又中又英 | Rich people | 褚簡寧

　　Most people either dislike or admire rich people. Elon Musk, who runs Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter (now called X), is the world's richest person. US President Donald Trump has given him an outsized role in cutting federal government expenditure. I admire Musk for the spaceships and reusable rockets SpaceX developed, but dislike him for eliminating or shrinking government agencies, such as those that provide foreign aid to the poor and free education to low-income households. The expression "outsized role" means a very large role in doing something.

　　Amazon owner Jeff Bezos is the world's second richest person. I interviewed him briefly in the 1990s when I worked in Seattle. He was not among the world's richest at the time because Amazon was just finding its feet. To find your feet means to begin to be confident or successful. During my time in Seattle, I once sat at the same table with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates during a media lunch at his headquarters. He was the world's richest person at the time but is now at sixth place.

　　I have no reason to either dislike or admire Bezos, but I greatly admire Gates for donating much of his huge wealth to needy causes, such as finding cures for diseases. I also admire Warren Buffett, the world’s fifth richest person and chief executive of Omaha-headquartered Berkshire Hathaway. He is nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha for often beating the market. To "beat the market" means to outperform the stock market. He shocked the world last week by telling shareholders he plans to retire. Like Gates, he donates much of his wealth. I hope he will continue to donate when he retires.

　　大多數人要不是不喜歡富豪，就是仰慕富豪。伊隆．馬斯克，就是經營特斯拉、太空探索技術公司SpaceX以及推特（現稱為X）的，是現今世上最富有的人。美國總統唐納德．特朗普也給了他一個特大的職位（outsized role），去削減聯邦政府的開支。我欣賞馬斯克的SpaceX研發太空船和重用的火箭，但不喜歡他淘汰或縮減政府機構，例如那些為貧窮人士提供額外援助，以及為低收入家庭提供免費教育的機構。習語outsized role是指一個特別重大的角色去做某些任務。

　　亞瑪遜老闆謝夫．貝索斯是世上第二富有的人。1990年代我在西雅圖工作時，就曾簡單訪問過他。他那時候仍未位列世界首富，因為亞瑪遜當時還在finding its feet——to find your feet是指立足、站穩腳跟，開始感覺自信或成功。我在西雅圖的時候，有次跟微軟的共同創辦人比爾．蓋茨同坐一桌，那是在他總部的一場傳媒午宴。那時他是世界首富，但現在退居第6位。

　　我沒有特別緣由去討厭或欣賞貝索斯，但我就十分欽佩蓋茨將自己許多的財富捐給有需要的事情，例如為疾病尋找治癒之法。我也非常欣賞華倫．巴菲特——世界首富第5位，以及位於奧馬哈的控股公司巴郡．哈薩威的行政總裁。他被暱稱為「奧馬哈的先知」，因為他常打贏大市（beating the market）。To "beat the market"是指在表現上勝過股票市場。他上星期告訴股東他計劃退休，消息震驚全球。就像蓋茨一樣，他將自己很多的身家都捐出來。我希望他退休時仍會繼續捐款。

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