VIEW FROM THE THAMES
DEON GOUWS: The day I met Charlie Munger
A signed dollar bill by Warren Buffett is probably his least valuable takeaway from the legendary Berkshire Hathaway duo, writes Deon Gouws
In the wake of Charlie Munger’s recent death, practically everyone in the world of investing has a story about this “Abominable No-Man” (which is how Warren Buffett jokingly referred to his sceptical colleague). Most of those tributes include a number of his laconic quotes, typically going to the heart of a complicated matter with biting wit. I won’t add to the compendium; you’ve read them all.
But I did meet the great man and his business partner once. In the late 1990s, a few professional fund managers from Cape Town started attending the Berkshire Hathaway AGM in Omaha on a regular basis. The group was initially led by Piet Viljoen, with Walter Aylett and Kokkie Kooyman joining later. They were accompanied by an ever-increasing group of pilgrims from the South African business community as the years went by. ..
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