Charles Munger was an American businessman, investor and philanthropist who died on November 28, 2023 in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 99. He was the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the partner of Warren Buffett for nearly 60 years, and the right-hand man of Buffett, who called him his closest friend and partner.
He was also the chairman of Daily Journal Corporation and a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation. He was known for his wisdom, humor and multidisciplinary approach to thinking, and had a profound influence on the investment and financial world.
Munger’s life was full of challenges and struggles. He was born on January 1, 1924, the son of a lawyer family in Omaha, Nebraska. He worked at Buffett’s grandfather’s grocery store, and later studied mathematics at the University of Michigan, but joined the army in 1943 and became a meteorologist for the US Army Air Corps.
He did not get a bachelor’s degree, but with his intelligence and family connections, he entered Harvard Law School and graduated with honors in 1948.
He was a successful real estate lawyer, as well as an entrepreneur and real estate developer. He gave up his legal career in the 1960s and focused on investing, and began his collaboration with Buffett. They jointly transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a textile mill into a diversified holding company with billions of dollars in assets, investing in many well-known businesses and brands, such as BNSF Railway, General Re, Geico, Coca-Cola, Apple, etc.
Munger left many valuable lessons for the world, and his thoughts and views were collected in his works The Tao of Charlie Munger and Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger, and were widely quoted and spread. He advocated using a multidisciplinary approach to understand the world, applying different fields of knowledge such as psychology, economics, physics, biology, etc. to make better decisions.
He emphasized the investment principles of intrinsic value, long-term investing, compound interest, competitive advantage, margin of safety, etc., and also advocated the life attitudes of morality, integrity, diligence, frugality, learning, etc.
He opposed the investment behaviors of speculation, gambling, financial innovation, leverage, chasing hot spots, etc., and also warned of the psychological traps of cognitive biases, social pressures, self-deception, etc. His wisdom is not only applicable to the investment field, but also to the fields of business, management, education, politics, etc.
Munger’s last words were not made public, but he had said some thought-provoking words in his speeches and interviews, such as: "I want to know where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there." "I never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that I don’t know the other side’s argument better than they do
"We both (Buffett and I) insist on a lot of time being available almost every day to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. We read and think
Munger’s legacy includes The Tao of Charlie Munger: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger, Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor, The Way of Charlie Munger, etc., which are based on his speeches, interviews, articles and letters, reflecting his thoughts and views.
He is also the protagonist of The University of Berkshire Hathaway and Damn Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger, which are about his collaboration and friendship with Buffett.
Munger was a generous philanthropist, who donated hundreds of millions of dollars of his wealth to various institutions and organizations, mainly in the education field. He donated more than $110 million to the University of Michigan Law School, to build a graduate center and improve the living conditions.
He also donated more than $650 million to Stanford University, to build a residence hall named after him.
He also donated tens of millions of dollars to the California Institute of Technology, the Huntington Library and Art Museum, the Harvard-Westlake School, the Pasadena Polytechnic School, etc., which he or his family members had attended or been associated with.
Munger was a giant in the financial world, and his death was a huge loss, but his thoughts and contributions will always remain in people’s hearts. We should learn from him, constantly read and think, use a multidisciplinary perspective to look at problems, use the standard of intrinsic value to evaluate investments, use the principles of morality and integrity to guide our actions, and use the attitude of diligence and frugality to live.
We should thank him for the wisdom and inspiration he brought us, and also inherit his charitable spirit, and contribute to the society and human progress.
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