【原版杂志阅读】31期 Day 2:Warren Buffett has created a $348bn question for his successor part 2

Finance & economics | The oracle plans to step down

Warren Buffett has created a $348bn question for his successor

Berkshire Hathaway’s next CEO has huge shoes to fill—and a mountain of cash to invest 

截屏2025-05-13 18.04.10

Today Berkshire has a market capitalisation of $1.1trn, having dropped a bit on Mr Buffett’s announcement. Mr Abel has been with the company for a quarter of a century. He has run its non-insurance operations—such as its energy, railway and retail businesses—since 2018. His next challenge goes beyond filling Mr Buffett’s shoes as an “oracle”. Berkshire’s strategy is becoming more difficult to pull off.


Over the past year, Mr Buffett has aggressively sold stocks, including a large chunk of its stake in Apple. Now, for the first time in two decades, Berkshire owns more cash than listed equities. At the end of March it held $348bn in cash and short-term American government debt, more than twice the amount it held at the close of 2023. The firm’s Treasuries account for 5% of the outstanding market. If Berkshire was a country, it would be the tenth-largest holder of American government debt, above India, Switzerland and Taiwan.


Mr Buffett’s decision to withdraw from the stockmarket has so far benefited the company. Its stock is up by 14% this year, while the S&P 500 is down by 4%. The problem, for Messrs Buffett and Abel, is working out what to do with the enormous pile of cash. Lately Mr Buffett has griped that there is not much out there to buy at a reasonable price. Even after the recent market tumult, valuations of listed companies are high relative to their historical levels.


One option would be to expand more aggressively overseas. In recent years Mr Buffett has made successful bets abroad. For example, he has poured billions of dollars into several of Japan’s trading conglomerates, such as Mitsubishi and Sumitomo. Mr Abel might note that among companies worth over $5bn and with price-to-earnings ratios below ten—suggesting they are cheaply valued—80% by value are domiciled outside America.


Another option would be to stray from value investing in the hope of finding firms worthy of capital allocation. That seems unlikely, at least for now. Such a move would transform Berkshire’s culture and risk the ire of Mr Buffett’s admirers. After 25 years at the firm, Mr Abel is unlikely to pull an immediate handbrake turn.


Absent a change of strategy, Berkshire will have to wait for a market downturn. Mr Buffett has a history of spotting such opportunities. He snapped up a large stake in Wells Fargo, an American bank, during a slump in 1990. He invested in companies including Johnson & Johnson and Kraft Foods (and Wells Fargo again) following the global financial crisis of 2007- 09. The list goes on. Berkshire’s shareholders must hope that Mr Abel has the same vision.



一、词汇部分

1. gripe /ɡraɪp/ v. 抱怨(groan)

拆分:  gr- + ipe(wipe/pipe/swipe)


2. slump /slʌmp/  n. 经济萧条时期

拆分: slow + dump —dumpling 


3. allocation /ˌæləˈkeɪʃən/ n. 分配决定

拆分: al + loc + ation 


4. ire /ˈaɪər/ n. 愤怒

(拟声)


5.   tumult /ˈtjuːmʌlt/ n. 混乱; 激动

拆分:tum-turn + ult-同sult-跳—result 



二、文章讲解(词汇/搭配、语法长难句、篇章段落结构)

1. Today Berkshire has a market capitalisation of $1.1trn, having dropped a bit on Mr Buffett’s announcement. Mr Abel has been with the company for a quarter of a century. He has run its non-insurance operations—such as its energy, railway and retail businesses—since 2018. His next challenge goes beyond filling Mr Buffett’s shoes as an “oracle”. Berkshire’s strategy is becoming more difficult to pull off.


1) capital 资本—capitalism 资本主义—market capitalization 市值—market cap

2) 句子, 非谓语动词作状语(having done) 

3) on 一..就, 在..时刻; On doing sth —-On arriving home, he rushed to the kitchen. 

4) run 经营

5) operation 经营业务; The CEO overs all operations, from manufacturing to marketing. 

6) pull off  成功; You pulled it off. —离开(开车)—The car pulled off the road. —脱掉;


2. Over the past year, Mr Buffett has aggressively sold stocks, including a large chunk of its stake in Apple. Now, for the first time in two decades, Berkshire owns more cash than listed equities. At the end of March it held $348bn in cash and short-term American government debt, more than twice the amount it held at the close of 2023. The firm’s Treasuries account for 5% of the outstanding market. If Berkshire was a country, it would be the tenth-largest holder of American government debt, above India, Switzerland and Taiwan(省).


