rip charlie munger. he sucked

the vice president of berkshire hathaway and owner of the daily journal was an anti-competitive monopolist who did not think you were a serious person if you weren't making assloads of money.

“There's class warfare, all right. But it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.”

- Warren Buffet

“We are very fortunate that the judiciary system in this country is by and large free of corruption.”

- Charlie Munger

Rest in peace to Charlie Munger, my old boss at the Los Angeles Daily Journal and Warren Buffet’s right hand man at Berkshire Hathaway.

I remember one time Munger came into our office for one of his annual shareholder meetings, which was like the Coachella of capitalism or whatever, and I watched him get completely lost in his own building. Guy got so rich he never knew where he was going.

But we loved him. Upon the billionaire’s death recently at 99, the entire Internet proceeded to kiss the ring. Munger was really good at money. He was called a genius. Sure he was grumpy, but gave funny, insightful quotes that inspired a lot of business majors to “achieve their dreams.” He lived in the same house for 40 years! Wow, he’s just like us.

I know, I’m a hater. So I’m just gonna go for it. Charlie Munger sucked. The son of a lawyer and grandson of a federal judge and state rep, Munger was a nepo baby born on third base. And everything Munger stood for is why most Americans have not been doing well. Like Succession’s Logan Roy, Munger thought if you weren’t busy all the time making tons of money and concentrating power, sorry, you just weren’t a serious person. But Munger wasn’t even good for capitalism. He was a monopolist. He did not like competition. His whole life was about vulture capitalism that really only benefitted him.

He once said that, “In a democracy, everyone takes turns. But if you really want a lot of wisdom, it’s better to concentrate decisions and process in one person.”

It’s so cool that Munger liked autocracy. He was that one person. While VP of the mega parent company Berkshire Hathaway, Munger bought insurance giant Geico and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company, and stakes in Coca-Cola, American Express, IBM, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Kraft Heinz. Dang he even got that ketchup monopoly! It became massive. Buffet and Munger once said their ideal business to purchase had, “High pricing power, a monopoly.” Obviously, monopolies=very bad. Consumers ended up worse because of them.

The duo literally put others out of business due to their anti-competitive practices. In the late 1970s, they bought the Buffalo News, and started printing on Sundays at virtually no cost. The only other paper in the city, the Buffalo Courier-Express, sued, arguing it was illegal. A judge ordered an injunction against Munger and Buffet’s paper, ruling that if they kept it up the Munger rival would go out of business. But eventually the ruling got overturned. Five years later the Courier-Express folded. Munger’s paper was operating at a loss, but that was okay as long as it solidified its monopoly chokehold on the local media market.

The Daily Journal Corporation was also accused in court of engaging in anti-competitive practices to steal trade secrets of a rival publication in Seattle during the early 1990s. The Daily Journal started a new publication, and soon after the rival went out of business.

bros 4 life: warren buffet (left) and charlie munger in the 1970s. (buffalo news)

Munger’s ascent was at the expense of the middle and lower class. Beginning in the late 1970s, when Munger got really rich, the wealth divide between upper income families and middle to lower income families in the United States started to increase. And during this century, middle-income families saw their median net worth shrink by 20% and lower-income families experienced a loss of 45%. Meanwhile, upper-income families were the only income tier able to build on their wealth, adding 33%. The median net wealth for American families right now is about $192,000. When Munger died his net wealth was $2.3 billion.

During Covid, Berkshire Hathaway laid off 13,500 workers, despite raking in $56 billion during the first six months of the pandemic.

Never mind some of the stories I’ve heard about Munger and the way he really talked. I won’t repeat them here, but they wouldn’t make a cute CNBC listicle like all his other quotes.

Anyway, thanks for giving me a job Mr. Munger! <3