'Buffett's Close Partner' Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Passes Away at 99

Charlie Munger. [Photo by AFP Yonhap News]

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's close friend and longtime business partner, and vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, passed away at the age of 99 on the 28th (local time).

According to major foreign media, the company reported that Munger peacefully passed away that morning at a hospital in California, USA, as informed by his family.

Munger first connected with Buffett while working part-time at a grocery store run by Buffett's grandfather during the Great Depression in the 1940s. He later enrolled at the University of Michigan but dropped out and served as an Air Force officer during World War II. In 1948, he graduated from Harvard Law School and worked as a real estate attorney in Los Angeles.

He joined Berkshire as vice chairman in 1978 and led the company alongside Buffett for 45 years as his right-hand man. During this period, Buffett and Munger achieved an average annual return of 20%. Foreign media have described the partnership between Buffett and Munger as one of the most successful cases in business history.

Like Buffett, he was a value investor and often said, "All intelligent investing is value investing." Every word he spoke wielded powerful influence over the capital markets.

Munger also taught Buffett an investment approach of buying good companies at a "reasonable" price rather than at a "cheap" price. Buffett once said, "Munger taught me the philosophy that you cannot make money simply by trying to buy cheaply."

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