1) stock—equity 

2) a large chunk of 一大块(money/budget/profit/time/data/market share)—-A huge chunk of the budget  was spent on marketing. 

3)  listed equities ==stock, private equity 私募股权

4) 省略that 引导的定语从句: it held

5) account for 占比


3. Mr Buffett’s decision to withdraw from the stockmarket has so far benefited the company. Its stock is up by 14% this year, while the S&P 500 is down by 4%. The problem, for Messrs Buffett and Abel, is working out what to do with the enormous pile of cash. Lately Mr Buffett has griped that there is not much out there to buy at a reasonable price. Even after the recent market tumult, valuations of listed companies are high relative to their historical levels.


1) 名词+to do sth--形容词,修饰前面的名词

2) 有好处的具体表现—-

3) work out 搞清楚, 弄明白

问题—巴菲特了解很多的过往投资—账上有很多现金,  不知道怎么投.



4. One option would be to expand more aggressively overseas. In recent years Mr Buffett has made successful bets abroad. For example, he has poured billions of dollars into several of Japan’s trading conglomerates, such as Mitsubishi and Sumitomo. Mr Abel might note that among companies worth over $5bn and with price-to-earnings ratios below ten—suggesting they are cheaply valued—80% by value are domiciled outside America.


1) bet 押注

2) 宾语从句: that among companies worth over $5bn and with price-to-earnings ratios below ten

3) domicile v. 注册地 —domestic arrivals 




5. Another option would be to stray from value investing in the hope of finding firms worthy of capital allocation. That seems unlikely, at least for now. Such a move would transform Berkshire’s culture and risk the ire of Mr Buffett’s admirers. After 25 years at the firm, Mr Abel is unlikely to pull an immediate handbrake turn.


1) stray from 偏离

2) In the hope of 希望于

3) 名词+形容词短语, 形容词短语作后置定语, 修饰前面的名词---worthy of capital allocation修饰firms 



6. Absent a change of strategy, Berkshire will have to wait for a market downturn. Mr Buffett has a history of spotting such opportunities. He snapped up a large stake in Wells Fargo, an American bank, during a slump in 1990. He invested in companies including Johnson & Johnson and Kraft Foods (and Wells Fargo again) following the global financial crisis of 2007- 09. The list goes on. Berkshire’s shareholders must hope that Mr Abel has the same vision.


1) 形容词短语作状语: Absent a change of strategy,

2) snap up 快速抓住



三、段落翻译

今天,伯克希尔的市值达到1.1万亿美元,在巴菲特先生宣布消息后略有下降。阿贝尔先生在公司工作了四分之一世纪,自2018年以来负责管理其非保险业务,如能源、铁路和零售业务。他的下一个挑战不仅仅是接替巴菲特作为“预言家”的角色。伯克希尔的战略正变得越来越难以执行。


在过去一年中,巴菲特先生积极抛售股票,包括大幅减持苹果公司的股份。现在,伯克希尔公司二十年来首次持有现金超过上市股票的市值。截至3月底,公司持有3480亿美元的现金和短期美国政府债券,是2023年底持有量的两倍多。该公司的美国国债持有量占市场流通量的5%。如果伯克希尔是一个国家,其美国政府债券持有量将位列全球第十,超过印度、瑞士和台湾。


巴菲特先生退出股市的决定至今对公司有利。其股票今年上涨了14%,而标普500指数下跌了4%。对巴菲特先生和阿贝尔先生来说,问题在于如何处理庞大的现金储备。最近,巴菲特先生抱怨市场上没有多少价格合理的收购目标。即使经历了近期市场动荡,上市公司的估值相对于其历史水平仍然偏高。



一种选择是更积极地向海外扩张。近年来,巴菲特先生在海外投资上取得了成功。例如,他向日本的几家贸易集团,如三菱和住友,注入了数十亿美元。阿贝尔先生可能会注意到,在市值超过50亿美元且市盈率低于10(表明估值较低)的公司中,按价值计算,80%注册在美国以外。



另一个选择是偏离价值投资,寄希望于找到值得资本配置的公司。目前看来,这种可能性不大。这样的举措将改变伯克希尔的文化,并可能招致巴菲特 admirers 的愤怒。在公司工作25年后,阿贝尔先生不太可能立即急转弯。



如果不改变策略,伯克希尔将需要等待市场下行。巴菲特先生素来擅长抓住此类机会。1990年市场低迷时,他迅速购入美国银行富国银行的大量股份。2007-09年全球金融危机后,他投资了包括强生公司和卡夫食品(以及再次投资富国银行)在内的公司。这样的例子不胜枚举。伯克希尔的股东们一定希望阿贝尔先生也能具备同样的远见。




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