Legacy: Berkshire Hathaway's 'abominable no-man'
The legendary businessman dies at the age of 99
![Charlie Munger.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wR4ZX6AXDKkTkLw89HYxLT-415-80.jpg)
The smartest insight and analysis, from all perspectives, rounded up from around the web:
Charlie Munger was no sidekick, said Beth Kowitt in Bloomberg. The legendary businessman, who died last week at age 99, was best known as the longtime vice chairman at Berkshire Hathaway. But he was more than Warren Buffett’s No. 2. "He was the ultimate second banana." That might not sound like a compliment, but it is. A second banana, a great business journalist once explained, is someone who "passed up the glories of the top job" to pursue the challenge of "the hands-on running" of a company. "When it comes down to it, a second banana is a CEO’s equal partner rather than a lackey," and that describes Munger to a T. He "wasn’t a yes man" — Buffett used to call him the "abominable no-man" — "but he also wasn’t a rival or a threat." He was a counterweight to Buffett in ideology, strategy and management approach. Their daily phone calls helped build Berkshire into a $780 billion company. More CEOs should be lucky enough to find a partner like that.
Munger is responsible for getting Buffett "to rethink his entire philosophy of investing," said James Surowiecki in Fast Company. "Buffett had grown up as a disciple of Benjamin Graham" and his principles of bargain hunting for undervalued companies. Munger pushed Buffett to look instead for "great businesses," which would lead to Berkshire’s phenomenal track record with stocks such as Coca-Cola, Costco and Apple. Like Lennon and McCartney or Mantle and Maris, they had complementary strengths, said The Economist. Buffett is the "master of the plain and simple," whereas Munger was "a complex thinker." But he was also "honest, realistic, profoundly curious, and unfettered by conventional thinking." Above all else, he valued the trustworthiness of business leaders, despised accounting gimmickry, and referred to Bitcoin as "rat poison."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Munger also never stopped working, said Jason Zweig in The Wall Street Journal. "He may well have been the busiest near-centenarian in business history." In addition to being vice chairman at Berkshire, he was chairman of the legal publisher Daily Journal, a director at Costco, and a partner in one of Southern California’s biggest apartment developers. "In his spare time, Munger still indulged his hobby of designing architectural projects," although not every idea was a success. His radical design for a college dormitory at the University of California, Santa Barbara, was abandoned earlier this year after the consulting architect resigned in protest over Munger’s plan to have digital screens in place of most windows.
The question now is how Berkshire moves forward, said Eric Platt and Harriet Agnew in the Financial Times. Buffett is 93. There are two vice-chairs, "Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, who run its operating businesses and insurance unit, respectively." Buffett has already indicated that Abel, 61, is the company’s heir apparent. "Beyond such practical considerations, Berkshire followers are also focused on the personal impact on Buffett after losing his right-hand man." On the first trading day after Munger died, Berkshire’s shares barely moved, falling only half a percentage point. That’s exactly "the kind of reaction that the two men had long wanted," and a testament to their lasting principles.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Why Roman epic Those About to Die has split the critics
Talking Point Sword and sandals miniseries starring Anthony Hopkins puts spectacle above story
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Why is China stockpiling resources?
The Explainer The superpower has been amassing huge reserves of commodities at great cost despite its economic downturn
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Paraguay's dangerous dalliance with cryptocurrency
Under The Radar Overheating Paraguayans are pushing back over power outages caused by illegal miners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
It's not your imagination — restaurant reservations are becoming harder to get
In the Spotlight Bots, scalpers and even credit card companies are making reservations a rare commodity
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The big deal: Why are fast-food chains suddenly offering discounts?
Today's Big Question After inflation and price hikes, a need to bring customers back
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Retail media is seeing a surge this year
The Explainer Amazon now makes more money from advertising than Coca-Cola's global revenue
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
A massive copper shortage is on the horizon
Under the Radar It is estimated that mines will only meet 80% of copper needs by 2030
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Elon Musk's future at Tesla may hang in the (very expensive) balance
Talking Points The iconic electric vehicle's board must convince shareholders it's worth awarding their tech titan CEO a $50 billion pay compensation package — or he might walk
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How did Starbucks 'fall from grace'?
The Explainer The coffee giant faces lower quarterly sales. Is it the economy, or have the drinks grown stale?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
How Wall Street and Endless Shrimp may have killed Red Lobster
Under the Radar The company's shrimp deal may have worked a little too well
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Downtown St. Louis is in a real estate 'doom loop'
Under the Radar The city is rife with abandoned buildings and vacant lots, with its real estate market in dire straits
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published