Charlie Munger
Charles Thomas Munger ( born January 1, 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American lawyer, investor, manager, billionaire and philanthropist. He is a shareholder and vice chairman of investment company Berkshire Hathaway, which is headed by the major U.S. investor Warren Buffett. He is also one of those people who see the essay The Super Investors of Graham -and- Doddsville mention.
Munger is associated despite his own considerable power in itself life and despite its significant influence on the business of Berkshire Hathaway especially with Warren Buffett. The cause of this is true its strikingly similar way of thinking that has earned him the nickname " ( Buffett ) Alter Ego ".
Life
Charles Munger grew up as the eldest son in a family of lawyers in Omaha. After college, he studied at the University of Michigan for a short time and then Mathematics Meteorology, before he ultimately earned a law degree at Harvard University. He then settled in Los Angeles and practiced there as a lawyer. After several professional stations he founded with some colleagues the law firm Munger, Great, Hills & Wood (2012: Munger, Great & Olsen ).
In an arranged meeting with Warren Buffett, he was persuaded to enter after whose investment in the business. So he founded in 1962 together with a friend, the Investment Company Wheeler, Munger & Co. Their earnings growth of 19.8 % p. a let the U.S. Dow Jones index up to its liquidation in early 1976 by a wide margin.
Although Buffett and Munger worked separately from each other, made the great similarity of their investment style for different, but in principle purely accidental business connections. Thus, both in the early 1970s bought instance independently in the retail chain Diversified Retailing and the trading stamp company Blue Chip Stamps in order to use their financial reserves for further acquisitions.
Today's formalization of the link between Munger and Buffett did not surrender until 1978, when Warren Buffett brought together his scattered at this time investment activities under pressure from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Berkshire Hathaway. Here Diversified Retailing was merged with Berkshire, and "Charlie" Munger received in settlement of his shares two percent of Berkshire shares and the post of Vice Chairman. In addition, he took over the management of the most important acquired jointly and Diversified Blue Chip participation, Berkshire subsidiary Wesco Financial Corporation.
Over the next three decades Munger Wesco used as an investment vehicle along the lines of Berkshire. Until the final takeover by the parent company in 2011 left its earnings performance - as with previous Munger companies - the leading U.S. index S & P 500 by a wide margin, although a considerable distance behind the parent company. In addition, Munger bought over the years in a private newspaper publisher from Los Angeles and the wholesale company Costco Wholesale and took over there in each management positions he has held until today ( 2013).
In addition to his professional activities, Munger is honorary heavily involved since the late 1960s. He was instrumental in the establishment of abortion clinics in Los Angeles, renovated a dilapidated hospital and donated several times to the University of Michigan. Together with his second wife, he donated also a dormitory at Stanford University.
Personality
Of particular importance is Munger's relationship with Warren Buffett. Aside from Buffett's mentor Benjamin Graham Munger was for decades the only person who otherwise has significant influence on Buffett's basically had deserted investment decisions. The main reason was contemporary observers have noted that the very large, almost " ghostly " similarity of their mindset and their idiosyncrasies. This was reflected, among others, in hour-long conversations and virtually blind understanding of the investment decisions of each other, which also attracted the mentioned business connections to be random. At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway Munger is known in this context, especially for the sentence "I have nothing to add Further " after Buffett's answers.
Unlike Buffett, Munger was influenced very early by other investors such as Philip Fisher. So Buffett displeased him original, still originating from Graham preference for companies - listed below their liquidation value - usually due to poor business prospects. Instead, it was his opinion, " better to pay a reasonable price for a good company as a ridiculously low price for a scrap company. " Therefore he persuaded Buffett over the years to its investment approach to rethink as to what Buffett has also admitted repeatedly publicly. However, Munger is in spite of its significant influence back on the successful development of Berkshire Hathaway in popularity far behind Warren Buffett.
For all the similarity Munger missing but has always been Buffett's loose way of dealing with people. Instead, he maintains a sullen and very impersonal tone. He confronts both humans and Investments with great skepticism, bias and elitist sense of entitlement. Nor did he maintains Buffett's proverbial stinginess, but pretends to be party animal and leads a luxurious private life. However, this is offset by a deep sense of morality. In addition, Munger operated as an eclectic, by taking advantage of conceptual models from different sciences for its decision.
Private
Charles Munger was married twice. From his first marriage (1945-1953) had two children. After the divorce from his first wife, he married again in 1956 and survived his second wife († 2010). From this second marriage come more common five sons. There are also two step-children who are from the first marriage of his second wife. Munger's eldest son died in 1955 from leukemia.
Munger's vision is severely limited. This was due to cataract and complications of epithelial growth in the subsequent eye surgery, so his left eye had to be removed.