Billionaire investor and Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, passed away on November 28 local time in California at the age of 99.
Munger is the golden partner of investment tycoon Buffett. Buffett once said of Munger, "Our ideas are so similar, even so similar that they are frightening. He is the smartest and most tasteful person I have ever met."
After Munger's death, Buffett wrote in a statement, "Without Charlie's inspiration, wisdom, and involvement, Berkshire Hathaway could not have developed to its current position."
Munger has been serving as Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway since 1978. At the beginning of 2023, Munger's personal wealth is expected to be $2.3 billion, while Buffett's wealth exceeds $100 billion.
Munger is an upright person who upholds the moral obligation to maintain rationality and firmly believes that it is more important than anything else - more important than wealth.
Buffett stated in a previous interview that he had never had a dispute with Munger in nearly 60 years, and stated that "Charlie gave me the ultimate gift" and "because of Charlie, my life has become better.".
Munger played a crucial role in Buffett's investment strategy and completed the transition from buying at low prices to investing in higher quality but undervalued companies.
In the past few years, the technology boom in the United States has also changed Munger's investment philosophy. He emphasized in an interview this year that a few technology companies have already taken the dominant position, and their stock prices have significantly outperformed the entire market, so that investors who do not hold stocks of these companies may fall behind.
Munger said, "I believe that in order for modern investors to succeed, they must buy several stocks of companies that are far above average."
Apple Inc. is one of the companies that Berkshire Hathaway has placed the most bets on in recent years, holding nearly 6% of Apple's shares, valued at approximately $157 billion, accounting for almost half of its entire stock investment portfolio value. Between 2016 and 2018, Berkshire invested over $30 billion in Apple. Nowadays, Apple's stock price has risen more than twice from its previous level. Apple's stock price has surged by 46% this year.
Munger once said when discussing the decision to invest in Apple, that because Apple's stock was very cheap at the time, investing was logical. "I like these high-tech companies. I think capitalism should expect a few big winners by chance," Munger said.
The global investment community deeply regrets Munger's death. "It's not easy to replicate the success of the Buffett and Munger eras," an American investor told a First Financial reporter. "Especially in the context of high interest rates in the United States, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make good investments now."
Meanwhile, the future of Berkshire Hathaway is also highly anticipated. In 2021, 97 year old Munger inadvertently revealed at a shareholder meeting that Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway's vice chairman in charge of non insurance business, would "keep the culture" after the Buffett era.
Just about a week before Munger's death, 93 year old Buffett rarely posted a letter to shareholders on the company's website, saying, "I feel good, but I am fully aware that I am playing overtime." Buffett also donated $866 million worth of Berkshire Hathaway stocks and once again promised to donate over 99% of his wealth to charitable organizations.