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Damn Right!: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger
Praise for Damn Right!
From the author of the bestselling WARREN BUFFETT SPEAKS. . .
"Charlie Munger, whose reputation is deep and wide, based on an extraordinary record of brilliantly successful business strategies, sees things that others don't. There is a method to his mastery and, through this book, we get a chance to learn about this rare individual." -MICHAEL EISNER, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company
"Janet Lowe uncovers the iconoclastic genius and subtle charm behind Charlie Munger's curmudgeonly facade in this richly woven portrait of our era's heir to Ben Franklin. With a biographer's detachment, an historian's thoroughness, and a financial writer's common sense, Lowe produces a riveting account of the family, personal, and business life of the idiosyncratically complex and endlessly fascinating figure." -LAWRENCE CUNNINGHAM, Cardozo Law School, Author of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
"For years, Berkshire Hathaway shareholders and investors worldwide (me included) have struggled to learn more about Warren Buffett's cerebral sidekick. Now we can rest and enjoy reading Janet Lowe's book about this rare intellectual jewel called Charlie Munger." -ROBERT G. HAGSTROM, Author of The Warren Buffett Way
"Charlie has lived by the creed that one should live a life that doesn't need explaining. But his life should be explained. In a city where heroism is too often confused with celebrity, Charlie is a true hero and mentor. He lives the life lessons that he has studiously extracted from other true heroes and mentors, from Ben Franklin to Ben Graham. This book illuminates those life lessons." -RONALD L. OLSON, Munger, Tolles & Olson llp
"Janet Lowe's unprecedented access to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett has resulted in a first-class book that investors, academics, and CEOs will find entertaining and highly useful."-TIMOTHY P. VICK, Money Manager and Author of How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
From the author of the bestselling WARREN BUFFETT SPEAKS. . .
"Charlie Munger, whose reputation is deep and wide, based on an extraordinary record of brilliantly successful business strategies, sees things that others don't. There is a method to his mastery and, through this book, we get a chance to learn about this rare individual." -MICHAEL EISNER, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company
"Janet Lowe uncovers the iconoclastic genius and subtle charm behind Charlie Munger's curmudgeonly facade in this richly woven portrait of our era's heir to Ben Franklin. With a biographer's detachment, an historian's thoroughness, and a financial writer's common sense, Lowe produces a riveting account of the family, personal, and business life of the idiosyncratically complex and endlessly fascinating figure." -LAWRENCE CUNNINGHAM, Cardozo Law School, Author of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America
"For years, Berkshire Hathaway shareholders and investors worldwide (me included) have struggled to learn more about Warren Buffett's cerebral sidekick. Now we can rest and enjoy reading Janet Lowe's book about this rare intellectual jewel called Charlie Munger." -ROBERT G. HAGSTROM, Author of The Warren Buffett Way
"Charlie has lived by the creed that one should live a life that doesn't need explaining. But his life should be explained. In a city where heroism is too often confused with celebrity, Charlie is a true hero and mentor. He lives the life lessons that he has studiously extracted from other true heroes and mentors, from Ben Franklin to Ben Graham. This book illuminates those life lessons." -RONALD L. OLSON, Munger, Tolles & Olson llp
"Janet Lowe's unprecedented access to Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett has resulted in a first-class book that investors, academics, and CEOs will find entertaining and highly useful."-TIMOTHY P. VICK, Money Manager and Author of How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
254 people are currently reading
6999 people want to read
About the author
Janet Lowe
46 books37 followersJanet Celesta Lowe was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and writer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
May 26, 2011
Mostly gossip about his family, very little about his investing career.
Boringggggg
Boringggggg
May 23, 2017
This book needed a better editor. It reads like a series of articles from the business section interspersed by ill-fitting, irrelevant domestic scenes in an attempt to justify it being a bound volume. It seems perpetually removed from its subject, not satisfying the personal-portrait desires by biography buffs, while also spending too much time on meaningless financial trivia, disappointing interested investors looking for deeper insight into one of the most successful investing world views in history.
June 20, 2020
Damn Right! Is the story of Charles Munger and the Munger family, Charles Munger is the decades long partner of Warren Buffett. He is a business man, lawyer, real estate developer, and some will say a philosopher.
It is not a story of get rich fast, or a story of a young guy with a brilliant idea that changed the world in 5 years or less. It is a different kind of a story, a story of hard work, a story of tragedies and triumphs, a story of building your life dreams one day at a time, a story of a man with gumption.
Some criticize the book of not detailing the investment philosophy of Charles Munger, some say it has too many details or too few of them. I think it is not an investment book per se, but it is a mind set book. I find it to be a fascinating story of a man with values that we all know, determination that we aspire to have, and yes some luck that we wish for.
I once spoke with two business owners, they both had the same type of business, they both had partners, both were determined and hard working and they both struggled, one of them became a very successful multi branch business while the other bankrupt.
Why? I think that by reading the book you might find the answer, and if not you might get inspired.
When the situation is tough and one craves to raise the white flag, there will be the ones who will give up and ones that will keep on pushing. Charles Munger story is of a person that kept on going for decades and achieved the success he deserved.
December 28, 2019
This is not an investment book, but a book focused on way of life and thinking - shared through Munger's life. The last chapter (Practical thought about practical thought) is a masterpiece.
August 28, 2018
Sadly, a poorly written book about an interesting person. One can derive similar lessons and insights with greater ease and clarity - and with less of the random useless biographical minutiae - from The Snowball, Poor Charlie's Almanac and the Peter Bevelin books.
September 8, 2020
Great content ; sub par writing.
July 3, 2013
A term paper that never ends.
February 21, 2024
Charlie is one of the most incredible Humans to have walked on this planet, however the book itself is merely decent.
