巴菲特就大卫索科尔辞职发布新闻稿

股神巴菲特备受关注的接班人选大卫-索科尔(David Sokol)周三突然宣布辞职，原因是计划投入家庭和创建慈善基金。对此，巴菲特亲自撰写新闻稿，除去对昔日爱将的肯定之外，也诚恳地澄清外界对索科尔拥有路博润股票是引发其辞职的猜测。

译文全文如下：

这是一篇不同寻常的新闻稿。首先，我会像写一封信那样写这篇稿件；其次，它包括两部分，都是关于伯克希尔子公司董事长大卫-索科尔。

3月28日当天晚些时候，我收到了由大卫的辞职信，由他的助理转交给我。大卫辞职的理由如下：“正如我在过去跟您提到过，我的目标是利用日后职业生涯的时间去投资我的家庭，用这样的方式创造出不朽的权益价值，并希望通过一个企业，为我的后代和慈善基金投资创造机会。我没有比这更详细的计划，因为伯克希尔-哈撒韦公司是我第一个也是唯一一个商业重点。”

我从来没有要求他辞职，这使我感到意外。大约两年前，大卫曾两次对我提出过辞职。每一次，他都对我说出的都是跟周一提交的那封辞职信同样的理由。那两次，我和其他董事会成员劝他留下来。伯克希尔今天能够更有价值，是因为我们过去努力所取得的成功。

大卫的贡献无以伦比。在中美能源公司，他和Greg Abel 已经展现了在公共事业领域管理者的最佳表现。在NetJets，大卫没有借助伯克希尔，成功地恢复了这家临近破产的公司的经营。他一直为Johns Manville提供巨大帮助，几年前，大卫改善了新的管理和监督工作。

最后，在1月14日或15日的时候，大卫把收购路博润(Lubrizol)的想法告诉我。起初，我不以为然。但在1月25日，他提供给我与该公司CEO詹姆斯-汉姆布瑞克(James Hambrick)洽谈报告，我的想法迅速升温。尽管收购要约完全是我的决定，并在3月13日得到伯克希尔董事会的支持，但是没有大卫早期的努力就不会有这次收购。

这将我们带到第二部分的事实面前。在我们第一次谈论路博润时候，大卫提到他拥有该公司的股票。这是顺便讲的话，我没有询问他购买股票的日期或者控股程度。

在3月19日我出发去亚洲之前，我才知道大卫在12月14日第一次购买2300股路博润股票，并于12月21日卖出该股票。随后，在1月5日、6日和7日，他以每股104美元的价格下单购买10万股路博润股票，最终成交96,060股。

大卫在跟我讨论路博润之前已经购买该公司股票，他并不知道我会对收购路博润作出什么反应。此外，当然，他也不知道如果我有兴趣收购，路博润将会有什么反应。并且，他知道尽管他提出这个建议，但他在伯克希尔没有决定权。这将是我和查理-芒格来决定，须经伯克希尔董事会批准。而大卫并不是其中的成员。

直到1月24日，我发给大卫一个简短的说明，表示我对是否购买路博润仍表怀疑，并且表达出我对中美能源作出的另一个重大收购的偏好。在大卫向我汇报了1月25日他和詹姆斯-哈姆布里克的晚餐谈话之后，我才真正对收购路博润产生兴趣。

大卫和我都不觉得他的路博润股票是以任何非法的形式购买的。他告诉我，这不是他决定辞职的原因。

大卫的辞职信让我很吃惊，尽管在此之前，他曾经两次提出辞职。我在前一天跟他谈过各种运营事宜，那时并没有得到任何他打算辞职的暗示。这一次，我并没有试图劝说他放弃辞职决定，并接受了他的辞呈。

由于大卫的辞职生效，格雷格-阿贝尔(Greg Abel)，现任中美能源控股公司总裁兼首席执行官将成为公司主席；托德-拉巴 (Todd Raba)，Johns Manville公司总裁兼首席执行官将成功公司主席；约旦-汉塞尔 (Jordan Hansell)，NetJets公司总裁，将成为该公司董事长兼首席执行官。

新闻稿原文：

This press release will be unusual.

First, I will write it almost as if it were a letter.

Second, it will contain two sets of facts, both about Dave Sokol, Chairman of several Berkshire subsidiaries.

Late in the day on March 28, I received a letter of resignation from Dave, delivered by his assistant.

His reasons were as follows: "As I have mentioned to you in the past, it is my goal to utilize the time remaining in my career to invest my family's resources in such a way as to create enduring equity value and hopefully an enterprise which will provide opportunity for my descendents and funding for my philanthropic interests.

I have no more detailed plan than this because my obligations from Berkshire Hathaway have been my first and only business priority." I had not asked for his resignation, and it came as a surprise to me.

Twice before, most recently two or so years ago, Dave had talked to me of resigning.

In each case he had given me the same reasons that he laid out in his Monday letter.

Both times, I and other Board members persuaded him to stay.

Berkshire is far more valuable today because we were successful in those efforts.

Dave's contributions have been extraordinary.

At MidAmerican, he and Greg Abel have delivered the best performance of any managers in the public utility field.

At NetJets, Dave resurrected an operation that was destined for bankruptcy, absent Berkshire's deep pockets.

He has been of enormous help in the operation of Johns Manville, where he installed new management some years ago and oversaw major change.

Finally, Dave brought the idea for purchasing Lubrizol to me on either January 14 or 15.

Initially, I was unimpressed, but after his report of a January 25 talk with its CEO, James Hambrick, I quickly warmed to the idea.

Though the offer to purchase was entirely my decision, supported by Berkshire's Board on March 13, it would not have occurred without Dave's early efforts.

That brings us to our second set of facts.

In our first talk about Lubrizol, Dave mentioned that he owned stock in the company.

It was a passing remark and I did not ask him about the date of his purchase or the extent of his holdings.

Shortly before I left for Asia on March 19, I learned that Dave first purchased 2,300 shares of Lubrizol on December 14, which he then sold on December 21.

Subsequently, on January 5, 6 and 7, he bought 96,060 shares pursuant to a 100,000-share order he had placed with a $104 per share limit price.

Dave's purchases were made before he had discussed Lubrizol with me and with no knowledge of how I might react to his idea.

In addition, of course, he did not know what Lubrizol's reaction would be if I developed an interest.

Furthermore, he knew he would have no voice in Berkshire's decision once he suggested the idea; it would be up to me and Charlie Munger, subject to ratification by the Berkshire Board of which Dave is not a member.

As late as January 24, I sent Dave a short note indicating my skepticism about making an offer for Lubrizol and my preference for another substantial acquisition for which MidAmerican had made a bid.

Only after Dave reported on the January 25 dinner conversation with James Hambrick did I get interested in the acquisition of Lubrizol.

Neither Dave nor I feel his Lubrizol purchases were in any way unlawful.

He has told me that they were not a factor in his decision to resign.

Dave's letter was a total surprise to me, despite the two earlier resignation talks.

I had spoken with him the previous day about various operating matters and received no hint of his intention to resign.

This time, however, I did not attempt to talk him out of his decision and accepted his resignation.

Effective with Dave's resignation, Greg Abel, presently President and CEO of MidAmerican Holding Company, will become its Chairman; Todd Raba, President and CEO of Johns Manville, will become its Chairman; and Jordan Hansell, President of NetJets, will become its Chairman and CEO.

I have held back nothing in this statement.

Therefore, if questioned about this matter in the future, I will simply refer the questioner back to this release.