Warren Buffett Pays Heartfelt Tribute: "Berkshire Loses Its Architect, Munger," Leaves Investors Reflecting

livemint.com:

Warren Buffett left no doubt: He misses Charlie Munger, and so will Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders. Buffett on Saturday devoted a special section of his annual shareholder letter to Munger, who died in November at age 99. The 93-year-old Buffett called his long-time business partner a key driver behind what has become his more than $900 billion, Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate.

"Charlie was the 'architect' of the present Berkshire, and I acted as the 'general contractor' to carry out the day-by-day construction of his vision," Buffett wrote. Jim Shanahan, an Edward Jones analyst who covers Berkshire, called that a "profound compliment" from arguably the world's most revered investor. "Buffett gave Charlie Munger a lot of credit for Berkshire's success and his personal success," he said.

"Without his wisdom and guidance, Buffett wouldn't have been as successful as he has been." Munger's death deprived Buffett of his closest confidante of more than 60 years, the last 45 as a Berkshire vice chairman. The two grew up at the same time in Omaha, though Buffett did not meet Munger until 1959. Under their leadership, Berkshire became the owner of dozens of businesses such as Geico insurance and the BNSF railroad and holder of more than $350 billion in stocks led by Apple .

Munger was known for his common-sense, witty and occasionally acerbic maxims. "Envy is a really stupid sin," he said in 2003, "because it's the only one you could never possibly have any fun at." But he also became known as the person who changed Buffett's attitude toward investing. Buffett credited Munger with convincing him to buy "wonderful companies at fair prices instead of fair companies at wonderful prices" -- the latter of which Buffett has