Buffett’s companion Charlie Munger dies at age 99. Finland closes the last border for passenger traffic to Russia

Charlie Munger, the closest confidante and companion of investing legend Warren Buffett, has died at the age of 99. Buffett emphasized in a statement on Tuesday that without Munger’s inspiration and wisdom, their Berkshire Hathaway investment interest would never have become so large. Munger died Tuesday morning at a California hospital, it said, without elaborating. He would have turned one hundred years old on January 1.

Munger worked for Buffett (93) at Berkshire Hathaway for decades. He was deputy chief administrative officer and one of the largest shareholders. This also made him a billionaire. Berkshire Hathaway owns insurer Geico, railway company BNSF and battery manufacturer Duracell, among others.

Berkshire’s instinct for good deals has seen its investments in various companies significantly outperform the average stock market over the years. A $1,000 investment in Berkshire Hathaway in the mid-1960s is worth more than $10 million today.

Munger and Buffett both grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. Munger even worked at Buffett’s grandfather’s grocery store when he was young, but the two men didn’t meet for the first time until 1959. Buffett later said Munger changed his approach as an investor.

Originally, he was just looking for bargains – “decent companies at a great price,” as Buffett put it. Munger convinced him that great companies at a fair price were a much better deal. The new perspective has made him much richer than he ever would have been as a bargain hunter, Buffett emphasizes.

The purchase of the textile company Berkshire Hathaway, which eventually became the world’s best-known investment holding company, was still a classic Buffett deal: difficult and cheap. One of the first major deals under the new philosophy was the purchase of the American chocolate chain See’s Candies in the early 1970s. Berkshire paid three times more than the company was worth, but See’s generated more than $2 billion in profits over the years, making it a lucrative investment.

Munger was a successful investor in his own right before officially joining Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered the driving force behind early investments in technology companies such as Chinese electric car and battery specialist BYD. Berkshire also stocked up on Apple shares – even though the price already seemed too high for many investors. But inspired by the success of the iPhone, the price rose significantly higher.

Although Buffett often comes across as the “Oracle of Omaha” full of meaning, investors often liked Munger’s humorous touch. As the Internet bubble burst in 2000, Buffett gave a long, serious answer about pyramid schemes at the 2000 shareholder meeting when asked about the consequences of speculation. Munger succinctly noted, “If you mix raisins with feces, it remains feces.” Munger also made a similar assessment of cryptocurrencies, which he wanted to ban this year because they resemble gambling.

Until shortly before his death, Munger organized his Friday lunches, which included, for example, video game entrepreneur Bobby Kotick and the founders of the payment company Stripe, Patrick and John Collison. His favorite pastime is “figuring out what works and what doesn’t – and why that is,” he told the Wall Street Journal four years ago. (sda/dpa)