Warren Buffett referred to close friend Charlie Munger as the „the architect of Berkshire Hathaway.“
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway gathered for its first annual meeting in an Omaha arena on Saturday, bringing together shareholders for the first time since the death of longtime vice chairman and right-hand man .
Tens of thousands of shareholders filled the arena eager to vacuum up tidbits of wisdom from billionaire Buffett, who famously dubbed the meeting „Woodstock for Capitalists“ and to pay tribute to Munger, who died at 99 in November.
The meeting opened with a video tribute to Munger recounting his life and highlighting some of his best known quotes from the meetings over the years that drew applause, including classic lines like „If people weren’t so often wrong, we wouldn’t be so rich.“ The video also featured old interviews with Buffett and Munger talking .
The video also featured several of the classic skits the investors made for meetings over the years with holiday stars like a „Desperate Housewives“ spoof where one of the women introduced Munger as her boyfriend and another video where Jamie Lee Curtis swooned over Munger.
As the video ended, everyone in the arena gave Munger a prolonged standing ovation to thank him for being what Buffett called „the architect of Berkshire Hathaway.“
For decades, Munger shared the stage with Buffett every year for the marathon question and answer session that is the event’s centerpiece. Munger routinely let Buffett take the lead with expansive responses that went on for several minutes. Then Munger himself would cut directly to the point. He is remembered for calling cryptocurrencies stupid, telling people to „marry the best person that will have you“ and comparing many unproven internet businesses in 2000 to „turds.“
He and Buffett functioned as a classic comedy duo, with Buffett offering lengthy setups to Munger’s witty one-liners. Together, they transformed Berkshire from a floundering textile mill into a massive conglomerate made up of a variety of interests, from insurance companies such as Geico to BNSF railroad to several major utilities and an assortment of other companies.
