老巴菲特的二儿子,Howard Buffett自战争爆发以来,他的基金会已成为乌克兰最大的私人捐助者,捐款额高达14亿美元。
四年间,他亲自访问乌克兰27次。2022年4月,他看到被烧毁的农用机械,便打电话给约翰迪尔公司的总裁:“欧洲还有多少台联合收割机?”“15台。它们原本都要运往俄罗斯。”“我全要了。”随后,欧洲所有可用的纽荷兰设备也都运到了乌克兰。总共有超过100台拖拉机和联合收割机被送到了乌克兰农民手中。
他甚至亲自测试了排雷设备——在他位于伊利诺伊州的农场里,用滚筒引爆炸药。当一位乌克兰副部长表示怀疑时,巴菲特告诉他:“别数我的拖拉机了。必要时,我可以炸掉一千台。”
安德烈·斯塔夫尼采最初向他请求100万美元用于“超级人类”项目。巴菲特问,建造整个中心需要多少钱。“1400万美元。”“好的。那你想要什么回报?”“什么都不想要。建起来就行了。”
如今,他对“超级人类”的支持已达7700万美元,该中心已治疗了1700多名患者。但他最大的支出领域既不是农业机械,也不是假肢,而是食品:6.42亿份餐食。而这仅仅是其中的一部分:* 俄罗斯袭击后更换了34.4万扇窗户;* 建造了9座桥梁、4座发电厂、2500台发电机和18个DNA实验室;* 布查的大部分地区都由他资助重建。
“我在乌克兰的朋友比我在美国的朋友还多,”他说。他在乌克兰庆祝生日,回乌克兰过圣诞节,甚至还有一个乌克兰教子。
朋友们,这真是一位伟大的人——他明白人死后无法带走所有的财富。我只想感谢他,并祝他一切顺利。无论人们怎么说,这都是一位与乌克兰并无个人义务的人给予的真诚帮助。他只是选择了帮助!
This is truly a great man. He has invested more in Ukraine than 185 countries combined.
Meet Howard Buffett, Warren Buffett’s middle son. He is 71 years old. He dropped out of college three times. He drinks Dr Pepper and looks for a McDonald’s wherever he travels.
Since the beginning of the war, his foundation has become the largest private donor to Ukraine: $1.4 billion.
Over four years, he has personally visited Ukraine 27 times.
In April 2022, he saw burned-out agricultural machinery and called the president of John Deere:
“How many combines are available in Europe?”
“Fifteen. All of them were supposed to go to Russia.”
“I’ll take them all.”
Then came all the available New Holland equipment in Europe. Altogether, more than 100 tractors and combines were provided to Ukrainian farmers.
He even tested demining equipment himself - on his own farm in Illinois, detonating explosives beneath rollers. When a Ukrainian deputy minister expressed doubts, Buffett told him:
“Stop counting my tractors. If necessary, I’ll blow up a thousand of them.”
Andriy Stavnitser initially asked him for $1 million for Superhumans. Buffett asked how much was needed to build the entire center.
“$14 million.”
“Okay. And what do you expect in return?”
“Nothing. Build it.”
Today, his support for Superhumans has reached $77 million, and the center has treated more than 1,700 patients.
But his largest area of spending is neither agricultural machinery nor prosthetics.
It is food: 642 million meals.
And that is only part of it:
* 344,000 windows replaced after Russian attacks;
* 9 bridges, 4 power plants, 2,500 generators, and 18 DNA laboratories;
* Much of Bucha rebuilt with his funding.
“I already have more friends in Ukraine than I do at home,” he says.
He celebrates birthdays in Ukraine, comes for Christmas, and even has a Ukrainian godson.
Friends, this is truly a great man - someone who understands that he cannot take all his money with him when he leaves this world.
I simply want to thank him and wish him well.
Whatever else one may say, this is real help from a person who had no personal obligation to Ukraine.
He simply chose to help.
Source: translated from the original text by Oleh Bairak.