巴菲特頭號接班人索科爾辭職

Buffett's Successor David Sokol Quits

巴菲特頭號接班人索科爾辭職

David Sokol, long considered by outsiders to be the most likely candidate to succeed Warren Buffett, resigned from Berkshire Hathaway Inc. after purchasing shares of a company he suggested Mr. Buffett buy.

一直被外界認爲是沃倫·巴菲特頭號接班人的大衛·索科爾從伯克希爾·晗撒韋公司辭職，此前索科爾買了他建議巴菲特收購的一家公司的股票。

Mr. Buffett, Berkshire's chief executive and chairman, said in a statement Wednesday that Mr. Sokol had told him he owned shares in the chemical company, Lubrizol Corp., when they first discussed the deal in January. Mr. Buffett said "neither Dave nor I feel his Lubrizol purchases were in any way unlawful" and weren't a factor in his decision to resign.

伯克希爾首席執行長兼董事長巴菲特週三發表聲明說，今年1月他們最開始討論收購交易時，索科爾對巴菲特說過他自己持有路博潤公司的股票。巴菲特說，大衛和我都沒覺得他買路博潤股票有任何違法的地方，這不是他決定辭職的原因。

Instead , Mr. Buffett said Mr. Sokol wrote in a letter of resignation on March 28 that he wanted 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."

相反，巴菲特說，索科爾在3月 28日的辭職信中說，他希望用家族資源進行投資的方式能夠創造持久的股權價值，並創建一家能夠給他的後代提供機會的企業，爲他的慈善事業提供資金。

Mr. Sokol purchased 2 ,300 shares of Lubrizol on Dec.14, which he then sold on Dec. 21, Mr. Buffett said. He then bought 96,060 shares in early January with an order to pay no more than $104 a share; Berkshire said March 14 that it had agreed to acquire Lubrjzol for $9 billion, or $135 a share.

巴菲特稱，在12月14日，索科爾買了 2300股路博潤股票，接着在12月21日賣掉了。之後，索科爾又在今年1月初買了96060股，買盤價格不到每股104美元。伯克希爾3月14日說，已經同意斥資90億美元收購路博潤，相當於每股135美元。

"Dave's purchases were made before he had discussed Lubrizol with me and with no knowledge of how I might react to his idea," Mr. Buffett wrote in the statement. Mr. Buffett said he learned of the extent of the stock purchases shortly before beginning a trip to Asia on March 19.

巴菲特在聲明中說，大衛買人路博潤股票是在他和我討論收購事宜之前，他當時並不知道我對他的建議可能有什麼反應。巴菲特說，他是在3月19日亞洲之行前不久得知買進股票的規模的。

The revelations throw into question Mr. Buffett's carefully crafted succession plan, one of America's most widely watched boardroom dramas. Berkshire has said it has identified four executives at the company who could replace him. Mr. Sokol has long been considered high on that short list.

這一披露令巴菲特精心制定的接班計劃陷入不確定。巴菲特的接班計劃是美國最受關注的戲劇性公司事件之一。伯克希爾一直說，在公司內部確定了四位有望接替巴菲特的高管。索科爾一直被視爲是四人之中極有希望的人選。

The incident is also a potential black eye for Mr. Buffett, 80, who emphasizes character and integrity in his manager choices and who himself is known for his ethics. Shares of the conglomerate, one of the nation's biggest companies, declined in after-hours trading.

此事對80歲的巴菲特也可能是沉重一擊。巴菲特在選擇管理人士時強調人品和正直。他本人就以極高的操守而知名。美國最大的公司之一伯克希爾的股價在盤後交易中大幅下跌。

A regulatory filing detailing the Lubrizol purchase indicated last week that Mr. Sokol identified Lubrizol as a potential acquisition and took the lead in early negotiations to buy the company. Mr. Sokol plucked Lubrizol from a list of 18 chemical companies that bankers at Citigroup Global Markets had compiled in December 2010 as possible acquisitions at Mr. Sokol's request, according to the filing.

一份上週提交給監管機構的備案文件詳細敘述了收購路博潤的交易。文件顯示，索科爾確定路博潤是一個可能的收購目標，並牽頭初步收購談判。據備案文件說，索科爾從一份包括18家化學公司的名單中選中了路博潤，這份名單是花旗環球金融有限公司的銀行家們在2010年12月按照索科爾的要求編制的一份潛在收購項目名單。

Mr. Sokol met with Lubrizol's chief executive, James Hambrick, in January to discuss the corporate culture at the two companies, and told him a Berkshire takeover offer would be contingent on Mr. Hambrick's agreeing to stay on as CEO. It was after Mr. Hambrick and his board had agreed to move forward with takeover talks that Mr. Buffett took the lead, the filing said.

今年1月，索科爾與路博潤首席執行長詹姆斯·漢布里克會面討論了兩家公司的公司文化，並告訴他伯克希爾提出的收購要約，將根據他是否同意繼續留任首席執行長而定。備案文件中稱，在漢布里克及路博潤董事會同意進行收購談判之後，巴菲特纔開始牽頭。

Mr. Sokol "knew he would have no voice in Berkshire's decision once he suggested the idea; it would be up to me and (Berkshire Vice Chairman) Charlie Munger, subject to ratification by the Berkshire Board of which Dave is not a member," Mr. Buffett said in the statement.

巴菲特在聲明中說，索科爾知道一旦他提出收購建議，自己就左右不了伯克希爾的決定了，一切都由我和查理·芒格(伯克希爾副董事長)將說了算，並且需獲得伯克希爾董事會的批准，可大衛不是此董事會成員。

"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," Mr. Buffett wrote.

巴菲特說，1月14日，我還給大衛發了一張便條，說明我對收購要約的質疑，以及我更傾向於收購另外一家有價值的公司，中美能源控股公司已經對該公司提出了收購要約。在昕取了大衛有關1月 25日他與漢布里克晚餐談話的彙報後，我纔對收購路搏潤產生了興趣。

Mr. Buffett said Mr. Sokol had tried two other times in recent years to resign. Mr. Sokol had been chairman of Berkshire's MidAmerican utility operations and chairman and CEO of its NetJets fractional plane business.

巴菲特說，近年來，索科爾還有兩次曾經試圖辭職。索科爾辭職前擔任伯克希爾旗下公共事業公司中美能源控股公司董事長，並且是提供部分所有權飛機的 Netlets航空公司的董事長兼首席執行長。

In his statement Wednesday, Mr. Buffett said Mr. Sokol's "contributions have been extraordinary," citing his work at MidAmerican and NetJets, which he described as "an operation that was destined for bankruptcy, absent Berkshire's deep pockets." Greg Abel, the chief executive of MidAmerican Holding Co., will become its chairman, Mr. Buffett said. Jordan Hansell, president of NetJets, will become its chairman and CEO.

巴菲特在週三的聲明中說，索科爾做出了非凡的貢獻，並以他在中美和Neùets的工作爲例，巴菲特說如果沒有伯克希爾雄厚資金的支持，Netlets曾註定要破產。巴菲特說，中美能源控股公司首席執行長格雷格·亞伯將兼任董事長。 Netle惱總裁喬丹·漢塞爾將擔任董事長兼首席執行長。

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares fell sharply in after -hours trade after the announcement.

伯克希爾·哈撒韋公司B股股價在消息宣佈後的盤後交易中大跌。