This Tuesday, November 28, investment titan and billionaire Charles T. Munger, known for being the right-hand man of the iconic Warren Buffett and vice president of the Berkshire Hathaway firm, Buffett's powerful investment company, died.
As revealed by Berkshire Hathaway in a brief press release, “Charlie” Munger died peacefully in a California hospital and Warren Buffett dedicated glowing words for someone who was his great partner and friend for decades.
“Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom and participation.”
Billionaire Charlie Munger dies at 99 by emmanuel.rondon on Scribd
Although Munger was well known for being Buffett's most important partner, his life and influence went far beyond his resume.
Born January 1, 1924, in Omaha, Nebraska, Munger served in the U.S. Army during World War II after leaving the University of Michigan in 1943.
After the war, Munger attended Harvard Law School, graduating with honors in 1948. He then moved to Southern California, where he practiced law in the real estate sector and began to develop one of the most brilliant careers in the world of investment.
Munger, by his own power, earned the recognition of being one of the most lucid minds in the world of investments. In fact, until weeks ago, at 99 years old, he was still analyzing the movements of companies with his usual simplicity and forcefulness, within the reach of very few people.
According to Buffett himself, his friend Charlie was the creator of Berkshire Hathaway's investment approach: “The blueprint he gave me was simple: Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.”
Munger's own lucidity led him to amass a great fortune, reaching $2.6 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
According to The New York Times, the successful and wonderful more than 50-year relationship between Buffett and Munger “produced one of the most successful and largest conglomerates in history.”
“Among other properties, Berkshire, which is based in Omaha, owns the insurance giant Geico and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company and holds stakes in Coca-Cola, American Express, IBM, Wells Fargo and other corporate heavyweights. By 2022 it had about 372,000 employees,” reported the Times.
Munger himself was also recognized for being a scholar who, in addition to his market analysis, often cited great thinkers to put together simple, but wise maxims to understand the world of business and life itself.
Many of those common-sense phrases were reviewed in one of his books, "Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger" (2005).
“Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at,” is one of his iconic phrases.