September 23, 2018
There are multiple books and papers written about the vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Charles T. Munger. When Damn Right! was published however there wasn’t much. And whereas a lot is written about Munger as an investor, in this biography we get to know him on a more personal level from his birth to his 70s around the year 2000. Munger and his family always wanted to remain out of the public eye, causing very little information to be available about Munger before Damn Right!. Thus, Munger’s family was not overly excited about this book from the start. Still, the author Janet Lowe told Munger that she was going to write about him with or without his consent and after a while he agreed to be cooperative. Lowe is an investment writer and author. She specializes in books about business leaders and has among others portrayed Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
Damn Right! describes how Munger was born in 1924 and grew up in Omaha. His family taught him the sound morals of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin from an early age. His father was an Omaha judge and Munger followed in his father's footsteps by pursuing law. Early in his career he suffered from both distractive events as being forced into military service, as well as sad ones with a divorce and the tragic death of his son. It took him until his thirties to start accumulating his fortune which he built out of savings from his legal practice, invested into real estate projects. Having realized that debt is a vital ingredient to be successful in real estate investing together with it being a full-time job, he soon moved on to other interests. This involved starting an investment partnership and resigning from being a lawyer after having co-founded the law firm Munger, Tolles and Olsen - which is used by Berkshire to this day.
Munger ran a concentrated investment portfolio with huge success but also wild fluctuations. He frequently discussed his investment ideas with Warren Buffett who he later famously went into business with, taking the subordinate position as vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Munger is famously known for teaching Buffett that it pays off to pay up for quality. What is not so known but explained in the book is that he himself also learnt that lesson fairly late. The company that in this regard made the strongest impression on him and Buffett was See’s Candies, a high quality, premium chocolate company located in San Francisco which has been a home run for Berkshire.
Aside from getting to know some of his and Berkshire's investments in See’s Candies, The Buffalo Evening News and Salomon Brothers the reader is introduced to Munger’s moral compass, which is strongly influenced by Franklin - his biggest hero. Munger is of the view that honesty and hard work will take a person a long way. Morals aside, a trait he is famous for which isn’t as positive though, is his manners. People who don’t know him well may think he is arrogant and rude. One thing that defines Munger is that he didn’t set out to become superrich but rather financially independent enough to pursue interests within education, medicine and philanthropy and also his hobbies of architecture, travelling and fishing.
Although the book is filled with timeless quotes from both Munger and Buffett I still feel that some quotes are a bit misplaced where one subject is discussed and then followed by a quote or writing which is not really connected with the prior text disrupting the flow of the reading. However, this is more of a minor observation than a large negative. For me, a book about Munger could never be boring. I like Poor Charlie’s Almanack more, which is a book I often go back to, but I still rate Damn Right! highly and it’s a must for all Buffett & Munger fans. The part I enjoyed the most was to get more insight into Charlie Munger the person and not only his sharp quotes and wisdom, even if the book gives the reader plenty of that too.
The only thing I would ask for now is for someone to fill in the gaps of the last 20 years of the fascinating life of Charlie Munger.
Niklas Sävås, September 23, 2018
Damn Right! describes how Munger was born in 1924 and grew up in Omaha. His family taught him the sound morals of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin from an early age. His father was an Omaha judge and Munger followed in his father's footsteps by pursuing law. Early in his career he suffered from both distractive events as being forced into military service, as well as sad ones with a divorce and the tragic death of his son. It took him until his thirties to start accumulating his fortune which he built out of savings from his legal practice, invested into real estate projects. Having realized that debt is a vital ingredient to be successful in real estate investing together with it being a full-time job, he soon moved on to other interests. This involved starting an investment partnership and resigning from being a lawyer after having co-founded the law firm Munger, Tolles and Olsen - which is used by Berkshire to this day.
Munger ran a concentrated investment portfolio with huge success but also wild fluctuations. He frequently discussed his investment ideas with Warren Buffett who he later famously went into business with, taking the subordinate position as vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Munger is famously known for teaching Buffett that it pays off to pay up for quality. What is not so known but explained in the book is that he himself also learnt that lesson fairly late. The company that in this regard made the strongest impression on him and Buffett was See’s Candies, a high quality, premium chocolate company located in San Francisco which has been a home run for Berkshire.
Aside from getting to know some of his and Berkshire's investments in See’s Candies, The Buffalo Evening News and Salomon Brothers the reader is introduced to Munger’s moral compass, which is strongly influenced by Franklin - his biggest hero. Munger is of the view that honesty and hard work will take a person a long way. Morals aside, a trait he is famous for which isn’t as positive though, is his manners. People who don’t know him well may think he is arrogant and rude. One thing that defines Munger is that he didn’t set out to become superrich but rather financially independent enough to pursue interests within education, medicine and philanthropy and also his hobbies of architecture, travelling and fishing.
Although the book is filled with timeless quotes from both Munger and Buffett I still feel that some quotes are a bit misplaced where one subject is discussed and then followed by a quote or writing which is not really connected with the prior text disrupting the flow of the reading. However, this is more of a minor observation than a large negative. For me, a book about Munger could never be boring. I like Poor Charlie’s Almanack more, which is a book I often go back to, but I still rate Damn Right! highly and it’s a must for all Buffett & Munger fans. The part I enjoyed the most was to get more insight into Charlie Munger the person and not only his sharp quotes and wisdom, even if the book gives the reader plenty of that too.
The only thing I would ask for now is for someone to fill in the gaps of the last 20 years of the fascinating life of Charlie Munger.
Niklas Sävås, September 23, 2018
January 25, 2013
Charlie Munger, vice-president of Berkshire Hathaway is quite well known for this 'Mungerisms' or words of wisdom. This book by Janet Lowe shows the ascent of Munger, the businessman from his humble days as a lawyer to a world known billionaire investor. He likes to be in the background and let Warren Buffet do most of the talking. Munger and Buffet completely complement each other. They almost look like siblings. They have the same values and a conservative investing style.
