Charlie Munger

Charles Thomas Munger was born on January 1, 1924, and grew up during the Great Depression, experiencing financial hardship that shaped his pragmatic worldview. He served as a meteorologist in World War II before attending Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude in 1948. Munger practiced law, founding the prestigious firm Munger, Tolles & Olson in California in 1962, but shifted toward business after meeting Warren Buffett in the 1950s. In the early 1950s, Munger entered investing through real estate and a leveraged buyout of Transformer Engineers Ltd. with client Ed Hoskins, marking his first major business venture outside law. By 1962, he launched his own investment partnership, achieving strong returns through concentrated bets on small growth companies, outperforming benchmarks until dissolving it in 1975 amid market challenges. His encounter with Buffett evolved their partnership; Munger influenced Buffett to prioritize high-quality businesses with compounding potential over pure cheapness, blending quantitative and qualitative analysis. Munger joined Berkshire Hathaway formally in the late 1970s as vice chairman, broadening its strategy to acquire resilient, well-managed companies like See's Candies and guiding investments during crises, such as 2008's Goldman Sachs and Bank of America deals. He championed 'mental models'—drawing principles from diverse fields like psychology and physics for better decisions—and became known for witty, irreverent wisdom on rationality and avoiding folly. A Pasadena resident, Munger engaged in philanthropy, including donations to education and health initiatives.