New York: Charles Munger, who died Tuesday, spent more than four decades going from working for Warren Buffett’s grandfather during the Great Depression to working for 20 cents an hour as Buffett’s second-in-command and foil. Berkshire Hathaway ink
Munger’s family advised that he died peacefully Tuesday morning in a California hospital, Berkshire said.
Munger’s union with Buffett is one of the most successful in the history of business; He transformed Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate with dozens of business units.
Yet the partnership, which formally began when they came together in 1975 at Berkshire, where Buffett was chairman and Manger became vice chairman in 1978, flourished despite obvious differences in style and even investing.
Almost universally known as Charlie, Munger displayed a blunt form of musings on investing, the economy, and the frailties of human nature, often in terse one-liners.
He compared bankers to out-of-control “heroin addicts”, called the virtual currency Bitcoin “rat poison”, and told CNBC that “if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939 it would be a good idea to have gold sewn into your clothes.” thing, but I think civilized people don’t buy gold. They invest in productive businesses.”
Munger was no less pithy in talking about Berkshire, which made both he and Buffett billionaires and many early shareholders even richer.
Munger said in 2010, “I think part of the popularity of Berkshire Hathaway is that we look like the guys who have figured out a way.” “It’s not genius. It’s just avoiding stupidity.”
Expanding Buffett’s Horizons
Munger and Buffett differed politically, with Munger being a Republican and Buffett a Democrat.
They also differed in personal interests.
For example, Munger had a passion for architecture, designing buildings such as a massive proposed residence for the University of California, Santa Barbara, known as “Dormzilla”, while Buffett claimed he designed it for his bedroom. Didn’t know the color of the wallpaper.
Yet at Berkshire, the men became inseparable, feeding off each other’s ideas and never arguing, according to Buffett.
Indeed, when Manger and Buffett fielded shareholder questions for five hours at Berkshire’s annual meetings, Manger routinely fell silent after Buffett finished answering: “I have nothing to add.”
More often, he did so, generating applause, laughter, or both.
“I’m a little less optimistic than Warren,” Munger said at the 2023 annual meeting. There were laughs after Buffett expressed his familiar optimism for America’s future. “I think the best path forward for human happiness is to expect less.”
Like Buffett, Munger was an admirer of famed economist Benjamin Graham.
Yet Buffett has credited Munger for inspiring him to focus on buying amazing companies at Berkshire rather than reasonable companies at amazing prices.
Buffett has said, “Charlie inspired me to not just buy cheap, as Ben Graham taught me.” “It was the power of Charlie’s mind. He expanded my horizons.”
oracle of pasadena
Fans dubbed Buffett the “Oracle of Omaha”, but Munger was given equal respect by his own followers, who named him the “Oracle of Pasadena” after his adopted hometown in California.
Munger reserved many of his public comments for Berkshire’s annual meetings; His investment vehicle Wesco Financial Corp., which Berkshire bought in 2011; and Daily Journal Corp., a publishing company he chaired for 45 years.
To fans, Munger was a renowned investor as well as a world-weary psychiatrist. Many of his comments were collected in the book, “Poor Charlie’s Almanac: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger”, with an introduction by Buffett.
“I was raised by people who thought it was a moral duty to be as rational as possible,” Munger told Daily Journal shareholders in 2020.
He added, “That notion has worked very well for me.”
In 2009, during the worst US recession since the Great Depression, he tried to comfort his followers.
“If you wait until the economy is working properly to buy stocks, it’s definitely too late,” he said at WESCO’s annual meeting.
After that meeting, Los Angeles Times columnist and Wesco investor Cathy Kristof wrote of Munger: “He gives us hope.”
secret
Born on January 1, 1924, in Munger, as a boy Buffett worked part-time at an Omaha grocery run by his grandfather Ernest.
Buffett also worked there, although he and Munger, who was 6-1/2 years his senior, did not work together.
Munger later attended the University of Michigan, but dropped out to serve as a meteorologist in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
Despite never receiving a bachelor’s degree, Munger graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948.
