Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway Has Died

Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., speaks during the Daily Journal Corp. shareholder meeting in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, died Tuesday morning, the company confirmed in a statement.

"Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie’s inspiration, wisdom and participation," Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a statement.

Munger died "peacefully" at a California hospital, according to Berkshire Hathaway. He was 99 years old, and his 100th birthday would have been January 1, 2024.

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Munger worked with Buffett for decades as they built on the philosophies that would make Berkshire Hathaway an investing powerhouse. While the two both were born in Omaha, Nebraska, they didn't meet until a dinner party in 1959, at which point Munger was working in law in California, according to the Associated Press.

Over the next two decades, the pair stayed in touch and shared investing ideas and plans. Eventually, that partnership is what became Berkshire Hathaway, with Munger taking on the vice chairman role in 1978. He also served as chairman and president of Wesco Financial.

Munger was known to be a dedicated reader and thinker, if a man of fewer words than his more front-facing investing partner. His advice has been widely spread and used over the years, particularly from Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, a collection of his talks, lectures and other commentary.

"Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve," Munger wrote.

Munger went from Omaha to the University of Michigan, before joining the Army Air Corps during World War II. He went on to get a law degree from Harvard before working in both law and investing. After his decades of work, he had an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes.

All the while, Munger and Buffett valued each others' intellect, decision making and friendship.

"We never had an argument in the entire time we’ve known each other, which is almost 60 years now," Buffett told CNBC in 2018. "Charlie has given me the ultimate gift that a person can give to somebody else. He’s made me a better person than I would have otherwise been."

Alexandra Svokos is the digital managing editor of Kiplinger. She holds an MBA from NYU Stern in finance and management and a BA in economics and creative writing from Columbia University. Alexandra has over a decade of experience in journalism and previously served as the senior editor of digital for ABC News, where she directed daily news coverage across topics through major events of the early 2020s for the network's website, including stock market trends, the remote and return-to-work revolutions, and the national economy. Before that, she pioneered politics and election coverage for Elite Daily and went on to serve as the senior news editor for that group.

Alexandra was recognized with an "Up & Comer" award at the 2018 Folio: Top Women in Media awards, and she was asked twice by the Nieman Journalism Lab to contribute to their annual journalism predictions feature. She has also been asked to speak on panels and give presentations on the future of media and on business and media, including by the Center for Communication and Twipe.

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