就业机会。伯克希尔的工作根本不在于干涉公司的成功。当企业生产和分销非必要的消费产品时，客户就是老板。而且，在100年之后，客户向伯克希尔公司传达的信息仍然很明确：“别惹我的糖果。” （该网站为https://www.sees.com/；尝试花生糖。）

Let’s move across the continent to Washington, D.C. In 1936, Leo Goodwin, along with his wife, Lillian, became convinced that auto insurance – a standardized product customarily purchased from agents – could be sold directly at a much lower price. Armed with $100,000, the pair took on giant insurers possessing 1,000 times or more their capital. Government Employees Insurance Company (later shortened to GEICO) was on its way.

让我们穿越整个大陆到华盛顿特区。1936年，利奥·古德温（Leo Goodwin）和他的妻子莉莉安（Lillian）坚信，汽车保险（一种通常从代理商那里购买的标准化产品）可以直接以低得多的价格出售。两人手持10万美元资产，收购了拥有1,000倍或更多资本的大型保险公司。政府雇员保险公司（后简称为GEICO）即将到来。

By luck, I was exposed to the company’s potential a full 70 years ago. It instantly became my first love (of an investment sort). You know the rest of the story: Berkshire eventually became the 100% owner of GEICO, which at 84 years of age is constantly fine-tuning – but not changing – the vision of Leo and Lillian.

幸运的是，整整70年前，我就接触到了公司的潜力。它立即成为了我的初恋（一种投资）。您还可以了解故事的其余部分：伯克希尔最终成为GEICO的100％拥有者，GEICO在84岁时就不断调整，但并没有改变Leo和Lillian的愿景。

There has been, however, a change in the company’s size. In 1937, its first full year of operation, GEICO did $238,288 of business. Last year the figure was $35 billion.

但是，公司规模发生了变化。在1937年，即运营的第一个整年，GEICO做了 238,288美元的业务。去年这个数字是350亿美元。

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Today, with much of finance, media, government and tech located in coastal areas, it’s easy to overlook the many miracles occurring in middle America. Let’s focus on two communities that provide stunning illustrations of the talent and ambition existing throughout our country.

如今，由于许多金融，媒体，政府和技术都位于沿海地区，因此很容易忽略了中美洲发生的许多奇迹。让我们集中讨论两个社区，这些社区提供了令人惊叹的全国各地才干和抱负的例证。

You will not be surprised that I begin with Omaha.

我从奥马哈开始，您不会感到惊讶。

In 1940, Jack Ringwalt, a graduate of Omaha’s Central High School (the alma mater as well of Charlie, my dad, my first wife, our three children and two grandchildren), decided to start a property/casualty insurance company funded by $125,000 in capital.

1940年，杰克·林格沃尔特（Jack Ringwalt）毕业于奥马哈中央高中（母校还有查理，我的父亲，我的第一任妻子，我们的三个孩子和两个孙子），决定成立一家财产/伤亡保险公司，资金由125,000美元首都。

Jack’s dream was preposterous, requiring his pipsqueak operation – somewhat pompously christened as National Indemnity – to compete with giant insurers, all of which operated with abundant capital. Additionally, those competitors were solidly entrenched with nationwide networks of well-funded and long-established local agents. Under Jack’s plan, National Indemnity, unlike GEICO, would itself use whatever agencies deigned to accept it and consequently enjoy no cost advantage in its acquisition of business. To overcome those formidable handicaps, National Indemnity focused on “odd-ball” risks, which were deemed unimportant by the “big boys.” And, improbably, the strategy succeeded.

杰克的梦想是荒谬的，要求他的点名操作-有时被戏称为“国家赔偿”-与大型保险公司竞争，所有保险公司都拥有雄厚的资金。此外，这些竞争对手在全国范围内拥有雄厚资金和长期建立的本地代理商网络，因此根深蒂固。根据杰克的计划，与GEICO不同，National Indemnity（国家赔偿）本身将使用任何指定接受它的代理机构，因此在收购业务中不享有成本优势。为了克服这些巨大的障碍，国家赔偿局将重点放在“奇数”风险上，这些风险被“大男孩”认为不重要。而且，该策略不可能成功。

Jack was honest, shrewd, likeable and a bit quirky. In particular, he disliked regulators. When he periodically became annoyed with their supervision, he would feel an urge to sell his company.

杰克很诚实，机灵，讨人喜欢并且有点古怪。特别是，他不喜欢监管机构。当他定期因他们的监督而烦恼时，他会感到有出售公司的冲动。

Fortunately, I was nearby on one of those occasions. Jack liked the idea of joining Berkshire, and we made a deal in 1967, taking all of 15 minutes to reach a handshake. I never asked for an audit.

