5月初，在伯克希爾-哈撒韋公司年會上，首席執行官沃倫·巴菲特向特斯拉的埃隆·馬斯克提了建議：別惹時思糖果。

估計巴菲特沒想到，同為億萬富翁的馬斯克會將他的話當成激將之言。

巴菲特旗下的伯克希爾-哈撒韋持有時思糖果，這次有股東問他對馬斯克談所謂經濟“護城河”的看法，其實這個說法是1999年巴菲特在《財富》一篇文章里用到的，指某家公司的競爭優勢。

巴菲特向來認為護城河相當重要，也是他選股時的主要參考因素，但馬斯克在特斯拉業績發布會上鄙視了這個概念。

“我覺得護城河很差勁，”在特斯拉一季度業績發布會上，馬斯克對分析師說。“看看古跡可能還行，但現在如果抵御敵人進攻的唯一手段就是護城河，根本堅持不了多久。重要的是創新的速度。這才是競爭力的根本決定因素。”

得知馬斯克的評論后，巴菲特承認近年來技術進步加快，護城河越發難以“抵御進攻”。但他仍然相信此概念極為重要，有些公司的護城河現在比以前更加難攻破。

“公司當然應該努力修筑護城河，時刻注意保持護城河安全。埃隆可能把某些領域的情況說反了，”巴菲特在奧馬哈的伯克希爾大會上表示。“我覺得在糖果行業他就不能這么說。”

巴菲特經常說，時思糖果就是家護城河很寬的公司，因為客戶非常忠誠穩定，尤其在美國西岸，其他巧克力連鎖店對手很難搶生意。

1972年伯克希爾-哈撒韋收購了時思糖果，巴菲特本人就很喜歡時思的花生薄片糖，每年開股東大會他跟合伙人查理·芒格回答問題的六個小時里經常嘴里吃著。巴菲特補充說，伯克希爾-哈撒韋投資的其他一些公司護城河也挺寬，能抵御科技創新公司造成的威脅，比如童裝品牌系列Garanimals。

芒格也不同意馬斯克對護城河的看法。“埃隆說傳統護城河很古怪，弄些水坑抵抗敵人確實挺傻。他又說最好的護城河就是保持巨大的競爭優勢，說得更是沒錯，”芒格表示。“真可笑。沃倫說的又不是真去修護城河。古不古怪有什么關系。”

馬斯克沒有出席伯克希爾-哈撒韋的大會，不過聽到了一些關于巴菲特和芒格的評論，顯然覺得自己被懟了。他發了些推文回應伯克希爾-哈撒韋兩位大佬，首先發了一條YouTube上電影《魔發精靈》音樂片段。

隨后馬斯克在推特上宣布，“我要成立一家糖果公司，會很棒。”

我非常非常認真。

——埃隆·馬斯克

加密糖果

——埃隆·馬斯克

雖然馬斯克堅持說自己“非常非常認真”，但從推文口氣來看還是有些玩笑意味，因為他還說“威利·旺卡（小說《查理和巧克力工廠》里，神秘巧克力工廠的主人——譯注）的梗弄砸了”。馬斯克接著發文說，“好吧好吧，來討論下，你們想要什么樣的糖果？”之后他發了條只有一個單詞的推文：“加密糖果”。

巴菲特和芒格東都不喜歡加密貨幣，在大會上,巴菲特還預測說加密貨幣“結局不會好。”

后來，馬斯克晚上發了條推文直接提到巴菲特，說他“要修一條真的護城河，里面填滿糖果”，好吸引伯克希爾-哈撒韋來投資糖果工廠。

我要修一條真的護城河，里面填滿糖果。沃倫·巴菲特肯定忍不住要投資！這簡直是伯克希爾-哈撒韋的死穴（原文為氪石，漫畫《超人》中假象的礦物，會導致超人失去超能力——譯注）……

——埃隆·馬斯克

至于兩位大佬什么時候會再回復馬斯克，有可能他們都不知道馬斯克發了推文。巴菲特在推特上有個賬戶，但一共只發了九條推文，上一次還是兩年前，2016年伯克希爾-哈撒韋開股東大會的時候。（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

?

