An investing legend dies

In today’s big story, we’re looking back on the life of investing legend Charlie Munger.

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Charlie Munger, the billionaire investing legend who led Berkshire Hathaway alongside Warren Buffett, died Tuesday at age 99. He passed peacefully at a California hospital, according to his family.

Munger grew to prominence as the right-hand man to the world’s most famous investor, Warren Buffett. And while Munger never achieved Buffett’s astronomical wealth, he did all right, amassing a net worth of over $2 billion.

Munger’s wealth could have been even greater, but he sold or donated more than 75% of his Berkshire Hathaway stock since 1996.

The man who built a career making smart investments had a unique perspective on handling his own money later in life.

“I’m deliberately taking my net worth down,” he told The Omaha World-Herald in 2013. “My thinking is, I’m not immortal,” he continued, “and I won’t need it where I’m going.”

Whether it was why it’s ok to eat donuts — albeit with some discipline — or his displeasure for venture investors, Munger’s takes were blunt but witty. In a recent interview, he credited his economic success to his love of reading.

His greatest life lesson was also beautifully simple: Cut out toxic people.

It’s fitting advice from a man who found so much success in a relationship he held for over 60 years.

Buffett and Munger first met at a dinner party in their hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, in 1959. The two had both worked at Buffett’s grandfather’s supermarket, but never ran into each other. By 1978, Buffett had convinced Munger to join him at Berkshire Hathaway as vice chairman.

More than 40 years later, they’d built a conglomerate with a market cap north of $750 billion.

More on Charlie Munger:

• What Charlie Munger’s death means for Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway
• Charlie Munger revealed weeks before his death the one thing he wished he had done in his lifetime
• The business world is shaken after the death of ‘financial genius’ Charlie Munger
• Here’s some of the best advice offered by late investing legend Charlie Munger
• 6 longevity tips Charlie Munger believed in for a long and happy life
• In death, Charlie Munger is loved by China
• Charlie Munger revealed why he lived in the same house for decades instead of upgrading to keep up with his rich friends

🔔 Before the opening bell: US stock futures rise early Wednesday as investors await data on gross domestic product and wholesale inventories.

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Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City. Diamond Naga Siu, senior reporter, in San Diego. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York City.

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