At a score of 99 not out, you\u2019d be forgiven for just assuming that Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s Charlie Munger would pick off the century and then perhaps rotate the strike until his junior partner \u2013 the stock-picking hero Warren Buffett \u2013 only a few runs behind at 93, would follow suit.<\/p>\n
Sadly \u2013 for our editor Peter Farquhar and many readers \u2013 the Oracle of Omaha\u2019s right-hand man, closest confidante, the humble, quiet genius and also-billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway has died on Tuesday (LA time) just a few months shy of the milestone.<\/p>\n
Munger, was Buffett\u2019s business partner and wisdom whisperer for almost 60 years.<\/p>\n
He died at age 99 in Los Angeles, about a month before he would have turned 100 on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n
Munger died peacefully Tuesday morning at a California hospital, according to a statement from Berkshire.<\/p>\n
Shakespeare, always good in an emotional pickle:<\/p>\n
\u2018\u201dTis so strange \u2013 t<\/strong><\/em>hat, <\/strong><\/em>though the truth of it stands off as gross<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n As black and white, my eye will scarcely see it\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Buffett first met Charlie Munger over a small meal 63 years ago. It was a chance dinner which changed many things about the nature of investing in America, how we think of money and without doubt, the Mechanics of Capitalism.<\/p>\n Their joint stewardship \u2013 Buffett is the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Munger was his vice-chairman and 2IC \u2013 has generated untold wealth.<\/p>\n Buffett never failed to position his \u2018strong right arm\u2019 as the man who made things happen, whenever he could to the media.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s part of the point. Humility and inclusiveness are the breadcrumbs a good leader makes sure to leave where they can best be found.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew after I met Charlie, after a few minutes in the restaurant, I knew that this guy\u2019s going to be in my life forever.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201c(I knew) we were gonna have fun together, we were gonna make money together, we were gonna get ideas from each other and we were both going to behave better than if we didn\u2019t know each other\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u2013<\/em> Warren Buffett on Charlie Munger\u00a0 (CNBC, June 30, 2021)<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal<\/em> this morning wrote:<\/p>\n \u201cIn public, especially in front of the tens of thousands of attendees at Berkshire\u2019s annual meetings, Munger deferred to Buffett, letting the company\u2019s chairman hog the microphone and the limelight. <\/em><\/p>\n Munger routinely cracked up the crowd by croaking, \u201cI have nothing to add.\u201d\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A lawyer by training, Munger was a lifelong partner at the firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n He remained a director on the board of Costco and chairman of the Daily Journal, a newspaper and investment company.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It was reportedly a different dance when the cameras were away, when Buffett openly looked to Munger\u2019s guidance and judgment when making the decisions that would amount to the billions that make up Berkshire\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n Buffett said it was Munger who initiated Berkshire\u2019s play into the Chinese car and battery maker, BYD \u2013 still among the company\u2019s most lucrative investments \u2013 worth circa US$6 billion in early 2021.<\/p>\n A x25 return.<\/p>\n So a great deal has been made and written and studied about the way the two nonagenarian\u2019s go about their work, but I always thought more should be made of their friendship.<\/p>\n Buffett never failed to take an opportunity to flex his \u2018strong right arm\u2019 to friends, shareholders and media.<\/p>\n They shared an old-school commitment to humility and inclusiveness \u2013 the breadcrumbs of leadership left where best they can be followed by the people that choose to.<\/p>\n Like Buffett, Munger took home an annual salary of $100k for more than 25 years and like Buffett, he lived in the same house for over 60 years.<\/p>\n Munger\u2019s piece of Berkshire ensured he was a wealthy man.<\/p>\n His stake \u2013 circa US$2 billion.<\/p>\n Yet Munger was just as admiring of his senior partner and younger friend.<\/p>\n Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger met in 1959. They worked together informally until 1978 when Munger joined Berkshire Hathaway as vice chairman. #AllThingsBuffett<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/hhQWH6uN3t<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/LlxYQSJ0qR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CNBC (@CNBC) May 5, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n\n \u2026 is what Buffett said of Munger on a CNBC interview from 2021<\/a> (not the one above).<\/p>\n When asked what the two admire about each other, Munger said the fact he and Buffett share a sense of humour.<\/p>\n Earlier in the above IV, Munger said they hit it off over that 1959 meal due to a common, immediately recognisable irreverence<\/em> \u2013 in a very serious world, they just didn\u2019t take themselves, or others, very seriously.<\/p>\n Anyway. Sometimes people with a shared passion just click. And sometimes that click changes the world of business.<\/p>\n Rarely. But these two were the exception which makes the rule.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCharlie and I think pretty much alike. But what it takes me a page to explain, he sums up in a sentence,\u201d Buffett wrote in February this year, in his annual letter to shareholders.<\/p>\n He made much over his choices, paused on some of his philosophies and even spent a few pars defending (or explaining) his program of stock buybacks.<\/p>\n But in that February version of his traditional missive, Buffett dwelt for a moment on Munger\u2019s thinking and in doing so shared a bullet pointed love letter to the wisdom of a cherished ally.<\/p>\n Buffett wrote:<\/p>\n Nothing Beats Having a Great Partner<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u2026 Charlie and I think pretty much alike. But what it takes me a page to explain, he sums up in a sentence. His version, moreover, is always more clearly reasoned and also more artfully \u2013 some might add bluntly \u2013 stated.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Buffett then picked through some of Charlie\u2019s thoughts he\u2019d just listened to in a podcast, and wrote them out for shareholders,\u00a0 thusly:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n Via Berkshire Hathaway<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n And so it goes<\/em>, Buffett continued:<\/p>\n \u201cI never have a phone call with Charlie without learning something. And, while he makes me think, he also makes me laugh.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut I will add to Charlie\u2019s list a rule of my own: Find a very smart high-grade partner \u2013 preferably slightly older than you \u2013 and then listen very carefully to what he says.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n The post Vale Charlie Munger. The man who made Buffett\u2019s buffet<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A friendship in leadership<\/h2>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s better to associate with people that are better than you\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u2018A bullet-pointed love letter to the wisdom of a cherished ally\u2019<\/h2>\n