Janet Lowe - Damn Right!: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger

ate in the summer of 1991, I appeared before a house subcommittee _.J chaired by Congressman Ed Markey to answer questions about the Salomon scandal. The hearing room was piled high with TV and print reporters, and I was more than a little nervous when Chairman Markey led off with his first question. He wanted to know whether the reprehensible behavior that had occurred at Salomon was characteristic of Wall Street or rather, as he put it, sui generis.

Normally I would have panicked at the introduction of such a strange-sounding term: In high school, I barely made it through elementary Spanish and never came close to Latin. But, I had no trouble with sui generis. After all, I knew a walking, talking example: Charlie Munger, my long-time friend and partner.

Charlie truly is one of a kind. I recognized that in 1959, when I first met him, and I have been discovering unique qualities in him ever since. Anyone who has 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 could grant him a diploma.

To me, however, what makes Charlie special is his character. Its true that his mind is breathtaking: Hes as bright as any person Ive ever met and, at 76, still has a memory I would kill for. He was born, though, with these abilities. Its how he has elected to use them that makes me regard him so highly.

In 41 years, I have never seen Charlie try to take advantage of anyone, nor have I seen him claim the least bit of credit for anything that he didnt do. In fact, Ive witnessed exactly the opposite: He has knowingly let me and others have the better end of a deal, and he has also always shouldered more than his share of the 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 worlds approval, Charlie judges himself entirely by an inner scorecard-and he is a tough grader.

On business matters, Charlie and I agree a very high percentage of the time. On social issues, however, 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. Its very difficult to imagine Charlie on a corner in a Salvation Army uniform-no, make that impossible to imaginebut he seems to have embraced the charitys creed of hate the sin but not the sinner.

And, speaking of sin, Charlie even brings rationality to that subject. He concludes, of course, 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.

Ive 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 or philanthropist, I would opt for teacher. And Berkshire clearly is a much more valuable and admirable company because of what he has taught us.

No discussion of Charlie would be complete without a mention of the beneficial, indeed transforming effect of his wife, Nancy. As a front-row observer of both people, I can assure you that Charlie would have achieved far less had he not had Nancys help. She may not have entirely succeeded as a Miss Manners instructor-though she tried, oh how she tried-but she has nourished Charlie in a manner that has in turn enabled him to nourish the causes and institutions in which he believes. Nancy is truly extraordinary. What Charlie has contributed to the world-and his contributions have been huge-should be credited not only to him but to her as well.

WARREN E. BUFFETT

Omaha, Nebraska

he thousands of shareholders who attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, each spring go to see Warren Buffett, but they also are fascinated by the man who sits beside him on the stage and helps the Oracle of Omaha answer questions. They call it the Warren and Charlie Show. It usually goes this way: Buffett answers the question, giving it as much or as little time as he sees fit. At the end, he turns to his longtime partner Charles Munger and asks, Charlie, do you have anything to add? Charlie sits there looking as if hed already been chiseled into Mount Rushmore, and gives a brusque reply. Nothing to add. He and Buffett play their little jokes each year to an audience that enjoys going right along with them. The meeting does have a deeper element though. Buffett gives serious thought to the questions. And occasionally, something will come over Munger and he delivers a little lecture, based on his long life and abundant experience. When he does speak, Munger has the audiences undivided attention.

He has messages that he thinks are important: Deal ethically with others; face reality; learn from the mistakes of others, and so forth. He delivers those sermonettes with missionary zeal.

Daddy is very conscious of the fact that he represents social values that are not all that common in the business world, said his first daughter Molly Munger.

Munger isnt as wealthy as Buffett, partly because his life is organized differently. He isnt the showman Buffett is, though he can be enormously entertaining. Thanks to these two factors, the Munger family has long enjoyed the privilege of being billionaires without the inconveniences of fame.