The world lost an investment legend and font of knowledge last week with the passing of Charlie Munger at the age of 99. He was best known as Warren Buffett’s partner in building Berkshire Hathaway from its humble roots as a New England textile maker into the ninth largest company in the S&P 500. Interestingly, Munger was a force beyond just investing as an advocate for lifelong learning and rational decision-making.
He was crucial in the Berkshire becoming as large as it has become. Munger helped evolve Buffett’s investment style from buying companies akin to “cigar butts” with one more puff in them at very low valuations to high-quality businesses at a reasonable price. While Buffett would have likely eventually reached that conclusion on his own, Munger certainly sped up the progression, which made a difference in compounding the value of Berkshire Hathaway. These “quality” fingerprints can be seen in Berkshire’s original purchase of See’s Candies and on to Coca-Cola (KO) and Apple (AAPL).
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