‘A Great Partner’: Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chair Munger Dies at 99

Berkshire Hathaway released a brief statement late Tuesday announcing the death of Vice Chair Charlie Munger.

“Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom and participation,” Chair and CEO Warren Buffett said in the statement, which noted that members of Munger’s family advised that he died peacefully at a California hospital Tuesday morning.

Buffett offered a longer tribute in the most recent annual report to shareholders under the heading, “Nothing Beats Having a Great Partner.”

“Charlie and I think pretty much alike. But what it takes me a page to explain, he sums up in a sentence,” Buffett wrote. “His version, moreover, is always more clearly reasoned and also more artfully—some might add bluntly—stated,” Buffett’s letter to shareholders continued.

Buffett went on to highlight some of the wisdom that Munger shared on a podcast aired prior to the publication of the annual report, including these Munger insights:

• “Patience can be learned. Having a long attention span and the ability to concentrate on one thing for a long time is a huge advantage.”
• “There is no such thing as a 100 percent sure thing when investing. Thus, the use of leverage is dangerous. A string of wonderful numbers times zero will always equal zero. Don’t count on getting rich twice.”
• “You have to keep learning if you want to become a great investor. When the world changes, you must change.”
• “The world is full of foolish gamblers, and they will not do as well as the patient investor.”
• “All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there. And a related thought: Early on, write your desired obituary—and then behave accordingly.”
• “A great company keeps working after you are not; a mediocre company won’t do that.”

Buffett concluded the list of 10 more rules to live by noting that he never had a phone call with his partner without learning something. “And, while he makes me think, he also makes me laugh,” he said, summing up with a rule of his own to add to Munger’s list: “Find a very smart high-grade partner— preferably slightly older than you—and then listen very carefully to what he says.”

Read more about the life and career of Charlie Munger in the related article, “Charlie Munger, Who Helped Buffett Build Berkshire, Dies at 99“

Featured image: Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, right, and his right-hand-man, Charlie Munger, exchange smiles gestures during an interview with Liz Claman on the Fox Business Network in Omaha, Neb., Monday, May 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)