This book will not tell you how to pick stocks like Charlie Munger but how to live an exemplary life. If you are willing to read the tit-bits about Munger family, this book has a lot to teach. Apart from law and investing, he is very knowledgeable about science. He is greatly influenced by Benjamin Franklin. Buffet was very fortunate to have a friend and business partner like him to discuss and get new investing ideas. This partnership is a perfect example of 1+1 = 11. Their investing style looks easy to understand, but it is very hard to follow. As Munger says, you have to adapt your strategy to your own nature and your own talents.
This book will not tell you how to pick stocks like Charlie Munger but how to live an exemplary life. If you are willing to read the tit-bits about Munger family, this book has a lot to teach. Apart from law and investing, he is very knowledgeable about science. He is greatly influenced by Benjamin Franklin. Buffet was very fortunate to have a friend and business partner like him to discuss and get new investing ideas. This partnership is a perfect example of 1+1 = 11. Their investing style looks easy to understand, but it is very hard to follow. As Munger says, you have to adapt your strategy to your own nature and your own talents.
May 10, 2020
Charlie Munger's is a story that needs to be told. And told well. Unfortunately this effort is a poor one. Badly written, needlessly detailed on unimportant aspects, and badly organised.
And yet, useful in pockets.
And yet, useful in pockets.
November 21, 2022
Great man! But the book could have been better.
Read
August 10, 2023Ich fand dieses Buch nicht lesenswert:
Die Autorin scheint gemäss Buchdeckel bekannt zu sein für ihre Biografien über amerikanische (wahrscheinlich meinen Sie US-...) Führungspersönlichkeiten; und dies ist nun eine weitere über Charlie Munger.
Wer daraus Erkenntnisse über Charlie Mungers Investitions-Grundsätze erhofft oder ähnliches liegt vollkommen falsch.
Das Buch enthält hauptsächlich Anekdoten zum Familien- und Ferien-Alltag von Charlie Munger mit seiner Grossfamilie & nix über Investitions-Entscheidungen.
Die Autorin scheint gemäss Buchdeckel bekannt zu sein für ihre Biografien über amerikanische (wahrscheinlich meinen Sie US-...) Führungspersönlichkeiten; und dies ist nun eine weitere über Charlie Munger.
Wer daraus Erkenntnisse über Charlie Mungers Investitions-Grundsätze erhofft oder ähnliches liegt vollkommen falsch.
Das Buch enthält hauptsächlich Anekdoten zum Familien- und Ferien-Alltag von Charlie Munger mit seiner Grossfamilie & nix über Investitions-Entscheidungen.
June 27, 2021
Ch 20 bmark
May 2, 2024
Gives a nice sneak peak into Charlie's life and his way of thinking. Although at some point I couldn't follow it well. Especially towards end which talks about his speech.
December 13, 2023
2023- Dec
December 17, 2023
Loved the book! It is a fun Biography to read, amazingly.
Learned about Monger’s brain and life and appreciate a humble genius very much!
Learned about Monger’s brain and life and appreciate a humble genius very much!
April 28, 2025
Overall, this book was very interesting simply due to the fact that it was on an extraordinary person and subject matter. Unfortunately, I felt that the author did not do Charlie Munger‘s life and experiences justice. She was bailed out at times by great nuggets of wisdom from Munger himself. However, I didn’t love the way the book was put together or how the narrative described his life. I certainly would give Charlie Munger, five stars and the author maybe two, which is why I’m rating this three stars.
When speaking about a physics class, Munger said: the tradition of always looking for the answer in the most fundamental way available – that is a great tradition, and it saves a lot of time in this world. And of course, the problems are hard enough that you have to learn to have what some people call assiduity. Well, I’ve always liked that word – because to me it means that you sit down on your ass until you’ve sold your problem. Page
34.
What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge back it heavily because you don’t get a big edge often. Opportunity comes, but it doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does come. Charlie Munger page 36.
“You should never when facing some unbelievable tragedy, let one tragedy increase to two or three through your failure of will.“ Charlie Munger page 45
When speaking about their upbringing, the Munger children talked about things that Charlie had taught them: do the best that you can do. Never tell a lie. If you say you’re going to do it get it done. Nobody gives a blank about an excuse. Leave for the meeting early. Don’t be late, but if you are late, don’t bother giving people excuses. Just apologize. They do the apology, but they’re not interested in an excuse. By the way, those are very useful rules, especially for people have decided to go into service businesses. People are paying for your services with their own money. Return your calls quickly. The other thing is the five second now. You’ve got to make your mind up. You don’t leave people hanging. Page 54.
Benjamin Franklin was able to make the contribution he did because he had financial freedom. Munger came to understand that in order to be truly wealthy, a person needed to build ownership in a business. Page 90.
At one point, one of Charlie Munger‘s business partners needed out of a partnership. There was an informal agreement that if one needed out the other would buy him out. Guerin went to Charlie and said I need to use that money elsewhere. He said fine figure out what you want. Guerin looked over the accounting statements and thought about it. I told him it was worth $200,000. Charlie said no, you’re wrong about that. I said to myself, oh darn, because I needed $200,000. He said it’s worth $300,000. And he pulled out a check and wrote it. I would’ve been delighted with $200,000. I would’ve been the happiest man on earth. It was an opportunity for him to show me how stupid I was. Charlie has a saying: “think about it a little more and you will agree with me because you’re smart and I’m right.“ Page 99.
Our experience in shifting from savings and loan operation to ownership of Freddie Mac shares tends to confirm a long held notion that being prepared, on a few occasions in a lifetime to act promptly in scale and doing some simple and logical things will often dramatically improve the financial results of that lifetime. A few major opportunities clearly recognizable as such will usually come to one who continuously searches and waits, with a curious mind, loving diagnosis involving multiple variables. And then all that is required as a willingness to bet heavily when the odds are extremely favorable, using resources available as a result of prudence and patience in the past. Page 153.
