Charlie Munger summary

Have you heard of Charlie Munger? He’s the legendary investor and financial partner of Warren Buffett, a household name when it comes to smart, successful investing.

But that’s not all. Munger is also vice-president of Berkshire Hathaway, where Buffett is CEO. It should come as no surprise that Munger and Buffett have guided Berkshire Hathaway more than successfully!

Berkshire Hathaway is the fifth-largest public company in the world. Its activities are broad, with interests in sectors such as insurance, finance, energy, utilities, rail freight transport, manufacturing and services. The company also is the sole owner of fast food restaurant chain Dairy Queen, clothing manufacturer Fruit of the Loom and private jet company NetJets, to name just a few.

Berkshire Hathaway also holds considerable stakes in financial services firm American Express, technology giant IBM and The Coca-Cola Company.

On the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Berkshire Hathaway common stock is listed with the trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B.

In December 2014, a Berkshire Hathaway Class A share sold for over $220,000, the highest priced per-share trade on the NYSE. In 2015, the annual revenue of Berkshire Hathaway was $200 billion.

Which begs the question: how did Berkshire Hathaway become such a success?

The company’s success was built on the brilliant investing strategies and sharp minds of Munger and Buffett. For Munger, his success as an investor stems from his unwavering desire to teach himself new things. Indeed, he is the perfect example of his belief that successful investors must be learning machines.

Munger and Buffett dedicate 80 percent of their working day to reading, making acquiring tons of knowledge a key part of their work. Munger says he wasn’t born a business genius but honed his investment savvy through countless hours of reading and absorbing information daily for years.