In the book "Poor Charlie's Almanac", the author describes Charlie Munger like this - he is Warren Buffett's friend, lawyer, consultant, "rival", and the greatest businessman in American business history. One of the largest shareholders of a successful public company.
Compared to Buffett, Charlie deliberately avoided the limelight and remained unknown throughout his life, but this does not negate his shining achievements throughout his life. In the memories of his best friend Buffett, there is this fragment:
Once, a beautiful woman sitting next to Charlie Munger asked Charlie, "What is the secret of your success? Please use one word." Let’s describe it.” Charlie originally prepared a long speech for several hours, but the other party only asked him to use one word to describe it. Charlie thought for a while and answered “rational.”
Indeed, Charlie was very rational on the business battlefield during his adult life, which earned him considerable wealth. So do you know why Charlie can be so rational, and how he successfully reached the top of his life?
Charlie’s success is accumulated over time, and Charlie’s rationality is not innate. After roughly understanding Charlie Munger’s life, I think the biggest influence on Charlie is probably “books, family, and cooperation.” partner".
Charlie is a weirdo. He is "smart but somewhat arrogant" in the eyes of his primary school teachers. He has liked reading various books since he was a child, and often uses the knowledge in the books to "question the secular wisdom of teachers and classmates." . "There are no smart people (smart people from all walks of life) I have met in my life who don't read every day, no, not one." - This is what Charlie said, and his subsequent experience fully illustrates this point. Most of the smart people I meet in all walks of life have extensive knowledge and love to learn.
Learning has really improved Charlie’s mindset. Affected by various factors during World War II, Charlie briefly studied basic physics. He "gained more thinking patterns" from the study of physics. Later, Charlie was "keen on using physics to solve problems."
Not only learning, but also interdisciplinary learning. Charlie initially studied mathematics in college. Due to World War II, he was drafted into the Army at the age of 19 and was sent to the Albuquerque campus of the University of New Mexico to study natural sciences and engineering. Later he was sent to Pasadena, California. City, enrolled in the prestigious California Institute of Technology, specializing in thermodynamics and meteorology. After the war, he applied to Harvard Law School to study law. Charlie's educational experience can be said to be very rich, some of which he chose voluntarily, and some of which he passively accepted. However, his rich academic experience gave Charlie the ability to study across disciplines.
Charlie’s native family was very outstanding, which influenced Charlie to a great extent.
Based on excellent family conditions, Charlie received a good basic education since he was a child. He received orthodox moral education at Dundee Primary School and attended "a very large public school" in middle school. The school is called a "college preparatory school." A good basic education paved the way for Charlie's future achievements.
Charlie’s family is a kind family. Charlie's grandfather was a respected federal judge. During the Great Depression, he spent huge sums of money to help Charlie's uncle's bank survive the crisis; he sent his son-in-law to pharmaceutical school and bought an entire pharmacy for him...a series of This move touched Charlie and made him firmly believe during the most difficult period - "As long as we support each other, the Munger family can survive the worst economic collapse in American history."
Charlie’s family is very open-minded and far-sighted. After Charlie graduated, he originally wanted to join his father’s law firm. However, after discussing with his father, his father suggested that Charlie go to a larger place for development. Soon after, in the United States A famous lawyer and investor appeared in Southern California. Yes, he is Charlie Munger.
Partners are also one of the important factors affecting Charlie's success. The partners mentioned here include not only the partners who work together with Charlie in business, but also the customers that Charlie's company has served.
Charlie is kind. He once said, "Don't just see money, choose clients with whom you are willing to make friends." Charlie's law firm provides services to poor people and disadvantaged groups in the Los Angeles area. Legal aid services; when he left the firm to pursue investments, he left his firm shares to the widow of his young partner.
Throughout his life, Charlie met many excellent business partners like Buffett. They worked together to discover and seize opportunities that many other businessmen continued to miss. You may be surprised why Charlie has such a keen sense of business. I think this is probably due to his investment experience that allowed Charlie to negotiate and sign contracts again and again.
A person's rationality can prompt him to make more reasonable and correct decisions on major decision-making issues; it can help him stand on a more macro standpoint and look down on all things that hinder progress. Charlie's rationality gave him a unique life experience, allowing him to win respect from all over the world.
Charlie is talented, hard-working and lucky. He has created amazing miracles in business. Charlie is unique. Although it is difficult for us to copy Charlie's miracle, we can learn from the rationality in his life - keeping books as a companion, talking to family members, and embracing better partners.