There’s integrity, intelligence, experience, and dedication. That’s what human enterprises need to run well. And we’ve been very lucky and getting this marvelous group of associates to work with all these years it would be hard to do better. I think then we’ve done.
I don’t know of anybody our size who has lower overhead than we do. And we like it that way. Once a company starts getting fancy it is difficult to stop. In fact, Warren wants considered buying a building on a distressed basis for about a quarter of what it would’ve cost to duplicate And as tempting as it was, he decided it would give everybody bad ideas to have surroundings so opulent. So we continue to run our insurance operations from Barry modest quarters at one time Berkshire was subpoenaed for its staff papers and connection with one of its acquisitions, but Monger said there were no papers. There was no staff. Page 171.
People under at the importance of a few simple big ideas. And I think to the extent Berkshire Hathaway is a didactic enterprise teaching the right system of thought, the cheer lesson is that a few big ideas really work. I think these filters of ours have worked out pretty well because they are so simple. However, do not confuse simple with easy. Page 175.
The game of investing is one of making better predictions about the future than other people. How are you going to do that? One way is to limit your tries to areas of competence. If you try to predict the future of everything you attempt too much you’re going to fail through lack of specialization Charlie Munger Page 176
Warren Buffett said: we should’ve owned more Costco and probably if Charlie had been sitting in Omaha we would’ve owned more Costco. Charlie was constantly telling me about this terrific method of distribution and after 10 years or so I started catching on about what he was saying and we bought a little of Costco at Berkshire. We actually negotiated to buy more. I made the most common mistake that I make… We started buying it and the price went up and instead of following it up and continuing to buy more… If Costco had stayed at $15 a share to or so where we were buying it, we would’ve bought a lot more. But instead it went to 15 1/8 and who could pay 15 1/8 when they’ve been paying $15 it wasn’t quite that bad. But I have made that mistake a lot of times and it’s very irritating. Page 187.
You could argue at the very worst of all academic inanity is in the liberal arts departments of the great universities. You can see the reason if you ask the question what one frame of mind is likely to cause the most damage to an individual individuals happiness, his contribution to others and the like – what one frame of mind will be the worst? The answer, of course would be some sort of paranoid self-pity. I can’t imagine a more destructive frame of mind. Your whole university departments want everyone to feel like a victim. And you pay money to send your children to these places. And this is what they teach them. It’s amazing how these pockets of irrationality creep into eminent places. ****the iron prescription: every time you think some person or some unfairness is ruining your life, it is you who are ruining your life.**** Page 224.
The first rule is to not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard Feynman. Page 227
Munger talks a lot about what bothers him with the mutual fund business and managers, taking access fees. He is especially amazed by the endowment at Yale University, who are purchasing fund funds with extra extraordinary fees. He goes on to talk about the devastating impact of the cost of all this complexity on the return of foundations and endowments in a stock market with lower returns. Market returns roughly 5%; total cost 3%; that return 2%. Munger’s recommendation to managers of the funds of not for profit foundations was simple: save yourself a lot of time money and worry, put your endowment into index funds. Alternatively, they could follow Berkshire’s lead and simply buy high-quality stocks and hold on for the long term. It isn’t even necessary to worry about diversification in the United States, a person or institution with almost all wealth invested long-term in just three fine domestic corporations is securely rich, and why should such an owner car if at any time most other investors are faring somewhat better or worse, and particularly so when he rationally believes, like Berkshire, that his long-term results will be superior by reason of his lower costs required emphasis on long-term effects and concentration and his most preferred choices. Page 236.
There is an old two part rule that often works wonders in business science and elsewhere: one take a simple, basic idea and two take it very seriously. Page 265.
****The best and most practical wisdom is elementary academic wisdom. But there is one extremely important qualification: you must think in a multidisciplinary manner. You must routinely use all the easy to learn concepts from the freshman course in every basic subject.***** Where elementary ideas will serve, your problem-solving must not be limited, as academia and many business bureaucracy are limited by extreme balkanization Into disciplines and sub disciplines with strong taboos against any adventure outside assigned territory instead, you must do your multidisciplinary thinking in a accord with Ben Franklin‘s prescription and poor Richard: if you want it done go if not, send. Charlie Munger page 267.
If you’re thinking, you rely entirely on others often through purchase of professional advice whenever outside a small territory of your own, you will suffer much calamity. Page 267.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible – but no more simple.” Albert Einstein page 274
“The company that needs a new machine tool, and hasn’t bought it, is already paying for it.“ Warner and Swasey advertisement.
When speaking about a physics class, Munger said: the tradition of always looking for the answer in the most fundamental way available – that is a great tradition, and it saves a lot of time in this world. And of course, the problems are hard enough that you have to learn to have what some people call assiduity. Well, I’ve always liked that word – because to me it means that you sit down on your ass until you’ve sold your problem. Page
34.
What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge back it heavily because you don’t get a big edge often. Opportunity comes, but it doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does come. Charlie Munger page 36.
“You should never when facing some unbelievable tragedy, let one tragedy increase to two or three through your failure of will.“ Charlie Munger page 45
When speaking about their upbringing, the Munger children talked about things that Charlie had taught them: do the best that you can do. Never tell a lie. If you say you’re going to do it get it done. Nobody gives a blank about an excuse. Leave for the meeting early. Don’t be late, but if you are late, don’t bother giving people excuses. Just apologize. They do the apology, but they’re not interested in an excuse. By the way, those are very useful rules, especially for people have decided to go into service businesses. People are paying for your services with their own money. Return your calls quickly. The other thing is the five second now. You’ve got to make your mind up. You don’t leave people hanging. Page 54.
Benjamin Franklin was able to make the contribution he did because he had financial freedom. Munger came to understand that in order to be truly wealthy, a person needed to build ownership in a business. Page 90.
