Billionaire Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Genius Investor Dies At 99

Charlie Munger/image source:Forbes

 The Billionaire Berkshire Hathaway Vice-Chair Charlie Munger died on Tuesday 28th November, 2023 in a California hospital according to a press release from the company, after spending decades as key partner and right-hand man to Warren Buffet, Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. 

Warren Buffet said in the statement that “the conglomerate could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom and participation.”

Charles Thomas Munger was an American businessman, investor and philanthropist. Born in Omaha, Nebraska on January 1, 1924 to Florence "Toody" (Russell) and Alfred Case Munger, a lawyer. His grandfather was Thomas Charles Munger, a U.S. district court judge and state representative. He enrolled in the University of Michigan, where he studied mathematics. During his time in college, he joined the fraternity Sigma Phi Society, a secret social group in the United States. In early 1943, a few days after his 19th birthday, he dropped out of college to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps where he rose through the ranks to a second lieutenant. After receiving a high score on the Army General Classification Test, he was ordered to study meteorology at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Through GI Bill, a program created to assist American military veterans, Munger took a number of advanced courses through several universities. But when he applied to Harvard Law School, the dean of admissions rejected him because Munger had not completed an undergraduate degree. However, the dean relented after a call from Roscoe Pound, the former dean of Harvard Law and a Munger family friend. Munger was able to read law and he excelled in law school, graduating magna cum laude with a J.D. (Doctor of Law) in 1948. At Harvard, he was also member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Munger married Nancy Huggins, while studying at Caltech, in 1945 and divorced 8 years after marriage. They had three children, Wendy Munger (a former corporate lawyer, trustee of Standford University, and trustee of The Huntington Library), Molly Munger (a civil rights attorney and funder of a ballot initiative to raise California taxes for public education), and Teddy Munger (died at age 9 from leukemia). 

 

After Munger's divorce, he remarried within a couple of years to Nancy Barry. From his second marriage, he had four children—physicist and Republican activist Charles T. Munger Jr., Emilie Munger Ogden, Barry A. Munger, and Philip R. Munger—and two stepchildren: William Harold Borthwick and David Borthwick.  

Charlie Munger (left) & Warren Buffet (right)/image source:Berkshire Hathaway

In 1962, he founded and worked as a real estate attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. He then gave up the practice of law to concentrate on managing investments and later partnered with Otis Booth in real estate development. At age 35, Munger was introduced to the then 29-year-old Buffet in Omaha, Nebraska. The two started working together and ended up transforming Berkshire Hathaway from a small textile mill into a $785 billion multifaceted juggernaut. He served as the vice chairman of the conglomerate till his death and Warren Buffet described Munger as his closest partner and right-hand man. He served as Buffet’s sounding board on investments and business decisions and helped Berkshire for more than five decades; being the longtime served vice-chairman. According to CNBC, Charlie Munger’s unique partnership with Warren Buffet, spanning over half a century, helped forge one of the most successful conglomerates in history. As a key player in the conglomerate, some of Munger’s contribution includes devising a tax-advantaged and shareholder-centric program through which every Berkshire shareholder got to identify the charities to which Berkshire would donate. Munger was the “abominable no-man”, referencing to his veto power over improvement acquisitions. At his death, Munger owned a little over 4,000 shares in Berkshire Hathaway, worth more than $2 billion.

Munger served as chairman of Wesco Financial Corporation from 1984 through 2011. He was also director of Costco Wholesale Corporation since 1997, and Costco was one of his favorite investments. When Berkshire Hathaway exited its stake in Costco in 2020, Munger held on to his personal stake of around 187,000 shares, worth around $95 million. Munger once said of the company: “I wish everything else in America was working as well as Costco does.” Munger was as well chairman of the publishing and technology company, Daily Journal Corporation since 1977. Daily Journal was also another investment vehicle for Munger according to CNBC, and it owns shares in Alibaba — worth $37.5billion, as well as Bank of America — worth nearly $89 million, Wells Fargo — worth $62 million, and US Bancorp — worth $7.7 billion.

At the heart of all of Munger’s investment ideas, whether for his own portfolio or for that of Berkshire Hathaway, was value investing. Buying stocks that show long-term growth and pay dividends. He claimed the big money was not in buying and selling but in buying and waiting. And value investing is not just about buying cheap. Munger said: “Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices. Instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.” Thus, buying quality and being patient were the principal facets of Berkshire Hathaway’s success.

The life story of Charles Thomas Munger on earth ended at a Hospital in Santa Barbara County, California on Tuesday November 28, 2023. The family and entire Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate mourned him while several other prominent business moguls also issued statements in Munger’s memory, including Tim Cook, Brain Moynihan, Ray Dalio and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Gates posted on his LinkedIn page saying,” Charlie Munger had a remarkable mind and was a guiding influence for countless people, including me. His partnership with Warren Buffett didn’t just shape Berkshire Hathaway—it reshaped the world’s understanding of business and investing. Despite the hardships he endured in his 99 years, Charlie maintained a sharp sense of humor and an even sharper moral compass that everyone could learn from. The world has lost an extraordinary individual, and I have lost a friend. I’m grateful for the time I got to spend with him”.

Munger had an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion as at time of his death and was ranked as the 1,182nd richest person in the world, according to Forbes.