you find the right smart people, you can hire them as much as you want. You can hire dozens of employees if they understand their business and love to work. But if you have at least one clown in your team, then this is too much. He will drive you crazy. The main thing is to choose the right people. We are lucky because we work with people who know their business very well.

Three years ago, we bought the H. H. Braun shoe company, which employs 4,000 people. They sell $250 million worth of goods. I've never been to any of her factories. And no one from Berkshire either. Maybe they don't exist. Может быть, менеджеры компании собираются каждый месяц и начинают рассуждать: «WITHколько мы переведем Уоррену в этом месяце? Three million dollars? Do you think it will suit him? I think, yes". The right people work for me. Imagine that you own Furniture Mart, a furniture and home goods store. What can I do for them? Go out there and say this item should retail for $498 instead of $398? What do I know about it?

Three quarters of our managers are rich people. They don't have to get up early in the morning and go to work. WITHостояние большинства из них измеряется десятками, а то и сотнями миллионов долларов. So, I need to create or maintain an environment in which they would like more than anything to come to the office today and tomorrow. And I ask myself: “What can make me feel like this myself?”

It seems to me that one of the conditions is the possibility of independent decision-making. If my decisions were constantly revised, I would quickly get tired of it. I would think: “What the hell do I need this for?” This is how our leaders will feel if I reverse their decisions or tell them how to do business. In general, if you hire the right people, you need very few of them. That's what we're aiming for.

Question: You said that when you analyze the performance of a company, you look at three things: management, price and people. WITHкажите, цены на ваши акции идут вверх потому, что вы умеете разбираться в людях?

Answer: This is one of the reasons, but there are three of them. I think I said I pay attention to the "economics" of business. I mean, if you're in the textile business like we were 30 years ago, even with the most amazing employees, it's going to be hard for you. succeed. WITH другой стороны, если те же самые менеджеры будут управлять компанией Coca-Cola, они добьются сенсационной прибыли. Thus, we are interested in a profitable business, that is, companies like Coca-Cola or Gillette. А потом мы смотрим на людей и prices. But all three reasons are very important.

Question: My father works hard and has achieved great success. WITHкажите, как сочетать работу с семьей? Does your wife help you with your work or are these two different dimensions, two different worlds?

Answer: Это разные things. My daughter, who is present in this room, once said in an interview that when she was in high school, she told everyone that I was a securities analyst. She was sure that her father went from house to house and checked if any valuables were missing from there!

I don't смешиваю семью и работу. I don't even consider what I do as work. I don't do this to make a living. I just love doing business more than anything.

Question: In the annual report, you say that you do not want to increase the number of investors through stock swaps or splits. Let's say you have a large mutual company or holding company. Why not increase the available capital?

Answer: Well, we do not have such a company. We do not seek to increase the amount of capital, which, of course, is not the same as increasing the number of shareholders. The capital grows naturally, thanks to our annual earnings, and we are quite happy with this. I have no new ideas that require more capital to implement than I currently have. When I graduated from university, I had more ideas than capital. I definitely lacked capital. I needed him.

So in 1956, I formed a company with partners, and so far Berkshire does not need additional capital. Now we are concerned about other questions: "Who will be our shareholders?" and “Who will fill the available seats?” If you have a million great shares, someone has to own them, like me. While the places are being filled, the question arises: how to make sure that the people we need are in these places? It's very simple. If you hang a sign on the auditorium door that says "Rock Concert", then one group of people will come, and if "Opera" - another. In both cases they are good people, but those who come to the opera must not find themselves at a rock concert. And vice versa.

So, I explain in detail to potential investors our goals, our plans, when we need new people at Berkshire, and, in the end, I get my way. That's why Berkshire's stock has such a low turnover, lower than any other stock on the New York Stock Exchange. The exchange is unhappy with this, and I am very satisfied. Because it means that our shares are owned by people who really want to own them. Stock splits and the like will attract other, new owners. I don't хочу сказать, что они плохие люди, но не лучше, чем те, что у нас уже есть. New people appear with us only if someone wants to leave. And we always strive to ensure that instead of those who supported our goals and conditions, people who have completely different plans do not come.

Вопрос: WITHкажите, вы подготовили план для будущих руководителей компании на тот случай, если вы с Чарли Мангером отойдете от дел?

Answer: It's very kind of you not to say "when you die". To be honest, we are not going to rest and retire. Perhaps we will slow down, but we will not retire. I'll tell you this: I will go on a well-deserved rest 5 years after my death. In our yearly meetings, the question always comes up: “What happens if you…?” The person begins to stutter and finally decides: “Well, what if tomorrow you get hit by a truck?” And I'm like, "I'm glad you're interested in that, not what will happen if nothing like that happens." I have a pretty simple job.

All our businesses will continue to operate as before. Руководители H. H. Braun, Dexter, See’s Candies, Scott Fetzer знают, что им do. I'm just hoarding capital. They transfer money to me, and I use it to buy something new. I try to maintain such conditions that the leaders of our companies want to work further. I'm sure there are other people besides Charlie Munger and me who can do this.

For now, I don't want to name them. Но не думаю, что в Coca-Cola (мы вложили в компанию почти 5 billion dollars, что равняется приблизительно 8 % ее акций) что-то изменится после моей смерти. People will continue to buy drinks under the Coca-Cola brand. Moreover, if they will toast me at the funeral and wash down alcoholic drinks with soft drinks (or mix them), then sales will increase a little more! There will be no recession. My successor will only have to take the money that keeps coming in and figure out how to put it to good use.

Вопрос: WITHкажите, какие тренинги для менеджеров или семинары вы считаете эффективными и проводите у себя в Berkshire?

Answer: Oh, that's interesting. We don't do anything like that. Perhaps half of our managers have an MBA or have completed some kind of entrepreneurship course. Unlike the other half. I am very interested in what it takes to be a good manager? I think a person should understand the language of business and have what is called "business sense" or "business acumen". But we don't ask people about their education.

When I arrived at Salomon, I did not ask candidates for bank management to submit their resumes to me. I don't знал, где учились эти десять менеджеров. It simply doesn't bother me. You know, if I asked Mrs. B. what her education is, in response she would hand out a blank sheet of paper. So what? I have no idea where Borsheims founder Ike Friedman studied. I don't care. Honestly.

Basically, we buy companies that are already successful and try to keep their leaders. Лучше я куплю успешную компанию у человека, который ею управлял, и постараюсь сделать так, чтобы он никуда не ушел и был всем доволен, чем пытаться сделать правильный выбор из кандидатов, уверяющих, будто они способны succeed. No, I don't mean that I wouldn't do it anyway. We used the second method, but we like the first option more. As the saying goes, you can't teach a new dog old tricks. We have amazing managers, and many of them are over 65 years old and have no special education.

However, education never hurts. I studied in Pennsylvania, Nebraska and Columbia University. Three business schools taught me a lot. WITHобственно, скорее две последние из них. Yes, there are some benefits to learning, although I don't think it's absolutely necessary.

Q: Where do you think is the best place to get money to pay for college?

Answer: It's best if someone gives them to you. My parents paid for my higher education, not me. WITHам я работал на Марка WITHикреста в «Lincoln Journal», но все заработанные деньги потратил на purchase of securities. It doesn't matter how you do it. If