NEW YORK: Charlie Munger, the longtime buddy and enterprise companion of famed US investor Warren Buffett, died on Tuesday (Nov 28) on the age of 99, his employer has confirmed.
Berkshire Hathaway, the place Munger served for many years as vice chairman below Buffett, introduced it was “suggested by members of Charlie Munger’s household that he peacefully died this morning at a California hospital”.
“Berkshire Hathaway couldn’t have been constructed to its current standing with out Charlie’s inspiration, knowledge and participation,” Warren Buffett mentioned in a press release.
Like Buffett, Munger was born and introduced up in Omaha, Nebraska. The 2 met as adults in 1959, and cast a friendship that lasted greater than 60 years.
Munger joined Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway as vice chairman in 1978, and helped rework it from a small textile firm into a huge conglomerate, now valued at greater than US$780 billion.
In contrast to Buffett’s huge fortune, Charlie Munger’s wealth is estimated at a extra modest US$2.6 billion, though he has donated most of his wealth to charity throughout his lifetime.
Munger by no means formally retired from his position at Berkshire Hathaway, and would have turned 100 on Jan 1, 2024.
In a 2017 interview, Buffett credited Munger with altering his views on funding for the higher.
“He refined them in an enormous manner, by way of on the lookout for the standard firms, and searching for the power to make an funding that can work out for 5 or 10 or 20 years, versus one thing the place there is likely to be yet one more puff left within the cigar,” he mentioned.
“He is strong-minded, I am strong-minded. We have by no means had an argument in that entire time and we by no means will,” he continued.
“It has been extra enjoyable doing it with Charlie,” he added.
