Charlie Munger
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Born: | January 1, 1924 Omaha, Nebraska |
|---|---|
| Occupation: | Investor |
| Salary: | $100,000 USD |
| Net worth: |  $1.7 billion USD |
Charles Thomas Munger (b. January 1, 1924, Omaha, Nebraska) is Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, the diversified investment corporation chaired by investor Warren Buffett. Munger is pronounced so it rhymes with "hunger".
Like Buffett, Munger is a native of Omaha. After studies at the University of Michigan and service in the U.S. Navy, he entered Harvard Law School without an undergraduate degree. Graduating in 1948, he founded and worked as a real estate attorney at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP until 1965. He then gave up the practice of law to concentrate on managing investments. He used his legal knowledge to advantage, in his early investments in real estate and later investments in equities.
Munger is also the chairman of Wesco Financial Corporation, an 80.1%-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. It began as a savings and loan association, but now controls Precision Steel Corp., CORT Furniture Leasing, Kansas Bankers Surety Company, and other ventures. Wesco is based in Pasadena, California, Munger's adopted hometown and the site of the company's annual shareholders' meeting. Munger's meetings are nearly as legendary in the investment community as those he co-hosts with Buffett in Omaha. Such meetings are often perfunctory, but Munger interacts with the other Wesco shareholders at considerable length, sometimes speculating about what his hero Benjamin Franklin would do in a given situation.
Buffett has often publicly stated that he regards Munger as his "partner". Indeed, Munger owns enough Berkshire Hathaway stock to be a bona fide billionaire in his own right. However, Munger is hardly a carbon copy of Buffett: Munger is known to be a Republican, whereas Buffett has generally supported Democrats. Buffett devotes his time almost exclusively to his business, while Munger, who has not involved himself in the day-to-day operations of Berkshire for many years, is a generalist for whom investment is only one of a broad range of interests. Each man feels that their differences complement rather than detract from their relationship. Both were ardent supporters of abortion-rights even before Roe v. Wade ([1]).
In 1991, the investment bank Salomon Brothers was caught submitting false bids to the U.S. Treasury in a bid to manipulate bond pricing in its favor between December 1990 and May 1991. At the time, Berkshire Hathaway owned 14% of Salomon Brothers and Munger was a director of Salomon Brothers Inc.
Munger donated 500 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock, worth $43.5 million, to Stanford University to build a housing complex for Stanford Law School. While he did not attend Stanford, his first wife, Nancy Munger, was an alumna and served on the Board of Trustees. Their daughter, Wendy Munger (A.B., 1972, Stanford University) is currently member of the board.
[edit] Books
- Lowe, Janet (2000) Damn Right! Behind the scenes with Berkshire Hathaway billionaire Charlie Munger, John Wiley & Sons (ISBN 0-471-24473-2)
- Kaufman, Peter (2005 and 2006 for the second edition) "Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger" http://www.poorcharliesalmanack.com/
[edit] External links
- Three Speeches by Charlie Munger
- Charlie Munger Link Collection
- Munger Speeches & Writings
- Articles by Charlie Munger
- Munger's Speech on Mental Models
- "In the Money" (2001 Harvard Law Bulletin article)
