Charlie Munger, the right-hand man of the famous American businessman Warren Buffett, has died aged 99.

Charlie Munger, right-hand man to businessman Warren Buffett, died on Tuesday at the age of 99. A lawyer by training, with a degree in meteorology, he joined Berkshire Hathaway in 1978, after running his own investment company for over a decade.

 

Businessman Warren Buffett's right-hand man, Charlie Munger, died on Tuesday at the age of 99 in a California hospital, announced the financial conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, which the two men built into a giant of the American economy.

 

"Berkshire Hathaway could not have become what it is today without Charlie's inspiration, wisdom and involvement," Warren Buffett reacted, quoted in a statement released Tuesday, about the Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman.

 

A lawyer by training, but also with a degree in meteorology, Charlie Munger, like Warren Buffett, came from Omaha (Nebraska, north), where he worked as a young man in his grandfather Buffett's grocery store. He met Warren Buffett in 1959, but didn't join Berkshire Hathaway until 1978, after running his own investment company for over a decade.

 

As vice-president, he helped transform Berkshire Hathaway from a small textile company bought in the mid-60s into a gigantic conglomerate, now valued at over 782 billion dollars. Both men take a rational, dispassionate approach to investing, often based on a long-term strategy that runs counter to the short-termism of many market players.

 

"Charlie Munger changed my way of looking at things, he refined it enormously, in terms of looking for quality companies and making an investment that can last 5, 10 or 20 years," Warren Buffett had said in a recorded interview in 2017.

 

"He forced me to ask myself the question: is this a business we want to keep forever?" he had added.

 

Charlie Munger's fortune is estimated at $2.6 billion, but this is only the residue of his wealth, most of which he donated to charity during his lifetime. Every year, thousands of people came to Omaha to hear the two men speak at Berkshire Hathaway's Annual General Meeting, during which they would spend several hours answering questions from the audience.

 

Although approaching 100 years of age, which he would have turned on January 1, Charlie Munger never officially retired. At 93, Warren Buffett remains CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. In 2021, however, he has appointed a successor, in the person of Greg Abel, 61, currently vice-chairman of the group.