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Charlie Munger - Berkshire Hathaway Architect
Charlie Munger died on November 28, just 33 days until his 100th birthday.
Although he was born and raised in Omaha, he spent 80% of his life where he lived. So I didn't see him for the first time until 1959, when he was 35. In 1962, he decided to work in financial management.
He told me three years later—that's right! ——My decision to buy control of Berkshire was a foolish decision. However, he assured me that now that I have taken action, he will show me how to correct my mistakes.
In what I'll talk about next, keep in mind that Charlie and his family didn't invest a penny in the small investment partnership I managed at the time; I used their money to buy Berkshire Hathaway. Furthermore, we didn't expect Charlie to own a portion of Berkshire stock.
Despite this, Charlie immediately advised me in 1965: “Warren, stop buying companies like Berkshire. But now you take control of Berkshire, add great businesses that buy at fair prices, and give up buying fair businesses at fantastic prices. In other words, give up everything you've learned from your hero Ben Graham. It works, but only when practiced on a small scale.” Afterwards, I largely backed off and followed his instructions.
Many years later, Charlie became my partner in running Berkshire and in my old habits...