Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman and Warren Buffett’s trusted confidante, died on Tuesday at the age of 99. Munger passed away peacefully at a California hospital.
Born in January 1924, Munger would have turned 100 years old in 2024. Berkshire Hathaway announced that it was “advised by members of Charlie Munger’s family that he peacefully died this morning at a California hospital.”
Commenting on Munger’s death, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett said in a statement, “Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom and participation.”
Soon after Munger’s passing became public knowledge, Apple CEO Tim Cook paid his last respects to the departed soul. “A titan of business and keen observer of the world around him, Charlie Munger helped build an American institution, and through his wisdom and insights, inspired a generation of leaders. He will be sorely missed. Rest in peace Charlie,” Cook said in his post on X.
Charlie Munger was born and brought up in Omaha. Munger and Buffett met for the first time in 1959. Charlie Munger, also known for his investment philosophy, joined Berkshire Hathaway as a vice chairman in 1978.
As the vice-chairman of the company, he played an instrumental role in transforming it from a textile company to a huge conglomerate valued at over $780 billion. Munger worked closely with Warren Buffett on allocating Berkshire’s capital and was famous in the American industry circles for his no-nonsense approach.
Charlie Munger was known for keeping Buffett from buying what the latter called “cigar butts” or mediocre companies that could be bought for cheaper prices and favoured quality instead.
Charlie Munger often had blunt takes on investing, economy and the human nature. The late Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman had compared bankers to “heroin addicts” and even labelled cryptocurrency Bitcoin as “rat poison”.
He had also told CNBC that “gold is a great thing to sew into your garments if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939 but I think civilised people don’t buy gold. They invest in productive businesses.”
He even talked Berkshire Hathaway, which made both him and Warren Buffett billionaires, in similar terms as well. “I think part of the popularity of Berkshire Hathaway is that we look like people who have found a trick,” he said in 2010.
“Charlie felt that buying very good businesses at fair prices that could keep compounding and reinvesting cash flow into continued growth was more consistent with how he and Warren were philosophically and liked to invest,” Paul Lountzis, president of Lountzis Asset Management in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters. “They liked to own businesses forever.”
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