慈善赌局十年之约，巴菲特第一次反超

    但去年《财富》杂志网站（Fortune.com）对此进行报道时【《慈善赌局龟兔赛跑，巴菲特正迎头赶上》（Buffett gains ground in hedge fund bet）】发现，在利率下降的大环境下，零息债券表现如此之好，到2012年它的总价值就已然逼近100万美元。

    鉴于这样出色的表现，如果巴菲特和Protégé修改赌局协议，或许最终慈善机构拿到的捐款总额会超过100万美元。如果巴菲特赢，Girls Inc. of Omaha将拿到这笔钱。如果胜利者是Protégé，Absolute Returns for Kids将拿到这笔钱。

    因此，在2012年底，这笔零息债券以近100万美元售出。由巴菲特和Protégé商定，用这些钱购入巴菲特公司伯克希尔哈撒韦（Berkshire Hathaway）B股。自那以来，伯克希尔哈撒韦的股价出现了上涨，目前投资价值已显著高于100万美元。

    这只股票不会下跌？当然会，但对于最终接受捐赠的慈善组织来说，结果不会有太大差别——因为巴菲特已承诺到赌局结束时，捐款额至少为100万美元。持有股票的好处是，届时受赠的慈善组织能够拿到的捐款金额已经无上限。它完全取决于从现在到赌局结束时巴菲特公司股票的表现。

    本文作者是《财富》杂志的资深编辑卡罗尔•卢米斯，她是沃伦•巴菲特的老朋友，也是伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的股东之一。并为沃伦•巴菲特致股东的年度公开信担任编辑工作。（财富中文网）

    译者：早稻米

    But as Fortune.com reported last year (Buffett gains ground in hedge fund bet), the zero-coupon bond proceeded to perform so splendidly in the prevailing environment of falling interest rates that by 2012 it was already worth almost $1 million.

    That remarkable result suggested to Buffett and Protégé that they could revise the terms of the bet and quite possibly get more than $1 million to the charity ultimately benefitting from the bet. That will be Girls Inc. of Omaha if Buffett wins and Absolute Returns for Kids if the victor is Protégé.

    So the zero-coupon bond was sold for nearly $1 million toward the close of 2012, and by agreement between Buffett and Protégé, the proceeds were put into the B stock of Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA). Berkshire's shares have risen since, and the current value of the investment is well over $1 million.

    And couldn't the stock fall? It certainly could, but that won't make a whit of difference to the winning charity—because Buffett has guaranteed that it will get at least $1 million at the end of the bet. On the upside, meanwhile, there's no ceiling on what the charity can walk away with. That depends simply on what happens to Berkshire's stock between now and the bet's conclusion.

    Fortune senior editor-at-large Carol Loomis, who wrote this article, is a longtime friend of Warren Buffett's, a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, and editor of his annual letter to shareholders.