Charlie Munger, who together with Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into an investment juggernaut, has died at age 99 in a California hospital.
Munger’s family told the company that he died Tuesday morning, just over a month before his 100th birthday.
Munger served as Buffett’s sounding board on investments and business decisions and helped lead Berkshire as vice chairman for more than five decades.
Buffett said in a written statement “Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom and participation.” In 2008, he said “Charlie has taught me a lot about valuing businesses and about human nature,”
Munger had been using a wheelchair to get around for several years but he had remained mentally sharp. That was on display while he fielded hours of questions at the annual meetings of Berkshire and the Daily Journal Corp. earlier this year.
Munger gave CNBC a lengthy interview earlier this month in anticipation of his 100th birthday, and the business network showed clips from that Tuesday.
In his characteristic self-deprecating manner, Munger summed up the secret to Berkshire’s success as avoiding mistakes and continuing to work well into his and Buffett’s 90s.
He said “We got a little less crazy than most people and a little less stupid than most people and that really helped us,”
Munger and Buffett grew up about 5 blocks apart in Omaha and both worked at a grocery store run by Buffett’s uncle and grandfather, but because Munger was 7 years older, they didn’t meet until 1959.
Munger was a lawyer in Southern California and Buffett was running an investment partnership in Omaha, but they hit it off. In 1962,they began buying shares in Berkshire Hathaway, then a New England textile mill and took control in 1965.
Over time they reshaped it into the conglomerate it is today by using profits from its businesses to buy other companies and to create a high-profile stock portfolio. The stock they bought at $7-to-8-dollars per share was selling Tuesday for $546,869 a share
Although his fortune never came close to Buffett’s, Munger was worth over $2-billion dollars at one point and earned a spot on the list of the richest Americans, but then, like Buffett, began giving much of it away.
Munger was known for repeating “I have nothing to add” after many of Buffett’s expansive answers at the Berkshire meetings. But Munger also often offered sharp answers that cut straight to the heart of an issue, such as the advice he offered in 2012 on spotting a good investment.
“If it’s got a really high commission on it, don’t bother looking at it,” he said.
Investor Whitney Tilson has attended the past 26 years of Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings for the chance to learn from Munger and Buffett, who doled out life lessons along with investing tips. Tilson said Munger advised that after achieving some success “your whole approach to life should be how not to screw it up, how not to lose what you’ve got” because reputation and integrity are the most valuable assets, and both can be lost in a heartbeat.
“In the investment world, it’s the same thing is in your personal world, which is your main goal should be avoiding the catastrophic mistakes that could destroy an investment record, that can destroy a life,” Tilson said.
Munger was known as a voracious reader and a student of human behavior. He employed a variety of different models borrowed from disciplines like psychology, physics and mathematics to evaluate potential investments.
Munger studied mathematics at the University of Michigan in the 1940s, but dropped out of college to serve as a meteorologist in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
Then he went on to earn a law degree from Harvard University in 1948 even though he hadn’t finished a bachelor’s degree.
Munger and Buffett began buying Berkshire Hathaway shares in 1962 for $7 and $8 per share, and they took control of the New England textile mill in 1965. Over time, the two men reshaped Berkshire into the conglomerate it is today by using proceeds from its businesses to buy other companies like Geico insurance and BNSF railroad, while also maintaining a high-profile stock portfolio with major investments in Apple and Coca-Cola. The shares have grown to $546,869 Tuesday, and many investors became wealthy by holding onto the stock
Munger built a fortune worth more than $2 billion at one point and earned a spot on the list of the richest Americans. Munger’s wealth decreased over time as he gave more of his fortune away, but the ever increasing value of Berkshire’s stock kept him wealthy.
Munger has given significant gifts to Harvard-Westlake, Stanford University Law School, the University of Michigan and the Huntington Library as well as other charities. He also gave a significant portion of his Berkshire stock to his eight children after his wife died in 2010.
Munger also served on the boards of Good Samaritan Hospital and the private Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. And Munger served on the board of Costco Wholesale Corp. and for years as chairman of the Daily Journal Corp.