Updated Nov 28, 2023 - Economy

Berkshire Hathaway adviser Charlie Munger dies at 99

Nathan Bomey

Berkshire Hathaway vice chair Charlie Munger attends the annual Berkshire shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2019. Photo: JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

Investment giant Charlie Munger, known as second-in-command to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway, has died. He was 99.

The big picture: Berkshire Hathaway, where Munger was vice chairman, said in a statement that "he peacefully died this morning at a California hospital."

"Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie's inspiration, wisdom and participation," Buffett said in a statement.

Context: Munger grew up a few hundred feet from Buffett's family grocery store, where the Oracle of Omaha worked as a kid.

But the two didn't meet until 1959, introduced by a doctor, by which point Munger had decamped to Los Angeles.

Buffett often credited Munger with keeping him grounded.

"If you've attended our annual meetings, you know Charlie has a wide-ranging brilliance, a prodigious memory and some firm opinions," Buffett said in a 2014 letter to shareholders.
"I'm not exactly wishy-washy myself, and we sometimes don't agree," Buffett added. "In 56 years, however, we've never had an argument."

Zoom in: Munger had a passion for architecture, a hatred of cryptocurrency and a love of capitalism.

He made his first fortune designing and building apartments near LA. More recently, he designed dorms for his alma maters, Stanford University and the University of Michigan.
"Charlie's most important architectural feat was the design of today's Berkshire. The blueprint he gave me was simple: Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices," Buffett wrote.

A one-time lawyer, Munger stopped practicing law in 1965, according to CNN, and became a close adviser to Buffett.

Together, they grew Berkshire into an investment behemoth, its stock having gained 20% annually from 1965 through 2021, according to Bloomberg.

Of note: In his later years, Munger often told interviewers about the dangers of envy, preaching the wisdom of contentment.

"The world is not driven by greed. It's driven by envy," Munger said in 2022, according to CNBC.
"I have conquered envy in my own life. I don't envy anybody," he added. "I don't give a damn what someone else has. But other people are driven crazy by it."

This story has been updated with more details throughout.

Add Axios on Google

Berkshire Hathaway adviser Charlie Munger dies at 99

What to read next