Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, dies at 99

Charlie Munger, legendary US investor Warren Buffett’s lifelong friend and business partner, died on Tuesday at the age of 99.

Berkshire Hathaway, where Munger was vice chairman for decades under Buffett said it had been advised by members of Charlie Munger’s family that he peacefully died this morning at a California hospital.

In a statement, Warren Buffett stated, “Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom, and participation”.

Munger, like Buffett, was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. In 1959, the two met as adults and forged a friendship that lasted more than 60 years.

In 1978, Munger became a vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, where he helped convert it from a small textile company to a massive conglomerate worth more than $780 billion.

Unlike Buffett, Charlie Munger’s fortune is believed to be $2.6 billion, however, he has donated the majority of his wealth to charity during his lifetime.

Munger never formally left Berkshire Hathaway, and he would have turned 100 on January 1, 2024.

Buffett acknowledged Munger with changing his investment views for the better in a 2017 interview.

Buffett went on to say, “He refined them in a huge way, in terms of looking for the quality companies, and looking out for the ability to make an investment that will work out for five or 10 or 20 years, as opposed to something where there might be one more puff left in the cigar”.

“He’s strong-minded, I’m strong-minded. We’ve never had an argument in that whole time and we never will”, Buffett added

Buffett noted, “It’s been more fun doing it with Charlie”.

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