巴菲特修改遗嘱 | 聊聊基金会的那些事儿…历史上最早的基金会在北宋！

 主播：Wendi（中国）+ Selah（美国）

 歌曲 ：Money, Money, Money

今天，我们聊聊“股神”巴菲特（Warren Buffett）修改遗嘱这件事。

Warren Buffett is a legendary value investor(是一个充满传奇色彩的价值投资者).

He is best known for(因……被熟知) being a very successful investor(成功的投资者) and the head of Berkshire Hathaway(伯克希尔哈撒韦公司的负责人), a big company with many businesses.

*legendary /ˈledʒənderi/ adj. 传奇的

他通过buying and holding undervalued companies（收购和持有价值被低估的公司）赚了很多钱。为人们所熟知的是，he gives away a large part of his fortune to charity（他把他的大部分财产捐给了慈善机构），而且he lives a simple, modest life despite his wealth（尽管他很富有，但他却过着简单、低调的生活）。

*undervalued /ˌʌndərˈvæljʊ/ adj. 售价过低的

01 Buffett’s latest will 巴菲特最新遗嘱

巴菲特之前说要把遗产捐赠给the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation（比尔盖茨和他妻子Melinda的基金会），但是前不久，Buffett just changed how his considerable fortune will be spent following his death（他改变了死后巨额财富的使用方式）。

*considerable /kənˈsɪdərəb(ə)l/ adj. 相当大

93岁的巴菲特说，he has again re-worked his will（他又一次重新调整了他的遗嘱） — and that he does not plan to continue donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation after he dies. He will put his wealth in a new charitable trust overseen by his three children（他将把自己的财富存入一个由他的三个孩子监管的新的慈善信托基金中）.

*trust n. 信托基金机构

*oversee v. 监管

He has changed his will several times（他已经改变了好几次遗嘱了），and he put together the newest plan（他制定了最新的计划）due to the trust he has in his children’s values（因为他信任孩子们的价值观）and how they will distribute his wealth（也信任孩子会如何分配他的财富）.

*distribute /dɪˈstrɪbju:t/ v. 分发

在巴菲特的遗嘱修改之前，the largest portion of his fortune was designated for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation（他最大一笔遗产是要给比尔·盖茨和他的妻子的这个基金会的）。

The Buffett and Gates families have been friends for over 3 decades（30多年）. As some of the wealthiest people in the world (同为世界富豪), they have pooled their resources together to make much change and good happen in the world(他们一起用自己的资源改变世界，让世界变得更好).

*pool v. 集中资源

虽然都是世界富豪，比尔盖茨稍微更有钱一点，位居世界第四（Bill Gates is the 4th richest person in the world），巴菲特是第六（Buffett is the 6th）。

Buffett was on the board of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for many years(巴菲特曾在比尔和梅林达·盖茨基金会的董事会任职多年), and is said to have contributed $43 billion dollars to them over the last 20 years(在20年里向Bill and Melinda Gates基金会捐赠了430亿美元).

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation在很多领域都做出了卓越的贡献，比如说eradicating polio（帮助消除小儿麻痹症） 、reducing malaria（消除疟疾）以及帮助发展中国家发展，比如improving education through investments in K-12（通过投资改善从幼儿园到12年级的孩子教育），alleviating poverty by supporting agricultural development（通过支持农业发展来减轻贫困），improving sanitation （改善卫生设施）。

*eradicate /ɪˈrædɪkeɪt/ v. 消灭

*alleviate /əˈli:vieɪt/ v. 减轻

*sanitation /ˌsænɪˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ n. 卫生系统或设备

03 基金会都有哪些种类？

There are many different types, for example, Private Foundations(私人基金会), like the Gates Foundation, Corporate Foundations (Established by a corporation)(由公司创立的企业基金会).

大多数的私人基金会都是由wealthy people来创立，这样的话，他们可以reduce the inheritance taxes（少交一些遗产税）。而且，it allows the donors to decide how their money is used for charitable purposes(它允许捐赠者决定他们的钱如何用于慈善目的)。

*inheritance /ɪnˈherɪtəns/ n. 遗产

还有一种基金会是Family Foundations（家族基金会），这种基金会通常目标是passing down philanthropic values across generations（将慈善价值观代代相传）。

*philanthropic /ˌfɪlənˈθrɑ:pɪk/ adj. 博爱的

据说历史上最早的家族基金会是在北宋由范仲淹创立的，叫“范氏义庄”。In 1050, Fan Zhongyan, who was then 60 years old and was serving as the governor of Hangzhou(在杭州做官), donated his life savings(捐赠了他的终身储蓄), purchased more than 1,000 acres of fertile land in Suzhou(在苏州买了1000多亩田), and founded the charity organization "Fan's Charity House"(“范氏义庄”), which supported three parts: land, housing, and education（“义田”“义宅”“义学”）.

*purchase /ˈpɜ:rtʃəs/ v. 购买

1000年后，a similar design appeared in the United States, like these family foundations（家族基金会），大家比较熟悉的可能有Carnegie Foundation（卡耐基基金会），Rockefeller Foundation（洛克菲勒基金会），这些基金会目的都是to pass on their wealth（传承财富）, with the aim of allowing their families to have a secure and comfortable life（保障家族后代的生活）。比较典型的洛克菲勒家族基金会has been passed down for 7 generation（已经传承了7代了）。

范氏宗族规定任何族人都不能卖族田。Similar to the Fan’s House, it is stipulated that the descendants of these wealthy people cannot sell the property of the family foundation. 欧美富豪的后代不能卖掉家族基金会的财产。

*stipulate /ˈstɪpjuleɪt/ v. （尤指在协议或建议中）规定

*descendant /dɪˈsendənt/ n. 后代

But a slight difference of the Fan’s House is that it not only took care of its own descendants(自己的后人) but also the whole clan(全族之人), including the distant relatives(远亲). 范仲淹的宗族制度不仅照顾自己的后人，还有全族之人，这一差异可能是由于中西方不同的家庭观和宗族观造成的。

*clan n. 家族

Truthfully, most normal people do not have much to say. 网友并没有什么反应。

由于the Gates divorce（盖茨的离婚），there has been family drama in the Gates family the past few years（盖茨家庭发生了家庭闹剧）。导致巴菲特改编遗嘱的原因之一可能是Melinda Gates recently announced that she is leaving the foundation herself（梅林达·盖茨最近宣布她将自己离开该基金会）。巴菲特可能does not trust the future of the company as much（不那么相信公司的未来）。