Charlie Munger's Final Years: Bold Bets, New Bonds, and Unyielding Curiosity

In the twilight of his extraordinary life, Charlie Munger, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, defied expectations of a tranquil retirement. Rather than retreating to the coastal haven he designed in Montecito, California—nicknamed “Mungerville” by locals—Munger chose to remain in his Los Angeles home. Even amid scorching heat, he preferred the warmth of ideas over that of air conditioning. Friends resorted to fans and bags of ice during a record-setting heat wave three years before his passing, determined to preserve his comfort as he pursued his lifelong fascination with business, history, and human behavior.

Munger’s death two years ago, just weeks before his 100th birthday, left a profound void in the world of investing. Yet the final chapters of his life reveal a figure as daring, disciplined, and curious as ever. His last years were not marked by nostalgia but by renewed ventures, contrarian investments, and deep bonds that reflected his lifelong quest for understanding and contribution.

An Investor to the End

By his 90s, Charlie Munger had long stepped back from daily operations at Berkshire Hathaway, but his financial stake—worth over $2 billion—ensured his words carried immense weight. While his weekly calls with Warren Buffett had become less frequent due to hearing difficulties, the friendship that shaped modern value investing remained intact. Their playful yet precise debates over companies and economic trends were legendary, even as health and geography turned conversations into shouted exchanges heard beyond closed doors.

Unable to stay idle, Munger poured his energy into other endeavors. His devotion to Costco remained steadfast; he held a nine-figure position in the retail giant and served on its board for decades. Munger also supported Li Lu’s Himalaya Capital Management, an investment fund that reflected Munger’s admiration for China’s economic rise and disciplined value investing ethos. He nurtured up-and-coming managers in Boston and Melbourne, mentoring them with the patience of a craftsman teaching a trade.

In typical fashion, he continued to challenge orthodoxy. Despite his long aversion to cyclical and commodity-based businesses, Munger began buying coal stocks in 2023—an audacious move at a time when the world was pivoting toward renewables. He dismissed the death of coal as “greatly exaggerated,” emphasizing the vital role of metallurgical coal in global steel production. His purchases of Consol Energy and Alpha Metallurgical Resources doubled in value within months, exemplifying his belief that independent thinking—especially when uncomfortable—was the key to superior returns.

The Philosopher of Rationality

Munger’s investing legacy rested as much on psychology as on finance. He taught generations of investors that a strong mental model mattered more than financial formulas. His most famous speech, “The Psychology of Human Misjudgment,” outlined the cognitive biases that derail judgment—a framework later adopted by business schools and hedge fund managers alike.

Even in old age, he continued refining his thinking. As artificial intelligence began reshaping markets, Munger sought to understand it not as a speculative fad but as a force within the broader history of technological revolutions. Friends recall that in his last weeks, confined to a hospital bed, Munger asked whether Moore’s Law still applied in the era of AI accelerators—proof that his mind remained set on the future.

His reading habits bordered on obsessive. In his Los Angeles study, shelves overflowed with Value Line binders, history tomes, and architectural manuals. He revisited the works of Darwin and Adam Smith, looking for timeless insights about compounding, adaptation, and rationality. Through cataracts and diminishing eyesight, he listened to friends and assistants read aloud for hours each day, insisting that lifelong learning was “the moral duty of a rational person.”

The Mentor and Builder

Real estate became another surprising frontier for Munger in his nineties. His involvement with Afton Properties started through an improbable friendship with Avi Mayer, a teenager from his neighborhood who showed up at his doorstep carrying a Hebrew edition of the Torah. That encounter sparked a mentorship that evolved into a thriving business partnership.

Together with Mayer and his friend Reuven Gradon, Munger helped build an apartment empire spanning nearly 10,000 units across Southern California. True to his temperament, Munger obsessed over details—insisting on fixed-rate debt, optimal tree placement, and quality finishes that turned modest apartments into lasting assets. His approach blended thrift with design, making Afton a model of low-leverage discipline in a frothy property market. At the time of his death, the portfolio exceeded $3 billion, and a final acquisition near a Costco store symbolized the interconnected threads of his professional passions.

A Life of Connection and Curiosity

Despite widowhood and declining mobility, Munger remained deeply social. His weekly routines in Los Angeles anchored his final years, lending rhythm and laughter to his intellectual life. On Tuesdays, he hosted breakfast gatherings at the Los Angeles Country Club with peers from business and academia. The table often included figures like Bobby Kotick of Activision, Amgen CEO Robert Bradway, and former Northrop Grumman executive Ron Sugar. Though known for his sharp, surgical wit, Munger grew more reflective with age. “At my age, you make new friends, or you don’t have any friends,” he told one attendee, turning a truth of aging into his guiding principle.

Fridays brought informal lunches at home with family and long-time aides. The menu rarely changed: chicken sandwiches on white bread, fruit salads, pie, and See’s Candies. The indulgence mirrored his view on investing: simplicity, consistency, and a few well-chosen delights. His humor never waned. When asked about the secret to his longevity, Munger once quipped, “Probably the Diet Coke.” That playful fatalism masked remarkable resilience—he had lost one eye in a botched cataract surgery in 1978 and suffered recurring health scares, yet he treated each as a problem to be solved rather than a tragedy to lament.

Lessons from a Century

Munger’s century-long life spanned eras of transformation: the Great Depression, World War II, the rise of Silicon Valley, and the digital and AI revolutions. His ability to adapt across such change was rooted in timeless principles—rationality, patience, and humility before complexity. He believed that understanding human nature mattered more than forecasting markets, a view that makes his teachings enduring even after his passing.

Economically, his philosophy helped shape modern capitalism’s emphasis on quality businesses with durable advantages. The pivot he championed in the 1960s—from buying cheap companies to buying great companies at fair prices—reshaped investment strategy worldwide. Regions such as Japan and China, influenced by disciples like Li Lu, integrated similar philosophies into their own markets, emphasizing fundamentals over speculation.

The Final Call

On Thanksgiving Eve 2023, Munger checked into a Montecito hospital, aware that time was short. He asked caregivers to clear the room so he could make one last phone call. On the other end was Warren Buffett, his partner of more than six decades. The two men, who together built Berkshire Hathaway into a global powerhouse, spoke quietly. The conversation remains private, but those close to Munger say it was bittersweet—a fitting end to a friendship that shaped billions in wealth and countless careers.

Even in those final days, Munger’s curiosity refused to dim. His stepson, Hal Borthwick, recalled that he was still questioning the future of technology and human progress, still searching for frameworks to make sense of the world. “To the day he died, that mind was running,” said Borthwick. “He never stopped learning.”

A Lasting Legacy

Charlie Munger’s story is more than a chronicle of financial triumphs. It is the portrait of a mind that never stopped asking questions, of a skeptic who found joy in curiosity, and of a pragmatist who believed that wisdom—like wealth—should compound daily. His influence endures through the countless investors he mentored, the companies he shaped, and the everyday people who found guidance in his blunt, humorous remarks.

As the world continues to grapple with rapid change—from technological upheaval to shifting market cycles—Munger’s lessons remain refreshingly durable: focus on fundamentals, avoid envy, cultivate patience, and above all, keep learning. His life reminds modern investors that success grows not from cleverness but from clarity, not from speed but from steadfast reasoning. In that regard, the man who spent a century chasing wisdom may have left behind his greatest investment of all—a philosophy for thinking well in an uncertain world.