Of course, the returns that Berkshire earns from these seven units are not as high as their underlying returns because, in aggregate, we bought the businesses at a substantial premium to underlying equity capital. Overall, these operations are carried on our books at about $222 million above the historical accounting values of the underlying assets. However, the managers of the units should be judged by the returns they achieve on the underlying assets; what we pay for a business does not affect the amount of capital its manager has to work with. (If, to become a shareholder and part owner of Commerce Clearing House, you pay, say, six times book value, that does not change CCH"s return on equity.)
当然Berkshire真正从这些公司赚得的报酬并没有那么地高，因为当初买下这些公司时，支付了相当的溢价才取得这些股份，经过统计我们在这些公司原始投资超过其帐列的股权净值的溢价金额约为二亿二千二百万美元，当然要判断这些公司经理人的绩效应该是要看他们创造的盈余是靠多少资产所产生的，至于我们用多少钱买下这些公司与经理人的绩效并无关联，就算你用高于净值六倍的价钱买下一家公司，同样也不会影响该公司的股东权益报酬率。
Three important inferences can be drawn from the figures I have cited. First, the current business value of these seven units is far above their historical book value and also far above the value at which they are carried on Berkshire"s balance sheet. Second, because so little capital is required to run these businesses, they can grow while concurrently making almost all of their earnings available for deployment in new opportunities. Third, these businesses are run by truly extraordinary managers. The Blumkins, the Heldmans, Chuck Huggins, Stan Lipsey, and Ralph Schey all meld unusual talent, energy and character to achieve exceptional financial results.
以上所提数字代表着三项重要的指针，首先现在这七家企业的真正价值远高于其帐面净值，同样也远高于Berkshire帐列的投资成本，第二因为经营这些事业并不需要太多的资金，所以这些公司利用所赚取的盈余便足以支应本身业务的发展，第三这些事业都由非常能干的经理人在经营，像是Blumkins家族、Heldmans、Chuck Huggins、Stan Lipsey与Ralph Schey皆兼具才干、精力与品格，将旗下事业经营的有声有色。
For good reasons, we had very high expectations when we joined with these managers. In every case, however, our experience has greatly exceeded those expectations. We have received far more than we deserve, but we are willing to accept such inequities. (We subscribe to the view Jack Benny expressed upon receiving an acting award: "I don"t deserve this, but then, I have arthritis and I don"t deserve that either.")
也因此当初这些明星经理人加入时，我们并抱持着极高的期待，事后证明得到的结果远高于预期，我们获得远高于我们所应得的，当然我们很乐意接受这样不公平的对待，我们借用杰克班尼在获得最佳男主角时的感言：「我不应该得到这个奖项，但同样地我也不应该得到关节炎。」
Beyond the Sainted Seven, we have our other major unit, insurance, which I believe also has a business value well above the net assets employed in it. However, appraising the business value of a property-casualty insurance company is a decidedly imprecise process. The industry is volatile, reported earnings oftentimes are seriously inaccurate, and recent changes in the Tax Code will severely hurt future profitability. Despite these problems, we like the business and it will almost certainly remain our largest operation. Under Mike Goldberg"s management, the insurance business should treat us well over time.
除了这七个圣徒之外，我们还有一项主要的事业-保险，同样地我也认为它的价值远高于其帐列的资产，只是要评估一家产物意外险公司的价值就没有办法那么明确了，这个产业变动很大，报表所列的获利数字有时会有很大的偏差，而且最近税法修正对我们未来年度的获利有很大的影响，尽管如此保险事业仍会是我们经营事业的最大重心，在Mike Goldberg的管理之下，保险事业的报酬仍可期待。
With managers like ours, my partner, Charlie Munger, and I have little to do with operations. in fact, it is probably fair to say that if we did more, less would be accomplished. We have no corporate meetings, no corporate budgets, and no performance reviews (though our managers, of course, oftentimes find such procedures useful at their operating units). After all, what can we tell the Blumkins about home furnishings, or the Heldmans about uniforms?