At one point, one of Charlie Munger‘s business partners needed out of a partnership. There was an informal agreement that if one needed out the other would buy him out. Guerin went to Charlie and said I need to use that money elsewhere. He said fine figure out what you want. Guerin looked over the accounting statements and thought about it. I told him it was worth $200,000. Charlie said no, you’re wrong about that. I said to myself, oh darn, because I needed $200,000. He said it’s worth $300,000. And he pulled out a check and wrote it. I would’ve been delighted with $200,000. I would’ve been the happiest man on earth. It was an opportunity for him to show me how stupid I was. Charlie has a saying: “think about it a little more and you will agree with me because you’re smart and I’m right.“ Page 99.
Our experience in shifting from savings and loan operation to ownership of Freddie Mac shares tends to confirm a long held notion that being prepared, on a few occasions in a lifetime to act promptly in scale and doing some simple and logical things will often dramatically improve the financial results of that lifetime. A few major opportunities clearly recognizable as such will usually come to one who continuously searches and waits, with a curious mind, loving diagnosis involving multiple variables. And then all that is required as a willingness to bet heavily when the odds are extremely favorable, using resources available as a result of prudence and patience in the past. Page 153.
There’s integrity, intelligence, experience, and dedication. That’s what human enterprises need to run well. And we’ve been very lucky and getting this marvelous group of associates to work with all these years it would be hard to do better. I think then we’ve done.
I don’t know of anybody our size who has lower overhead than we do. And we like it that way. Once a company starts getting fancy it is difficult to stop. In fact, Warren wants considered buying a building on a distressed basis for about a quarter of what it would’ve cost to duplicate And as tempting as it was, he decided it would give everybody bad ideas to have surroundings so opulent. So we continue to run our insurance operations from Barry modest quarters at one time Berkshire was subpoenaed for its staff papers and connection with one of its acquisitions, but Monger said there were no papers. There was no staff. Page 171.
People under at the importance of a few simple big ideas. And I think to the extent Berkshire Hathaway is a didactic enterprise teaching the right system of thought, the cheer lesson is that a few big ideas really work. I think these filters of ours have worked out pretty well because they are so simple. However, do not confuse simple with easy. Page 175.
The game of investing is one of making better predictions about the future than other people. How are you going to do that? One way is to limit your tries to areas of competence. If you try to predict the future of everything you attempt too much you’re going to fail through lack of specialization Charlie Munger Page 176
Warren Buffett said: we should’ve owned more Costco and probably if Charlie had been sitting in Omaha we would’ve owned more Costco. Charlie was constantly telling me about this terrific method of distribution and after 10 years or so I started catching on about what he was saying and we bought a little of Costco at Berkshire. We actually negotiated to buy more. I made the most common mistake that I make… We started buying it and the price went up and instead of following it up and continuing to buy more… If Costco had stayed at $15 a share to or so where we were buying it, we would’ve bought a lot more. But instead it went to 15 1/8 and who could pay 15 1/8 when they’ve been paying $15 it wasn’t quite that bad. But I have made that mistake a lot of times and it’s very irritating. Page 187.
You could argue at the very worst of all academic inanity is in the liberal arts departments of the great universities. You can see the reason if you ask the question what one frame of mind is likely to cause the most damage to an individual individuals happiness, his contribution to others and the like – what one frame of mind will be the worst? The answer, of course would be some sort of paranoid self-pity. I can’t imagine a more destructive frame of mind. Your whole university departments want everyone to feel like a victim. And you pay money to send your children to these places. And this is what they teach them. It’s amazing how these pockets of irrationality creep into eminent places. ****the iron prescription: every time you think some person or some unfairness is ruining your life, it is you who are ruining your life.**** Page 224.
The first rule is to not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard Feynman. Page 227
Munger talks a lot about what bothers him with the mutual fund business and managers, taking access fees. He is especially amazed by the endowment at Yale University, who are purchasing fund funds with extra extraordinary fees. He goes on to talk about the devastating impact of the cost of all this complexity on the return of foundations and endowments in a stock market with lower returns. Market returns roughly 5%; total cost 3%; that return 2%. Munger’s recommendation to managers of the funds of not for profit foundations was simple: save yourself a lot of time money and worry, put your endowment into index funds. Alternatively, they could follow Berkshire’s lead and simply buy high-quality stocks and hold on for the long term. It isn’t even necessary to worry about diversification in the United States, a person or institution with almost all wealth invested long-term in just three fine domestic corporations is securely rich, and why should such an owner car if at any time most other investors are faring somewhat better or worse, and particularly so when he rationally believes, like Berkshire, that his long-term results will be superior by reason of his lower costs required emphasis on long-term effects and concentration and his most preferred choices. Page 236.
There is an old two part rule that often works wonders in business science and elsewhere: one take a simple, basic idea and two take it very seriously. Page 265.
****The best and most practical wisdom is elementary academic wisdom. But there is one extremely important qualification: you must think in a multidisciplinary manner. You must routinely use all the easy to learn concepts from the freshman course in every basic subject.***** Where elementary ideas will serve, your problem-solving must not be limited, as academia and many business bureaucracy are limited by extreme balkanization Into disciplines and sub disciplines with strong taboos against any adventure outside assigned territory instead, you must do your multidisciplinary thinking in a accord with Ben Franklin‘s prescription and poor Richard: if you want it done go if not, send. Charlie Munger page 267.
If you’re thinking, you rely entirely on others often through purchase of professional advice whenever outside a small territory of your own, you will suffer much calamity. Page 267.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible – but no more simple.” Albert Einstein page 274
“The company that needs a new machine tool, and hasn’t bought it, is already paying for it.“ Warner and Swasey advertisement.
January 4, 2020
The biography doesn’t enhance the character that is Charlie Munger (like other biographies may), but it does take the reader through his life thoroughly. Loved learning about his family, childhood, time as a lawyer, early (pre-Buffett) investing years, and Berkshire years. The chapters on sees candy, blue chip stamps and Salomon Brothers were particularly interesting.