During the annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting in early May, CEO Warren Buffett offered some advice to Tesla’s Elon Musk: Stay away from See’s Candies.

What the renowned investor probably didn’t anticipate was that Musk, a fellow multi-billionaire, would interpret his message as a dare.

Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway owns See’s Candies, was responding to a shareholder’s question about whether he agreed with Musk’s views about so-called economic “moats,” a term Buffett coined in a 1999 Fortune article referring to a company’s wide competitive advantages.

While Buffett has long extolled the benefits of moats—which are a key component of his stock-picking process—Musk spurned the concept entirely during a Tesla earnings call this week.

“I think moats are lame,” Musk told analysts on Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call . “They are like nice in a sort of quaint, vestigial way. If your only defense against invading armies is a moat, you will not last long. What matters is the pace of innovation, that is the fundamental determinant of competitiveness.”

Presented with Musk’s comment, Buffett acknowledged that the acceleration of technological advancement in recent years has made more moats vulnerable and “susceptible to invasion.” But he still believes the concept is crucially important, and that some companies’ moats are more impenetrable now than they’ve ever been.

“Certainly you should be working on improving your own moat and defending your own moat all the time. And Elon may turn things upside down in some areas,” Buffett said during the Berkshire meeting in Omaha. “I don’t think he’d want to take us on in candy.”

Buffett often cites See’s Candies as a company with a wide moat, because of the company’s loyal, entrenched customer base, particularly on the West Coast—making it difficult for any rival chocolate chains to steal any business from See’s.

Berkshire Hathaway acquired See’s Candies in 1972, and Buffett is famously fond of its peanut brittle— which he and his business partner Charlie Munger continuously munch on while answering questions for six hours at their shareholder meeting each year. Some of Berkshire Hathaway’s other businesses also have moats wide enough to stave off competition from an innovative tech upstart, such as Garanimals, a line of children’s clothing it owns, Buffett added.

Munger also scoffed at Musk’s perspective on moats. “Elon says a conventional moat is quaint, and that’s true of a puddle of water. And he says that the best moat would be to have a big competitive position, and that is also right,” Munger said. “It’s ridiculous. Warren does not intend to build an actual moat. Even though they’re quaint.”

Musk, who did not attend the Berkshire Hathaway meeting, caught wind of Buffett and Munger’s comments, and apparently felt he was being trolled. Responding to the Berkshire Hathaway executives in a series of tweets, Musk first posted a musical YouTube clip from the movie Trolls.

Then Musk announced on Twitter, “I’m starting a candy company and it’s going to be amazing.”

I am super super serious

— Elon Musk?

Cryptocandy

— Elon Musk?

Although the Tesla CEO insisted he was “super super serious,” the tone of his Twitter thread — in which he also noted that “the plot of Willy Wonka is really messed up” — suggested otherwise. Still, Musk added, “Ok ok, just for sake of argument, what do you wish for in candy?” He followed that up with a single-word tweet: “Cryptocandy.”

Both Buffett and Munger loathe cryptocurrencies, which the Berkshire CEO? predicted “will come to bad endings.”

Later in the evening, Musk referenced Buffett directly, tweeting that he was “going to build a moat and fill it with candy” in order to lure Berkshire Hathaway into investing in his confectionery venture.

Then I’m going to build a moat & fill it w candy. Warren B will not be able to resist investing! Berkshire Hathaway kryptonite …

— Elon Musk?

As for whether the investing duo will respond to Musk, it’s unlikely they even took notice of his tweets: While Buffett has a Twitter account, he has tweeted exactly nine times, and not since the 2016 Berkshire Hathaway meeting two years ago.