Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's right-hand man, passed away on Tuesday at a hospital in California, as reported by AP. He was 99. Munger was the man who helped Buffet to build Berkshire Hathaway into an investment powerhouse. His death was confirmed in a statement from the company.
According to the report, Munger served as Buffett's sounding board on investments and business decisions and helped lead Berkshire as its vice chairman for decades. Munger preferred to stay in the background and let Buffett be the face of Berkshire, and he often downplayed his contributions to the company's remarkable success. However, Buffett always credited Munger with pushing him beyond his early value investing strategies to buy great businesses. Buffet in 2008 said, "Charlie has taught me a lot about valuing businesses and about human nature.”
Buffett's early successes were based on what he learned from former Columbia University professor Ben Graham. He would buy stock in companies that were selling cheaply for less than their assets were worth, and then, when the market price improved, sell the shares.
During the entire time they worked together, Buffett and Munger lived more than 1,500 miles apart, but Buffett said he would call Munger in Los Angeles or Pasadena to consult on every major decision he made.
Munger grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, about five blocks away from Buffett's current home. He was is seven years older than Buffett. The two men, however, didn't meet as children, even though both worked at the grocery store Buffett's grandfather and uncle ran. Buffett and Munger hit it off at that initial meeting and then kept in touch through frequent telephone calls and lengthy letters, according to the biography in Munger's book "Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger."
Munger studied mathematics at the University of Michigan in the 1940s, but dropped out of college to serve as a meteorologist in the Army Air Corps during World War II. Then he went on to earn a law degree from Harvard University in 1948 even though he hadn't finished a bachelor's degree.
He built a fortune worth more than $2 billion at one point and earned a spot on the list of the richest Americans, but Munger's wealth has been decreasing as he engaged in philanthropy. Munger has given significant gifts to Harvard-Westlake, Stanford University Law School, the University of Michigan and the Huntington Library as well as other charities. He also gave a significant portion of his Berkshire stock to his eight children after his wife died in 2010.