A few days ago, Warren Buffett, known as the Oracle of Omaha, who has led Berkshire Hathaway for sixty years, released his final letter to shareholders. This letter marks a formal farewell to his half-century-long career, a solemn entrustment of the future of the business empire he built, and even his last words of wisdom to the entire business and investment world.

It carries the most genuine thoughts, most valuable experiences, and most candid self-analysis of an elder who has navigated countless business cycles and witnessed innumerable industry ups and downs.

First, Buffett recalled a childhood experience from 1938.

He was very young then, and due to severe stomach pain, his family doctor, Harley Hotz, came to visit.

The friendly Catholic doctor always carried a black medical bag, affectionately called Buffett "Little Captain," and charged modestly.

Initially, Dr. Harley Hotz thought Buffett's stomach ache was a minor issue, saying it would be better by morning. However, he later felt Buffett's symptoms were peculiar and, uneasy, sent Buffett to St. Catherine's Hospital that same evening for an emergency appendectomy.

During his three weeks in the hospital, Buffett said he felt like he was in a convent, but the nuns were kind to him, and he gradually grew fond of the environment.

What made it even more memorable was that his third-grade teacher, Miss Madsen, specifically had all 30 classmates write him a letter.

Buffett chuckled, saying he probably threw away the boys' letters but reread the girls' letters many times, jokingly adding that being hospitalized had its benefits.

What delighted him most during his recovery was a gift from his dear Aunt Eddie: a set of professional-looking fingerprinting tools.

Upon receiving the tools, Buffett immediately took the fingerprints of the nuns who cared for him. He mischievously remarked that he was probably the first Protestant child the nuns at St. Catherine's Hospital had ever seen, and they didn't know what to expect from him.

At that time, Buffett also harbored a particularly naive fantasy: he imagined that one day a nun would commit a crime, and the FBI would discover they had no fingerprints for her.

Then, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover himself would come to Omaha to examine his collection of precious fingerprints. He even imagined he could work with Hoover to find and arrest the errant nun, thereby gaining national renown.

Of course, this fantasy never materialized, but Buffett later learned that he should have actually taken Hoover's own fingerprints, as years later, Hoover's reputation was ruined due to his abuse of FBI authority.

This childhood memory is particularly amusing and reveals Buffett's mischievous and imaginative side as a child.

Beyond childhood anecdotes, Buffett also recounted his connections with several fellow Omaha natives in the letter, who later became important partners in his life.

First, there's Charlie Munger, his close friend and partner for 64 years, who actually lived just one block from Buffett's house in the 1930s.

Buffett said he almost became friends with Munger in their early years.

In the summer of 1940, Munger worked 10 hours a day in his grandfather's grocery store, earning only $2, and the following year, Buffett did similar work at the same store.

Interestingly, it wasn't until 1959 that the two men actually met.

Munger was 35 at the time, and Buffett was 28.

Later, Munger graduated from Harvard Law School and settled permanently in California after serving in World War II, but he always considered his early years in Omaha an important stage of his life.

In Buffett's view, Munger was not only like an elder brother but also his best teacher.

Over sixty years, despite disagreements, they never had a quarrel, and Munger would never say "I told you so" in hindsight.

This mode of interaction has become a celebrated example of business partnership.

There's also Stan Lipsey.

In 1968, he sold The Omaha Sun to Berkshire.

Ten years later, because The Buffalo Evening News, owned by a Berkshire subsidiary, was locked in a life-or-death struggle with the local sole Sunday newspaper publisher, and Berkshire was losing ground.

Buffett asked Lipsey to move to Buffalo, and Lipsey, living up to expectations, eventually created The Buffalo Evening News's Sunday edition.

From then on, this investment, which had been losing a significant amount annually, yielded a pre-tax return of over 100% each year. It's worth noting that in the early 1980s, this $33 million investment was very significant for Berkshire.

Buffett also mentioned that Lipsey lived about five blocks from his home, and Lipsey's neighbor was Walter Scott Jr., who brought MidAmerican Energy to Berkshire in 1999 and later served on Berkshire's board until his death in 2021, also a close friend of Buffett's.

Another notable Omaha native is Don Keough.

In 1959, Don Keough and his young family lived across the street from Buffett's home, about 100 yards from Munger's old residence.

At the time, Keough was just a coffee salesman, earning $12,000 a year, yet he and his wife Mickey had to raise five children, all of whom attended expensive Catholic schools.

Buffett said their two families quickly became close friends.

Keough came from a farm in northwestern Iowa, graduated from Creighton University in Omaha, and married an Omaha girl, Mickey, in his early years.

After joining The Coca-Cola Company, he quickly gained global renown.

In 1985, while Keough was president of The Coca-Cola Company, the company launched New Coke, which was met with extremely poor market reaction, becoming a ill-fated attempt.

Facing this crisis, Keough delivered a very famous speech, publicly apologizing to the public and announcing the reintroduction of Old Coke.

In his speech, he even joked that letters addressed to "the supreme idiot" would quickly reach his desk.

This retraction speech later became a classic case study in corporate crisis management, and videos of it can still be seen on YouTube.