幸运的是，在其中一种情况下，我就在附近。杰克喜欢加入伯克希尔的想法，我们在1967年达成了一项协议，花了整整15分钟的时间达成了握手协议。我从来没有要求审核。

Today National Indemnity is the only company in the world prepared to insure certain giant risks. And, yes, it remains based in Omaha, a few miles from Berkshire’s home office.

如今，National Indemnity是世界上唯一一家为某些巨额风险提供保险的公司。而且，是的，它仍然位于奥马哈，距伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的家庭办公室只有几英里。

Over the years, we have purchased four additional businesses from Omaha families, the best known among them being Nebraska Furniture Mart (“NFM”). The company’s founder, Rose Blumkin (“Mrs. B”), arrived in Seattle in 1915 as a Russian emigrant, unable to read or speak English. She settled in Omaha several years later and by 1936 had saved $2,500 with which to start a furniture store.

多年来，我们从奥马哈家族购买了另外四家企业，其中最知名的是内布拉斯加州家具市场（“ NFM”）。该公司的创始人Rose Blumkin（“ B太太”）于1915年作为俄罗斯移民来到西雅图，无法阅读或说英语。几年后，她在奥马哈定居，到1936年，她已节省了2500美元，用于开设一家家具店。

Competitors and suppliers ignored her, and for a time their judgment seemed correct: World War II stalled her business, and at yearend 1946, the company’s net worth had grown to only $72,264. Cash, both in the till and on deposit, totaled $50 (that’s not a typo).

竞争对手和供应商不理her她，有一段时间他们的判断似乎是正确的：第二次世界大战使她的生意停滞了，到1946年年底，该公司的净资产仅增长到72,264美元。收银机和存款机上的现金总计为50美元（这不是拼写错误）。

One invaluable asset, however, went unrecorded in the 1946 figures: Louie Blumkin, Mrs. B’s only son, had rejoined the store after four years in the U.S. Army. Louie fought at Normandy’s Omaha Beach following the D-Day invasion, earned a Purple Heart for injuries sustained in the Battle of the Bulge, and finally sailed home in November 1945.

但是，1946年的数据中没有记录一项宝贵的资产：B太太的独子Louie Blumkin在美国陆军服役四年后重新加入了这家商店。路易威登号（D-Day）入侵后，路易（Louie）在诺曼底（Normandy）的奥马哈海滩（Omaha Beach）进行了战斗，因在the突之战中受伤而赢得紫心勋章，并最终于1945年11月驶回家。

Once Mrs. B and Louie were reunited, there was no stopping NFM. Driven by their dream, mother and son worked days, nights and weekends. The result was a retailing miracle.

一旦B太太和路易（Louie）团聚，就不会停止NFM。在梦想的驱使下，母子俩白天，晚上和周末都在工作。结果就是零售奇迹。

By 1983, the pair had created a business worth $60 million. That year, on my birthday, Berkshire purchased 80% of NFM, again without an audit. I counted on Blumkin family members to run the business; the third and fourth generation do so today. Mrs. B, it should be noted, worked daily until she was 103 – a ridiculously premature retirement age as judged by Charlie and me.

到1983年，两人创造了价值6000万美元的业务。那年，在我的生日那天，伯克希尔再次购买了NFM的80％，而又未经审核。我指望布鲁姆金（Blumkin）家族成员经营这家公司。第三代和第四代今天也这样做。应该指出的是，B夫人每天工作直到她103岁，这是我和查理（Charlie and我）判断的离退休年龄都荒唐的时代。

NFM now owns the three largest home-furnishings stores in the U.S. Each set a sales record in 2020, a feat achieved despite the closing of NFM’s stores for more than six weeks because of COVID-19.

NFM现在拥有美国三大家居用品商店。每家都创下了2020年的销售记录，尽管由于COVID-19而关闭了NFM的商店超过六周，这仍然是一项壮举。

A post-script to this story says it all: When Mrs. B’s large family gathered for holiday meals, she always asked that they sing a song before eating. Her selection never varied: Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.”

这个故事的后记说明了这一切：当B太太的大家庭聚集在一起度假时，她总是要求他们在吃饭前唱一首歌。她的选择从未改变：欧文·柏林（Erving Berlin）的“上帝保佑美国”。

ng Berlin）的“上帝保佑美国”。

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Let’s move somewhat east to Knoxville, the third largest city in Tennessee. There, Berkshire has ownership in two remarkable companies – Clayton Homes (100% owned) and Pilot Travel Centers (38% owned now, but headed for 80% in 2023).

让我们稍微向东移动到田纳西州的第三大城市诺克斯维尔。伯克希尔哈撒韦公司在那儿拥有两家出色的公司的所有权-克莱顿住宅公司（拥有100％的股份）和飞行员旅行中心（目前拥有38％的股份，但到2023年将达到80％）。

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