I must note that Munger is my idol, so perhaps my rating of this book is colored by that fact.
I recommend to anyone interested in polymaths, investing, transactional law, and learning about a fulfilled life.
I must note that Munger is my idol, so perhaps my rating of this book is colored by that fact.
I recommend to anyone interested in polymaths, investing, transactional law, and learning about a fulfilled life.
July 12, 2020
Only if you’re interested in the details of Munger’s life spend time reading this book. Personally I don’t see the benefit of knowing details of for example somebody’s holiday house. There is little or nothing to learn if you’re looking for investment wisdom. The most relevant takeway for me is the (scattered across the 250 pages) description of his character.
November 29, 2023
Charlie Munger 1924-2023
Charlie Munger, Titan of Investing, Dies at 99 https://www.wsj.com/articles/charlie-...
Charlie Munger, Titan of Investing, Dies at 99 https://www.wsj.com/articles/charlie-...
December 21, 2020
Nothing about investing. Waste of time.
July 24, 2021
Charlie Munger is an interesting character - however, I read many biographies and this wasn't a lot of fun to read.
July 14, 2017
A deep, profound and far-reaching insight into the incredible life of the Oracle of Omaha's right hand man, Charlie Munger. Before reading this book I had always been a close follower of Munger -- his investing advice, philosophy, jokes and stoic nature -- but little did I know just how much the man has done in his life; his (very significant) role in Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway's quite astonishing success over the years is something, but his contributions outside of that are equally, or perhaps even more admirable.
Because Charlie dislikes the limelight, avoids smalltalk and likes to keep himself to himself, interviews come once every blue moon. His only guaranteed appearance is at the Berkshire annual meeting, where Warren and Charlie sit down with all their shareholders and take questions -- sometimes for up to 6 hours. Whilst they address the odd personal question, give advice here and there, and share a few personal stories and anecdotes, the talking point rarely deviates from investing, the market and the economy -- and Warren does 90% of the talking; therefore rarely does the world hear about Charlie's life away from his involvement with Berkshire. Little do we know how ignorant we are.
Only when one takes the time to dive deep into his past; spends several days, doing interview after interview, holidaying, and bonding with him in his favourite activities such as hiking, boating and fishing; attends several Berkshire meetings; interviews almost 40 more people, including Otis Booth, Warren Buffet, and other friends and family members; analyses transcriptions of his speeches and lectures; and devotes more than 3 years of one's life in the process, can one start to fathom the magnitude of his contribution, and the profundity and erudition of our generations very own (and Charlie's hero) Ben Franklin. Well -- Janet Lowe did just that, and luckily for us, she documented every bit of it and made it into this darling of a book. Even more luckily for us, Janet's style is very readable -- precise, coherent, clear-cut and for those who like the details, very meticulous when called for.
There have been a few books written on Charlie, and no doubt there'll be many, many more written in the future; but in comparison to this, none come close to doing the man and his life story justice -- not in the faintest. This was published in 2000, and almost two decades later he and Warren are still both going strong; in fact, it seems they're actually getting smarter. Despite its age, this book is as relevant as it ever has been; and I suspect as the years roll on, it will become even more so. That said, since its publishing there has probably been enough happen in Charlie's life to warrant the writing of another book; and for that there can only be one author -- Janet Lowe.
Because Charlie dislikes the limelight, avoids smalltalk and likes to keep himself to himself, interviews come once every blue moon. His only guaranteed appearance is at the Berkshire annual meeting, where Warren and Charlie sit down with all their shareholders and take questions -- sometimes for up to 6 hours. Whilst they address the odd personal question, give advice here and there, and share a few personal stories and anecdotes, the talking point rarely deviates from investing, the market and the economy -- and Warren does 90% of the talking; therefore rarely does the world hear about Charlie's life away from his involvement with Berkshire. Little do we know how ignorant we are.
Only when one takes the time to dive deep into his past; spends several days, doing interview after interview, holidaying, and bonding with him in his favourite activities such as hiking, boating and fishing; attends several Berkshire meetings; interviews almost 40 more people, including Otis Booth, Warren Buffet, and other friends and family members; analyses transcriptions of his speeches and lectures; and devotes more than 3 years of one's life in the process, can one start to fathom the magnitude of his contribution, and the profundity and erudition of our generations very own (and Charlie's hero) Ben Franklin. Well -- Janet Lowe did just that, and luckily for us, she documented every bit of it and made it into this darling of a book. Even more luckily for us, Janet's style is very readable -- precise, coherent, clear-cut and for those who like the details, very meticulous when called for.
There have been a few books written on Charlie, and no doubt there'll be many, many more written in the future; but in comparison to this, none come close to doing the man and his life story justice -- not in the faintest. This was published in 2000, and almost two decades later he and Warren are still both going strong; in fact, it seems they're actually getting smarter. Despite its age, this book is as relevant as it ever has been; and I suspect as the years roll on, it will become even more so. That said, since its publishing there has probably been enough happen in Charlie's life to warrant the writing of another book; and for that there can only be one author -- Janet Lowe.
May 2, 2025
A really fun read. Most of his investments (especially with Buffett) have been written numerous times before, so I won’t dwell on it here.
But I do want to add one thing: Munger has repeatedly said, it’s “always better to buy a wonderful business at a fair price than a fair business at a wonderful price.” It’s not just a morality question, but rather the former will always outperform the latter mathematically. There are several reasons for that:
1 - Transactional frictions: Every single time a person transact, he would have to pay fees on the transaction. Even if the purchasing fee is free, the friction would exist in the form of bid-ask spread. Not to mention, should a person gain from the transaction, even a tax efficient 20% capital gain tax, collected few times a decade, would add up.