Moreover, after the speech, Coca-Cola's sales significantly increased.

Buffett also recommended watching an excellent interview with Keough on the CharlieRose website, saying that Keough, like Munger, was always a genuine Midwestern boy, warm, friendly, and thoroughly American at heart.

Even more interestingly, Buffett also mentioned two key figures who later joined Berkshire: Ajit Jain, born and raised in India, and Greg Abel, the Canadian designated to succeed as CEO.

Both lived in Omaha for several years in the late 20th century, and Greg Abel lived just a few blocks from Buffett's home on Farnam Street in the 1990s.

However, the two never met at the time.

When discussing these connections, Buffett humorously asked, "Is there something magical in Omaha's water?"

Behind this remark, there is more of his love and gratitude for his hometown, Omaha.

Although he lived in Washington D.C. and New York in his youth, in 1956, after only a year and a half in New York, he chose to return to Omaha and has never left since.

Buffett said his three children and several grandchildren grew up in Omaha, attending public schools, and graduated from the same high school as his father and first wife, Susie.

Furthermore, several individuals crucial to Berkshire's development, such as Charlie Munger and Stan Lipsey, all have deep connections to Omaha.

Buffett acknowledged that America has many great companies, schools, and medical institutions, and every place has unique advantages and talented people.

However, he felt particularly fortunate to have made so many lifelong friends in Omaha, met two wives, received a good public education, known many interesting and friendly adults from a young age, and made various friends in the Nebraska National Guard.

He even stated frankly that, looking back, he believes Berkshire and he himself achieved better results largely because they were rooted in Omaha, as the heartland of America is an excellent place to be born, raise a family, and start a business.

Had he been born elsewhere, the outcome might have been very different.

Buffett also mentioned in the letter that his genes didn't give him much advantage in longevity; the family's longevity record had always been 92 until he himself broke it.

However, he was very fortunate to have wise, kind, and dedicated Omaha doctors, starting with Dr. Harley Hotz in his early years. To this day, at least three times, his life has been saved by doctors not far from home.

But Buffett did not shy away from the unfairness of luck.

He said that to live to the ripe old age of 95, one must dodge many dangers every day, such as banana peels, natural disasters, drunk or distracted drivers, lightning strikes, and so on, which requires immense luck.

But Lady Luck is fickle and extremely unfair.

In many cases, leaders and the wealthy receive far more luck than they deserve, and these fortunate individuals often refuse to acknowledge it.

He gave an example: some children of wealthy families are born with lifelong financial security, while others face hellish difficulties in early childhood, even suffering from disabilities, losing everything he takes for granted.

In many densely populated areas of the world, people may still be living miserable lives.

From Buffett's words, we hear no hint of boasting about success; instead, they are filled with reverence for fate and empathy for others, which is actually a very important part of Buffett's values.

Of course, at 95, Buffett also has to confront the inescapable topic of aging.

He wrote in the letter that Father Time is undefeated, and everyone will eventually be on his winners' list.

When one's balance, vision, hearing, and memory are all steadily declining, you know Father Time is near.

Buffett admitted that he entered old age later than many, and while the onset of aging varies from person to person, once it appears, it cannot be denied.

However, admirably, Buffett said he generally feels good. Although his movements are slower and reading is increasingly difficult, he still works five days a week in the office, collaborating with excellent people, occasionally coming up with useful ideas, or receiving proposals for Berkshire that might not otherwise have come.

Of course, he also objectively admitted that due to Berkshire's already enormous size and changes in market conditions, good ideas are scarce, but not nonexistent.

Advanced age has also had significant and unavoidable impacts on Buffett's family and philanthropic goals.

His three children are already past normal retirement age, at 72, 70, and 67, respectively.

Buffett clearly understood that relying on all three of them was unrealistic, so he needed to accelerate his lifetime gifts to their three foundations.

Naturally, this adjustment also needed to consider the feelings of Berkshire's shareholders.

Buffett said he wished to retain a significant number of Berkshire Class A shares until shareholders felt as confident in Abel as he and Munger did.

However, he also believed that this level of trust should not take too long, as his children already fully supported Abel.

When discussing his children's philanthropic capabilities, Buffett was full of confidence.

He said that all three children are now mature, intelligent, energetic, and possess the instinct to manage a large fortune.

Moreover, after his death, his children will still be active in the world, and they can adopt strategies that are both forward-looking and responsive to federal tax policies or other changes affecting philanthropy.

Buffett even mentioned that his children would likely need to adapt to immense changes in the world around them, but he never intended to micromanage from beyond the grave.

He also specifically mentioned that all three children inherited dominant genes from their mother, and as years passed, he himself gradually became a better role model for his children's thoughts and actions.

However, he added with a smile that he could never compare to their mother.

To prepare for unforeseen circumstances, Buffett also arranged for three alternate guardians for his children.

These three guardians, without priority or being tied to any specific child, are all outstanding individuals, astute about worldly affairs, and have no conflicting motives.

In the latter half of the letter, Buffett dedicated considerable space to express his endorsement and confidence in his successor, Greg Abel, which also served as reassurance for all shareholders.

