1. Total Leadership:
Lessons from
Charlie Munger
By Aidan Ryan
4-3-2014

2. Charlie at a Glance
• One of the most storied and well-respected investors
– Partner of Warren Buffet since 1972
• Generous philanthropist, donating primarily to higher
education
• Known for his sharp insights into life, investing and
human behavior
• Subject of numerous books, research articles and
frequent speaker at university commencement
ceremonies
• Substantial family life, with a total of eight children
– Married for 58 years, following short marriage at young age

3. Brief Biography
• Raised in Omaha, Nebraska
• Served in WWII
• Attended Harvard Law School and
founded law firm founded Munger, Tolles &
Olson
• In 1965, left to focus on investing full-time
• Joined Berkshire-Hathaway in 1972 as
Vice-chairman

4. Drivers of Career Success
• Career in investing as a way to apply a
lifelong love of knowledge and wisdom
– “Nothing has served me better in my long life
than continuous learning.”
– Bulk of time spent reading and learning
– Multidisciplinarian: learn the big ideas from
every field

5. Drivers of Career Success (cont’d)
• Places high value on
trustworthiness, honesty and integrity, with
a modest lifestyle unique to finance
– Builds loyalty, and has been a source of
stability in investment returns
– Legendary no-nonsense style
– Fired Benjamin Moore CEO for company
offsite

6. Balanced Lifestyle
• Successful
marriage
• Eight
children
SelfFamily
Com’ty.
Career
• Successful investor
• Net worth: $1.2B
• Builds long-term
relationships
• North star for
finance community
• Large donor to
education
• Love of
knowledge
• Continuous
learning

7. Summary
• Integrate your passion with your career
• Develop long-term, personal relationships
with people in your industry
• Happiness driven by simple, modest
lifestyle at home