2 - Friction Free Compounded Interest: because of the reason above, the only kind of business that can experience interest compounded over long periods of time would be a business that is “wonderful” by nature (what Buffett would describe as a company with sufficient moat). Because of the longer shelf life of such company, an investor could hold the said stock over long periods of time, let the company buy back its share and grow, without incurring any of the transactional fees.
3 - The nature of value investing: a value investor (a term Buffett considers redundant) makes money by buying a company, margin of safety included, sold below its intrinsic value. Due to the fact that the market is not perfectly efficient, the investor could very easily wait for several years for the market value to adjust. However, if the company is simply a lousy company, its competitors could easily outcompete the said company way before the company’s market value could be realized. At the same time, due to the company being “fair”, they could be hemonging money, reducing its intrinsic value much furter.
But I do want to add one thing: Munger has repeatedly said, it’s “always better to buy a wonderful business at a fair price than a fair business at a wonderful price.” It’s not just a morality question, but rather the former will always outperform the latter mathematically. There are several reasons for that:
1 - Transactional frictions: Every single time a person transact, he would have to pay fees on the transaction. Even if the purchasing fee is free, the friction would exist in the form of bid-ask spread. Not to mention, should a person gain from the transaction, even a tax efficient 20% capital gain tax, collected few times a decade, would add up.
2 - Friction Free Compounded Interest: because of the reason above, the only kind of business that can experience interest compounded over long periods of time would be a business that is “wonderful” by nature (what Buffett would describe as a company with sufficient moat). Because of the longer shelf life of such company, an investor could hold the said stock over long periods of time, let the company buy back its share and grow, without incurring any of the transactional fees.
3 - The nature of value investing: a value investor (a term Buffett considers redundant) makes money by buying a company, margin of safety included, sold below its intrinsic value. Due to the fact that the market is not perfectly efficient, the investor could very easily wait for several years for the market value to adjust. However, if the company is simply a lousy company, its competitors could easily outcompete the said company way before the company’s market value could be realized. At the same time, due to the company being “fair”, they could be hemonging money, reducing its intrinsic value much furter.
February 14, 2019
There are only a couple of books on Charlie Munger, Poor Charlie's Almanack and this one. It's important to read these. Especially I liked this one better because it is the only one which gives the sequence of things that occured in Charlie's life.
Charlie is more realistic than Buffett and the statements he gives are much more direct than Buffett. I feel that due to this, we can learn a lot more from him than Buffett because Buffett will sugarcoat a few things.
Janet takes through life of Munger through different viewpoints of family and work and mentions how he went through his 70 years (book published in 2000). Firstly working in law, he understood cases and businesses, had some wins in real estate transactions followed by which he co-founded Munger, Tolles and Company in which he had an impressive 24.6% return over 20 years. He bought Blue Chip Stamps with Buffett, and faced a bit of downturn over a couple of years. He managed it well though and came out about even in the investment.
Some cases of Buffalo News, Blue Chip Stamps, Good Samaritan Hospital and Salomon are discussed in sufficient detail to give some insight into his actions. His interactions with family and friends is given in some cases which shows some of his principles in details.
I cannot recommend any books more than those on Charlie Munger. He's a rich man. I was talking about ideas in his brain.
Charlie is more realistic than Buffett and the statements he gives are much more direct than Buffett. I feel that due to this, we can learn a lot more from him than Buffett because Buffett will sugarcoat a few things.
Janet takes through life of Munger through different viewpoints of family and work and mentions how he went through his 70 years (book published in 2000). Firstly working in law, he understood cases and businesses, had some wins in real estate transactions followed by which he co-founded Munger, Tolles and Company in which he had an impressive 24.6% return over 20 years. He bought Blue Chip Stamps with Buffett, and faced a bit of downturn over a couple of years. He managed it well though and came out about even in the investment.
Some cases of Buffalo News, Blue Chip Stamps, Good Samaritan Hospital and Salomon are discussed in sufficient detail to give some insight into his actions. His interactions with family and friends is given in some cases which shows some of his principles in details.
I cannot recommend any books more than those on Charlie Munger. He's a rich man. I was talking about ideas in his brain.
January 10, 2023
If you want Munger wisdom, check out the Seeking Wisdom book instead. This is too random for my taste, I don't think I took home anything lasting or what I didn't hear before. Perhaps a closer look as to what went on with his eye, but then again you are digging deep into the personal/medical life of Charlie. I have nothing against him and look up to him as Buffett's right hand. But this book just didn't quite cut it, hence my neutral 3-star rating. When the author/designer feels the need to explicitly state the word BILLIONAIRE on the cover, I can't help but be reminded of BuzzFeed clickbait. The foreword was good, then it went to downhill, downright unmemorable, I'm sorry. Just read other stuff related to Berkshire or him, as you are not going be a better investor by reading this. I like to hear Charlie's story, but the book didn't do a great job, merely an okay one. Overall, I seem to realize I like it better when great people tell their stories in their own words, and not through book ABOUT them. Buffett's letters were priceless and that is still a good foundation of my business knowledge. This book didn't make me feel connected to the person in question. For example, Ashlee Vance's Musk book did a better job.
January 4, 2020
Invert, always invert. - Carl Jacobi
At 96 years old, Charlie has a world-view and perspective that is unrivalled in our rush and crush of the moment. Charlie likes to look at problems in reverse and there are few better models of reverse than the 96-year-old, witty, intelligent, vice Chairman of Berkshire to work back from.
If 96 and still firing on all cylinders is the goal, this is the roadmap inverted of how Charlie got to where he is today.
Probably the most enduring lesson and example that Charlie offers is to always be learning. His family called him a "book with legs" because, despite being blind in one eye and having to use coke-bottle glasses to read through his cataracts in the remaining eye, Charlie was indefatigable in the pursuit of knowledge. He prefers to spend most of his time with the "imminent dead" as he finds their wisdom more enduring that the less proven pop-chart pundits.
