the master of investment—Warren Buffett

For someone who is such an extraordinarily successful investor, 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 rumpled, 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.

作為一個如此卓越的成功投資家，沃倫·巴菲特卻又是一個非常平凡、普通的人。巴菲特在美國內(nèi)布拉斯加州的奧馬哈出生、長大，40多年來他一直居住的是法鈉姆大街那棟自己以31500美元購置的灰色水泥墻的房子。他穿皺巴巴的普通西裝，親自開車，常喝"櫻桃可樂"，多數(shù)情況下是光顧"戴瑞王后"這樣的小飯館，而不是四星級的豪華酒店。

But the 68－year－old Omaha native has led an extraordinary life. Looking back on his childhood, one can see the budding of a savvy 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 stockbroker and later a U. S. congressman.

但這位68歲、土生土長的奧馬哈人卻有著不平凡的生活經(jīng)歷?；仡櫵耐陼r代，就可以很好地了解這個機敏的生意人的成長過程。沃倫·愛德華·巴菲特生于1930年8月30日，在家里３個孩子中排行老二。他父親霍華德·巴菲特成長于一個雜貨商的家庭中，但后來卻成了一名股票經(jīng)紀人，之后又成為美國國會的議員。

Even as a young child, Buffett was pretty serious about making money. He used to go door－to－door and sell soda 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 license. Later, he also worked at his grandfather's grocery store. At the ripe age of 11, Buffett bought his first stock. 甚至在很小的時候，巴菲特就對賺錢很用心。那時他常常挨家挨戶地推銷蘇打汽水。他和一個朋友利用數(shù)學知識開發(fā)了一個在賽馬比賽中選拔冠軍的識別系統(tǒng)，然后開始推銷他們的"馬童篩選器"的內(nèi)部消息傳單，但因為無許可證被迫關(guān)停。后來他還在祖父的雜貨店干過一段時間。在１１歲的時候，已近成熟的巴菲特買進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. 在巴菲特全家搬至華盛頓特區(qū)后, 他開始為《華盛頓郵報》和該報的對手《時代先驅(qū)報》送報紙。巴菲特把自己送報的５條線路安排得就像生產(chǎn)線一樣有條不紊, 后來他甚至還添加了雜志的遞送, 這樣他提供的訂閱品種就更豐富了。在校讀書期間, 他每月的收入就已經(jīng)有175美元了, 相當于當時年輕人全職工作的月收入。

When he was 14, Buffett spent $1,200 on 40 acres of farmland in Nebraska and soon began collecting rent from a tenant 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歲那年, 巴菲特花了1200美元在內(nèi)布拉斯加州購置了一片40公頃的農(nóng)田, 然后開始從佃戶那里收取租金。他還和一個朋友為理發(fā)店安裝彈球游戲機從而每周賺得50美元。他們把自己的"企業(yè)"稱作"威爾森錢幣運作機器公司"。

Already a successful albeit small－time businessman, Buffett wasn't keen on going to college but ended up at Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania－－h(huán)is 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.

這時巴菲特盡管并不起眼, 但已是一個小獲成功的商人。他對上大學并不感興趣, 不過后來還是在父親的敦促下去了賓西法尼亞大學的沃頓學院。在沃頓學習了兩年后, 巴菲特轉(zhuǎn)學到其父母的母校--林肯的內(nèi)布拉斯加大學, 在那兒修完了大學最后一年的課程。這期間巴菲特還在《林肯日報》謀得了一份工作, 負責管理６個鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)的５０個報童。

Buffett applied 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 revered mentor Benjamin Graham, the father of securities analysis who provided the foundation for Buffett's investment strategy.

巴菲特曾申請哈佛商學院被拒, 這后來成為哈佛歷史上最糟糕的錄取決定之一。這個結(jié)果對巴菲特的一生產(chǎn)生了深遠的影響, 他因此進入哥倫比亞商學院, 并從師著名的證券分析之父本杰明·格雷厄姆, 巴菲特從導師身上學到的東西為日后形成自己的投資策略奠定了基礎(chǔ)。

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 partnerships with his family and friends, and then gradually drew in other investors through word of mouth and very attractive terms.

一開始, 巴菲特憑借投資來賺錢。他最初的資本來自賣蘇打汽水、送報紙、安裝彈球游戲機而攢下的積蓄。在1950到1956年期間, 他的原始資本積累由9800美元升至14萬美元。此后, 巴菲特開始與家人和朋友結(jié)成伙伴投資關(guān)系, 后來又憑借口頭游說和一些優(yōu)惠條件拉攏其他投資者。

Buffett's goal was to top the Dow Jones Industrial Average by an average of 10% a year. Over the length of the Buffett partnership 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.

巴菲特的目的是以每年平均10％的比率超出道瓊斯工業(yè)指數(shù)。在巴菲特倡導的"合伙投資"模式下, 從1957到1969年間, 巴菲特的投資以每年29.5％的綜合速度增長, 大大挫敗了道瓊斯在同一時期7.4％的回報率。

Buffett's investment strategy mirrors his lifestyle and overall philosophy. He doesn't collect houses or cars or works of art, and he disdains companies that waste money on such extravagances as limousines, 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. "

巴菲特的投資策略可映射出他的生活方式和人生哲學。他沒有囤積房屋、收集汽車和藝術(shù)品的嗜好, 他厭惡那些把錢花在高級轎車、私人餐廳和豪華地產(chǎn)這類奢侈品上的公司。他是個善于遵循習慣的人--住同一棟房屋, 在同一間辦公室辦公, 在同一個城市生活, 喝同一牌子的可樂--他不喜歡變化。用在他的投資理念上, 就是緊抓住投資"核心"不變, 如美國捷運公司、可口可樂、華盛頓郵報公司, 而且是"永遠不變"。

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.

巴菲特對待遺產(chǎn)的態(tài)度也與眾不同。他對"超級富人"自我放縱的生活方式非常反感, 他把遺產(chǎn)看作是"私人資助的飯票", 這讓有錢人家的孩子們無法過上正常而獨立的生活。對自己的３個孩子, 巴菲特在每年圣誕節(jié)時給他們每人１萬美元作為一年的花銷--免征所得稅收的最低限度。若是給他們貸款, 則需簽訂書面協(xié)議。有一次他的女兒蘇茜--與母親同名--在機場需要２０美元的停車費, 巴菲特雖然把錢借給了她, 但卻要求女兒給自己寫一張支票當作償還。

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, abortion, 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.

巴菲特嚴格的處事標準使他即使是面對慈善事業(yè)也很難慷慨解囊。他對待慈善事業(yè)的態(tài)度猶如對待股票：認真評估投入資本的有價回報。他建立了巴菲特基金會, 意在積累資金, 在自己和妻子死后發(fā)放。不過巴菲特基金會至今已為許多組織捐資數(shù)百萬美元, 資助的項目包括人口控制、計劃生育、墮胎和避孕等。許多人認為通過進一步擴張現(xiàn)有財力, 巴菲特在有生之年就可最終捐出一大筆款項。

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.

對于巴菲特來說, 有一點可以肯定：他非常熱愛自己的工作。"一年中的每一天我都在做自己喜歡做的事, 我與自己喜歡的人一起工作。我用不著與自己討厭的人打交道。我欣欣然撲向工作, 到了公司我會覺得工作就好像是讓自己仰面躺下, 用手中的筆繪制天花板一般輕松。工作讓我樂趣無窮。"巴菲特說。當然看一位大師級人物工作也同樣是樂趣無窮。