He then practiced law in Los Angeles and became co-founder of the law firm now known as Munger, Toles & Olson, before moving to managing investments in stocks and real estate in the mid-1960s. .
With his investment partnership at Wheeler, Munger & Company between 1962 and 1975, Munger was successful and easily outperformed the broader market.
According to Buffett biographer Alice Schroeder, Munger met Buffett in Omaha in 1959, where they “began chatting with each other” after being introduced in a private room at the Omaha Club.
More conversation followed and they were soon talking on the phone for hours.
“Why are you paying so much attention to him?” Munger’s second wife, Nancy, reportedly asked her husband.
“You don’t understand,” Munger replied. “He is no ordinary person.”
knowing one’s surroundings
Both shared the “value investing” philosophy propounded by Graham, which looked for well-run companies with low-value share prices.
Munger and Buffett sometimes thought of those companies as “cigar butts”, meaning they were not favorable but had a few “puffs” of life left, but they often proved worth sticking around for decades.
Both generally shunned technology companies and other businesses that they claimed they did not understand, and they avoided burning after the dot-com bubble burst in the late 1990s.
Instead, he oversaw purchases such as BNSF Railroad in 2010 and ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co., which Berkshire and private equity firm 3G Capital bought in 2013. Berkshire and 3G later merged Heinz with Kraft Foods.
It was Munger who suggested Buffett make one of Berkshire’s few non-US investments in Chinese automobile and battery company BYD Company.
Munger was also responsible for introducing Buffett to Todd Combs, who ran part of Berkshire’s investment portfolio with Ted Weschler.
Unlike Buffett, who opened a Twitter account — which he rarely used — Munger resisted delving into social media.
He once told Reuters, “It’s not my environment. I don’t like too many things at once.”
But in many other ways, he was like his business partner, especially in not chasing the latest trends.
“I’m personally skeptical of some of the hype around artificial intelligence,” Munger said at the 2023 annual meeting. “I think old-fashioned wisdom works very well.”
Munger lived modestly and drove his own car, although in his last years he used a wheelchair.
He was also a generous philanthropist, pledging more than $100 million in 2013 to build housing at the University of Michigan.
Nancy Munger died in 2010. Charlie Munger had six children and two stepchildren from his marriage.
Munger’s family advised that he died peacefully Tuesday morning in a California hospital, Berkshire said.
Munger’s union with Buffett is one of the most successful in the history of business; He transformed Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate with dozens of business units.
Yet the partnership, which formally began when they came together in 1975 at Berkshire, where Buffett was chairman and Manger became vice chairman in 1978, flourished despite obvious differences in style and even investing.
Almost universally known as Charlie, Munger displayed a blunt form of musings on investing, the economy, and the frailties of human nature, often in terse one-liners.
He compared bankers to out-of-control “heroin addicts”, called the virtual currency Bitcoin “rat poison”, and told CNBC that “if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939 it would be a good idea to have gold sewn into your clothes.” thing, but I think civilized people don’t buy gold. They invest in productive businesses.”
Munger was no less pithy in talking about Berkshire, which made both he and Buffett billionaires and many early shareholders even richer.
Munger said in 2010, “I think part of the popularity of Berkshire Hathaway is that we look like the guys who have figured out a way.” “It’s not genius. It’s just avoiding stupidity.”
Expanding Buffett’s Horizons
Munger and Buffett differed politically, with Munger being a Republican and Buffett a Democrat.
They also differed in personal interests.
For example, Munger had a passion for architecture, designing buildings such as a massive proposed residence for the University of California, Santa Barbara, known as “Dormzilla”, while Buffett claimed he designed it for his bedroom. Didn’t know the color of the wallpaper.
Yet at Berkshire, the men became inseparable, feeding off each other’s ideas and never arguing, according to Buffett.
Indeed, when Manger and Buffett fielded shareholder questions for five hours at Berkshire’s annual meetings, Manger routinely fell silent after Buffett finished answering: “I have nothing to add.”
More often, he did so, generating applause, laughter, or both.
“I’m a little less optimistic than Warren,” Munger said at the 2023 annual meeting. There were laughs after Buffett expressed his familiar optimism for America’s future. “I think the best path forward for human happiness is to expect less.”
