#221 Charlie Munger

**David Senra** (0:00)
I want to tell you about a one-time only limited event that I don't think you're going to want to miss. I am doing a live show with Patrick O'Shaughnessy from the Invest Like the Best podcast in New York City on October 19th. Patrick has interviewed over 300 of the world's best investors and founders for his podcast. I've read over 300 biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs for my podcast. We'll be talking about what we learned from seven years of podcasting, sharing our favorite ideas and stories, and doing a live Q&A. There will also be special event-only swag. If you live in New York City, I think it's a no-brainer. But if not, I think it's a great excuse to fly in. I've already heard from a bunch of people that bought tickets, they're flying in from other cities. Some people are flying in from other countries. That's setting the bar really high. So I will have at least four shots of espresso or four energy drinks before or during the show. So we can make it a night that you'll never forget. If you're interested in attending this unique live event, I will leave a link down below. I highly recommend you get your tickets today. And I hope I get to see you in New York on October 19th. Charlie truly is one of a kind. I recognized that in 1959 when I first met him, and I've been discovering unique qualities in him ever since.
Anyone who's had even the briefest contact with Charlie would tell you the same, but usually they would be thinking of his, shall we say, behavioral style. Miss Manners clearly would need to do a lot of work on Charlie before she would grant him a diploma. To me, however, what makes Charlie special is his character. It's true that his mind is breathtaking. He's as bright as any person I'd ever met, and still has a memory that I would kill for. He was born, though, with these abilities. It's how he has elected to use them that makes me regard him so highly.
In 41 years, I've never seen Charlie try to take advantage of anyone, nor have I seen him claim the least bit of credit for anything that he didn't do.
In fact, I've witnessed exactly the opposite. He has knowingly let me and others have the better end of a deal, and has always shouldered more than his share of blame when things go wrong, and accepted less than his share of credit when the reverse has been true.
He is generous in the deepest sense, and never lets ego interfere with rationality.
Unlike most individuals who hunger for the world's approval, Charlie judges himself entirely by an inner scorecard, and he's a tough grader.
On business matters, Charlie and I agree at a very high percentage of the time. On social issues, we sometimes see things differently. But despite the fact that we both cherish our strong opinions, we have never in our entire friendship had an argument, nor found disagreement a reason to be disagreeable. It is very difficult to imagine Charlie on a corner in a Salvation Army uniform. No, make that impossible to imagine. But he seems to have embraced the charity's creed of hate the sin, but not the sinner.
And speaking of sin, Charlie even brings rationality to that subject. He concludes that sins such as lust, gluttony and sloth are to be avoided. Nevertheless, he understands transgressions in these areas since they often produce instant, albeit fleeting pleasure.
Envy, however, strikes him as the silliest of the seven deadly sins, since it produces nothing pleasant at all. To the contrary, it simply makes the practitioner feel miserable.
I've had an enormous amount of fun in my business life and far more than if I had not partnered up with Charlie. With his Mungerisms, he has been highly entertaining and he has also shaped my thinking in a major way. Though many would label Charlie a businessman, I would opt for teacher. And Berkshire clearly is a much more valuable and admirable company because of what Charlie has taught us.
That was Warren Buffett writing in the forward of the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Damn Right, Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway billionaire, Charlie Munger, and it was written by Janet Lowe.
So this is now the fourth book that I've read on Charlie in the fourth podcast that I've done on him. So if you haven't gone back and listened to the other episodes, in case you're unaware of them, it's number 78, The Tao of Charlie Munger, number 79, Charlie Munger, The Complete Investor and number 90, Poor Charlie's Almanac. And the reason that I wanted to read another book on him is because two things that Warren Buffett just said about Charlie, I think of him in the same way. And it's when Warren said that he has shaped my thinking was the first thing. And then that he would describe him as a teacher is the second thing. Many years ago, I was listening to this interview, Kevin Rose, the founder of DIG, the former founder of DIG was doing with Elon Musk. And Elon said something in that podcast that I thought was interesting. He talked about why he didn't read the business books, that he said he preferred to read biographies because he was looking for, he thought they were helpful, but he was saying, he said he found, he didn't know many mentors in person, but he found mentors in an historical context through these books, through the biographies that he was reading. That's the way I feel about Charlie. I feel like he's been a mentor to me. I consider him, like when I listen to him speak or when I read his words, he's like the wise grandfather I never had. So one of my grandfathers died before I could remember him, and the other grandfather is the worst person I ever met. And so Charlie fills that gap of somebody that is 60 years further down in life than I am, and yet is very generous in sharing all the lessons he learned from his multiple decade career and just life in general, and then is sure to push them down and share them with future generations. So let me go jump into the introduction of the book that is written by Janet Lowe, by the author, and she's talking about what she's hoping to do. Like she had some cooperation with Charlie. This book, I should point out, she's gonna reference him as a 76 year old. He's I think 97, 98 So the book is about 21 years old. But she says, although he became involved in the project, Charlie tried to resist the temptation to direct the book. Other, and this is why he would even be involved in something like this, and basically what I was just describing to you. Other than to say that he hoped it would emphasize the lessons he learned during his 76 years of life. He would like others to benefit from his errors and successes.