If you are going to read only one book about Charlie Munger, Janet Lowe has written the definitive book here: read this book then get to work, in reverse. You will be the better for it.
At 96 years old, Charlie has a world-view and perspective that is unrivalled in our rush and crush of the moment. Charlie likes to look at problems in reverse and there are few better models of reverse than the 96-year-old, witty, intelligent, vice Chairman of Berkshire to work back from.
If 96 and still firing on all cylinders is the goal, this is the roadmap inverted of how Charlie got to where he is today.
Probably the most enduring lesson and example that Charlie offers is to always be learning. His family called him a "book with legs" because, despite being blind in one eye and having to use coke-bottle glasses to read through his cataracts in the remaining eye, Charlie was indefatigable in the pursuit of knowledge. He prefers to spend most of his time with the "imminent dead" as he finds their wisdom more enduring that the less proven pop-chart pundits.
If you are going to read only one book about Charlie Munger, Janet Lowe has written the definitive book here: read this book then get to work, in reverse. You will be the better for it.
September 5, 2024
Excellent biography of the great Charlie Munger:
Main takeaways:
. Charlie Munger’s Midwestern family valued hard work and integrity.
• He started his career as a lawyer but moved gradually into the life of an investor.
• Family has always mattered to Charlie; he has eight children from two marriages.
• Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett met in 1959 and got along immediately.
• The successes of Charlie’s law fi rm, Munger, Tolles, and his hedge fund, Wheeler,
. Munger & Co., founded in 1962, furthered his career as an independent investor.
• Munger and Buffett built an informal partnership, investing together throughout the 1970s.
• The two created the present structure of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company
in the early 1980s, and have been profi tably investing in companies ever since.
• Charlie has always been an honest businessman, and is the fi rst to admit to his mistakes.
• He promotes social causes, including abortion rights and quality health care.
• He earned his status as one of the world’s foremost investors
Main takeaways:
. Charlie Munger’s Midwestern family valued hard work and integrity.
• He started his career as a lawyer but moved gradually into the life of an investor.
• Family has always mattered to Charlie; he has eight children from two marriages.
• Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett met in 1959 and got along immediately.
• The successes of Charlie’s law fi rm, Munger, Tolles, and his hedge fund, Wheeler,
. Munger & Co., founded in 1962, furthered his career as an independent investor.
• Munger and Buffett built an informal partnership, investing together throughout the 1970s.
• The two created the present structure of the Berkshire Hathaway holding company
in the early 1980s, and have been profi tably investing in companies ever since.
• Charlie has always been an honest businessman, and is the fi rst to admit to his mistakes.
• He promotes social causes, including abortion rights and quality health care.
• He earned his status as one of the world’s foremost investors
April 19, 2024
ตั้งเเต่บท 6 ขึ้นไปเนื้อหาเริ่มเข้มข้นเเละน่าติดตามมากขึ้น ชาร์ลี มังเกอร์ผู้ที่มองเฉียบขาดเเละคมเกือบในทุกเรื่องราว ประสบการณ์เเละสิ่งที่เราคลุกคลี ทำให้เรามีความเฉียบเเหลมมากขึ้น
พอถึงบทที่ 10-19 จะเกี่ยวกับ case study ที่เคยลงทุน อ่านรู้เรื่องบ้างไม่รู้เรื่องบ้าง ค่อนข้างน่าเบื่อ
พอถึงบทที่ 20 เเก่นสาระที่สอน เริ่มกลับมาอีกครั้ง (มีเเรงอ่านให้จบอีกครั้ง)
พอถึงภาคผนวก ข สุนทรพจน์ เป็นเเก่นที่ได้ความรู้เน้นๆ เเต่กลับอ่านยากเเละเข้าใจยากมาก
หนังสือเล่มนี้เป็นหนังสือที่บอกเล่าประวัติชาร์ลี ได้ดี เเต่เนื้อหาค่อนข้างเข้าใจยากมากสำหรับเรา หากจะอ่านเพื่อนำไปต่อยอด ผมให้คะเเนน 1/5 เเต่หากอยากรู้เรื่องราวเกี่ยวกับชาร์ลี ผมให้ 4/5
ส่วนความยากของหนังสือเล่มนี้ ผมให้ 4/5 กระโหลก เเละความเข้มข้นของเนื้อหา ให้ 5/5 เเทบไม่มีที่ไม่ว่างเหลือในกระดาษเลย ได้เเต่อุทานว่า เมื่อไรมันจะจบวะ เเม่งอ่านยากจริงๆ
พอถึงบทที่ 10-19 จะเกี่ยวกับ case study ที่เคยลงทุน อ่านรู้เรื่องบ้างไม่รู้เรื่องบ้าง ค่อนข้างน่าเบื่อ
พอถึงบทที่ 20 เเก่นสาระที่สอน เริ่มกลับมาอีกครั้ง (มีเเรงอ่านให้จบอีกครั้ง)
พอถึงภาคผนวก ข สุนทรพจน์ เป็นเเก่นที่ได้ความรู้เน้นๆ เเต่กลับอ่านยากเเละเข้าใจยากมาก
หนังสือเล่มนี้เป็นหนังสือที่บอกเล่าประวัติชาร์ลี ได้ดี เเต่เนื้อหาค่อนข้างเข้าใจยากมากสำหรับเรา หากจะอ่านเพื่อนำไปต่อยอด ผมให้คะเเนน 1/5 เเต่หากอยากรู้เรื่องราวเกี่ยวกับชาร์ลี ผมให้ 4/5
ส่วนความยากของหนังสือเล่มนี้ ผมให้ 4/5 กระโหลก เเละความเข้มข้นของเนื้อหา ให้ 5/5 เเทบไม่มีที่ไม่ว่างเหลือในกระดาษเลย ได้เเต่อุทานว่า เมื่อไรมันจะจบวะ เเม่งอ่านยากจริงๆ
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