Almost without exception, Berkshire Hathaway AGM virgins leave Omaha with an altered view about the people behind the hugely successful conglomerate. Most travel to the world’s biggest AGM to see Warren Buffett. But invariably leave wanting to learn more about his long-time business partner, Charlie Munger.
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Last Thursday, low-profile Munger (above) was the subject of a rare hour-long Zoom call with the prestigious California Institute of Technology to celebrate Caltech’s Distinguished Alumni Award, its highest honour. The recording shows advanced age has had no impact on the genius of this 96 year old.
Two standouts from Charlie. On investing (and life): “I’ve spent a lifetime trying to avoid my own mental biases. A – I rub my own nose in my own mistakes. B – I try to keep it simple and fundamental as much as I can. I’m a very blocking and tackling type of thinker. I just try avoid being stupid.”
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And on business: “In the long-term, companies behave more like biology than they do anything else. In biology, all the individuals die and so do all the species. It’s just a question of time. All the things that were really great when I was young have receded enormously. And new things have come up and some of them started to die. They have their little time and then they get clobbered.”
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Also, here’s the link to Thursday’s hour-long interview with Charlie Munger referenced above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDU1J91hY8