Like Buffett, Munger was an admirer of famed economist Benjamin Graham.
Yet Buffett has credited Munger for inspiring him to focus on buying amazing companies at Berkshire rather than reasonable companies at amazing prices.
Buffett has said, “Charlie inspired me to not just buy cheap, as Ben Graham taught me.” “It was the power of Charlie’s mind. He expanded my horizons.”
oracle of pasadena
Fans dubbed Buffett the “Oracle of Omaha”, but Munger was given equal respect by his own followers, who named him the “Oracle of Pasadena” after his adopted hometown in California.
Munger reserved many of his public comments for Berkshire’s annual meetings; His investment vehicle Wesco Financial Corp., which Berkshire bought in 2011; and Daily Journal Corp., a publishing company he chaired for 45 years.
To fans, Munger was a renowned investor as well as a world-weary psychiatrist. Many of his comments were collected in the book, “Poor Charlie’s Almanac: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger”, with an introduction by Buffett.
“I was raised by people who thought it was a moral duty to be as rational as possible,” Munger told Daily Journal shareholders in 2020.
He added, “That notion has worked very well for me.”
In 2009, during the worst US recession since the Great Depression, he tried to comfort his followers.
“If you wait until the economy is working properly to buy stocks, it’s definitely too late,” he said at WESCO’s annual meeting.
After that meeting, Los Angeles Times columnist and Wesco investor Cathy Kristof wrote of Munger: “He gives us hope.”
secret
Born on January 1, 1924, in Munger, as a boy Buffett worked part-time at an Omaha grocery run by his grandfather Ernest.
Buffett also worked there, although he and Munger, who was 6-1/2 years his senior, did not work together.
Munger later attended the University of Michigan, but dropped out to serve as a meteorologist in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II.
Despite never receiving a bachelor’s degree, Munger graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948.
He then practiced law in Los Angeles and became co-founder of the law firm now known as Munger, Toles & Olson, before moving to managing investments in stocks and real estate in the mid-1960s. .
With his investment partnership at Wheeler, Munger & Company between 1962 and 1975, Munger was successful and easily outperformed the broader market.
According to Buffett biographer Alice Schroeder, Munger met Buffett in Omaha in 1959, where they “began chatting with each other” after being introduced in a private room at the Omaha Club.
More conversation followed and they were soon talking on the phone for hours.
“Why are you paying so much attention to him?” Munger’s second wife, Nancy, reportedly asked her husband.
“You don’t understand,” Munger replied. “He is no ordinary person.”
knowing one’s surroundings
Both shared the “value investing” philosophy propounded by Graham, which looked for well-run companies with low-value share prices.
Munger and Buffett sometimes thought of those companies as “cigar butts”, meaning they were not favorable but had a few “puffs” of life left, but they often proved worth sticking around for decades.
Both generally shunned technology companies and other businesses that they claimed they did not understand, and they avoided burning after the dot-com bubble burst in the late 1990s.
Instead, he oversaw purchases such as BNSF Railroad in 2010 and ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co., which Berkshire and private equity firm 3G Capital bought in 2013. Berkshire and 3G later merged Heinz with Kraft Foods.
It was Munger who suggested Buffett make one of Berkshire’s few non-US investments in Chinese automobile and battery company BYD Company.
Munger was also responsible for introducing Buffett to Todd Combs, who ran part of Berkshire’s investment portfolio with Ted Weschler.
Unlike Buffett, who opened a Twitter account — which he rarely used — Munger resisted delving into social media.
He once told Reuters, “It’s not my environment. I don’t like too many things at once.”
But in many other ways, he was like his business partner, especially in not chasing the latest trends.
“I’m personally skeptical of some of the hype around artificial intelligence,” Munger said at the 2023 annual meeting. “I think old-fashioned wisdom works very well.”
Munger lived modestly and drove his own car, although in his last years he used a wheelchair.
He was also a generous philanthropist, pledging more than $100 million in 2013 to build housing at the University of Michigan.
Nancy Munger died in 2010. Charlie Munger had six children and two stepchildren from his marriage.
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