比尔·盖茨：一个聪明家伙的伟大故事

卡萝尔·卢米斯撰写的这本关于巴菲特的书终于问世了，我对此的兴奋之情绝对是不言而喻的。

在漫长的40多年中，《财富》杂志一直不遗余力地关注巴菲特，发表了多篇关于他的深度报道。《跳着踢踏舞去上班》一书异常巧妙地将这些很有价值的文章集结成册，而且这项工作由巴菲特最亲密的朋友卡萝尔·卢米斯亲自操刀。在这些文章中，有的是卢米斯写的，有的是《财富》杂志其他资深作家写的，有的是巴菲特自己写的，还有一篇是我1996年时写的。

《跳着踢踏舞去上班》由北京联合出版公司出版

在追述我和巴菲特友谊的这篇文章中，我披露了不太为人所知的一点：对于结识巴菲特，起初我并不太情愿。当时，我父母邀请巴菲特、凯瑟琳·格雷厄姆、梅格·格林菲尔德一起来我家的度假屋过周末。和“这位擅长挑选股票的家伙”会面实在提不起我的兴趣，况且当时我还有很多正经的事要忙，于是我一再推脱。不过，我的母亲却不依不饶，非要我也出席。然而，聊了几句话，我立刻发现这是一位不同凡响的人，他的智慧和对商业的洞见绝对可以用石破天惊来形容。1991年7月的那个午后，我意识到自己遇见了一位罕见的天才，而且这种感觉一直持续到现在。从那以后，我开始不放过任何一个机会汲取其商业理念的精髓。在这个过程中，我才发现巴菲特对人生的认识同样能带给人无穷的启发。

《跳着踢踏舞去上班》以一种非常轻松的方式，将巴菲特对于企业和投资的思考淋漓尽致地展现了出来。书中的故事大致是以年代为线索而串联起来的。我相信，任何逐字逐句阅读完本书的人，都会有两种反应：第一，在漫长的职业生涯中，巴菲特难以置信地始终坚持着自己的洞察力和投资原则；第二，他对商业和企业的分析和思考直到如今都是无与伦比的。

在1996年的那篇文章中，我写到，在自己认识的人当中，能将商业看得如此通透的人，除了巴菲特，绝无二人。直到今天，我仍然坚持这种看法。

显然，对于我们这些读者而言，卡萝尔·卢米斯为我们送上了一份丰厚的大礼。她不但在烟波浩淼的资料中将这些文章搜集起来，而且还对其中非常重要的文章添加了引人深思的说明文字。巴菲特商业生涯的各种言论，以卡萝尔·卢米斯本人为代表的极具天赋的观察家的言论，透过这些文字中闪烁的思维弧光，我们能够一览这位商界领袖和大慈善家的意识深处，这绝对是一件很有收获、值得花时间去做的事情。

我希望所有人，包括那些自认为已经很了解巴菲特的人，都应该逐字逐句地阅读一下这本书。不论如何，我知道，我自己是一定会这么做的。

Great Stories from a Very Smart Guy

So it’s no surprise that I’m really pleased to see Carol Loomis’ book on Warren published this month. Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012 is a compilation of forty-plus years’ worth of coverage of Warren by the writers of Fortune, with a notable share written by Warren’s longtime friend, Carol Loomis. Inside are pieces by Carol, other Fortune writers, some essays by Warren himself, and there’s even a reprint of a piece I wrote in 1996 about our friendship.

It’s fairly well known that I almost didn’t meet Warren. My mom and dad had invited him, Katharine Graham and Meg Greenfield to the family’s weekend home, and my mother really insisted that I meet him, in spite of my pushing back hard that I had too much to do to take a day off to meet “some guy who picked stocks.” But from the moment we started talking, I could tell this was an extraordinary individual, whose intellect and business insights were astounding. I realized that day I had met a genius. I have felt that way ever since that July afternoon in 1991 and have never passed up an opportunity to learn more from him about business. In the process, I’ve also learned a great deal from him about life.

Tap Dancing to Work is a comprehensive look into Warren’s thinking about business and investing. The stories in the book are arranged roughly chronologically. I think anyone who reads it cover to cover will come away with two reactions: First, how Warren’s been incredibly consistent in applying his vision and investment principles over the duration of his career; and, secondly, that his analysis and understanding of business and markets remains unparalleled. I wrote in 1996 that I’d never met anyone who thought about business in such a clear way. That is certainly still the case.

Carol Loomis has done us all a big favor in pulling together this collection and writing quite thoughtful introductions to the major pieces. Examining the arc of Warren’s business life in his own words and those of other gifted observers (preeminently, Carol Loomis, herself) is an extremely worthwhile use of time to get into the mind of this remarkable business leader and philanthropist. I hope many people, even those who think they know Warren well, will read it cover to cover. I know I will.