He said that Abel's performance had far exceeded his initial expectations.

Specifically, Abel not only understood many of Berkshire's businesses and personnel far better than Buffett himself, but he could also quickly grasp issues that many CEOs had never considered.

Buffett even stated frankly that he could not think of anyone—be it a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, or a government official—who would be better suited to manage Berkshire's wealth than Abel.

To prove this point, Buffett gave a specific example: Abel's understanding of the potential returns and risks of Berkshire's property and casualty insurance business far surpassed that of many long-serving executives in that field.

Buffett sincerely hoped that Abel would remain in good health for decades, as he expected Berkshire to need only five or six CEOs over the next century.

At the same time, Buffett did not shy away from potential risks in corporate management, such as a CEO developing dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

He admitted that he and Munger had encountered this issue multiple times in the past but failed to act promptly, a failure that could lead to grave mistakes.

Therefore, he reminded Berkshire's board of directors that they must remain vigilant at the CEO level, and CEOs must also remain vigilant at the subsidiary level.

Although this is easier said than done, he still advised directors to remain alert and dare to speak up.

When discussing other issues in corporate management, Buffett once again targeted the perennial topic of executive compensation.

He said that during his lifetime, many reformers attempted to embarrass CEOs by requiring disclosure of the ratio between CEO compensation and that of average employees.

What was the result?

The length of proxy statements quickly ballooned from about 20 pages to over 100 pages.

However, these well-intentioned measures did not work; instead, they backfired.

Buffett observed that, in most cases, a CEO of Company A, upon seeing the compensation of a CEO of competitor Company B, would hint to the board that they too should receive higher compensation.

Moreover, these CEOs would also increase the compensation of directors and be particularly careful in selecting members for the compensation committee.

Ultimately, the new regulations sparked not moderation, but envy.

Buffett reiterated that what often bothered very wealthy CEOs was that other CEOs became even wealthier.

Envy and greed always go hand in hand.

And what consultant would recommend a significant reduction in CEO compensation or board remuneration?

However, despite pointing out these issues, Buffett remained confident about Berkshire's future.

He said that the prospects for Berkshire's businesses were slightly better than average, including several sizable and largely uncorrelated gems.

Of course, he also objectively admitted that in ten or twenty years, many companies would perform better than Berkshire, because Berkshire's sheer size inherently brought certain disadvantages of scale.

But Buffett emphasized that the likelihood of Berkshire suffering a catastrophic disaster was smaller than for any business he knew.

Moreover, Berkshire's management and board would prioritize shareholder interests more than almost any company he was familiar with.

Buffett also offered candid advice regarding stock price volatility, a major concern for shareholders.

Stock prices will be erratic, sometimes falling by about 50%, as has happened three times before.

But don't despair; America will recover, and Berkshire's stock will rebound.

This statement is actually Buffett's confidence in Berkshire's long-term value and a reaffirmation of the long-term holding philosophy for shareholders.

He does not want shareholders to panic over short-term stock price fluctuations but rather to see the company's long-term profitability and stable operational foundation.

Finally, at the end of the letter, Buffett shared some very personal life maxims, full of wisdom.

He said that perhaps it was a self-serving observation, but he was pleased that he was more satisfied with the latter half of his life than the first.

Then he offered everyone a piece of advice: don't blame yourself for past mistakes; at least learn a little from them, then move forward. It's never too late to improve.

Find suitable role models and emulate them.

Buffett also cited the example of Alfred Nobel.

Nobel later became famous for establishing the Nobel Prize, but it is said that he once read his own mistakenly printed obituary, the content of which greatly shocked him.

He then realized he should change his behavior.

Buffett used this to remind everyone to think about what they want their obituary to say, and then strive to live that kind of life.

When discussing the definition of greatness, Buffett offered his answer: greatness does not stem from accumulating vast wealth, gaining extensive exposure, or wielding immense power in government.

When we help others in thousands of ways, we are helping the world.

Good deeds cost nothing, yet are priceless.

While writing these words, Buffett also candidly admitted his shortcomings: he had been careless countless times and made many mistakes, but he was also fortunate to have learned how to be a better person from some wonderful friends.

He also specifically emphasized, "Please remember, a cleaning lady is as much a human being as a chairman."

At the end of the letter, Buffett wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, even humorously including "the grinches."

He also reminded everyone not to forget to thank America for providing the greatest opportunities.

However, he also objectively pointed out that America, in distributing rewards, would inevitably be erratic and sometimes even avaricious.

Finally, he reiterated: "Choose your heroes wisely and then emulate them."

We can never be perfect, but we can always be better.

At this point, I believe everyone, like me, can feel the weight of this letter.

It is more like a life guide summarized by a business legend from a lifetime of experience.

Whether it's his thoughts on corporate management, his adherence to investment philosophy, his attitude towards philanthropy, or his understanding of life's value, all are worth savoring repeatedly.

For investors, it is a reaffirmation of long-termism; for corporate managers, it is a profound warning against greed and a call for responsibility; for every ordinary person, it is sincere advice on how to live a more meaningful life.