Warren Buffett on One Last Day with Charlie Munger | Berkshire Hathaway 2024

hi my name is and Andrew ncas and I'm wondering if you had one more day with Charlie what would you do with [Applause] him well it's kind of interesting because in effect I did have one more day I mean it wasn't a full day or anything but uh but he uh we always lived in a way where we were happy with what we were doing every day I mean Charlie Charlie liked learning he liked as I mentioned the movie he liked a wide variety of things so he was much broader than I was but I

didn't have any great desire to be as broad as he was and he didn't have any great desire to be as as narrow as but we had a lot of fun doing anything and um you know we played golf together we played tennis together we we did everything together and and uh and this you may find kind of interesting we we had as much fun perhaps even more to some extent with things that failed because then we really had to work and work our way out of them and and in a sense there's more there's

more fun having having somebody that's uh your partner in in digging your way out of a foxhole when there is just sitting there and and watching an idea that you got 10 years ago just continually produce more and more profit so it it it wasn't uh you know he really he really fooled me though he went to to 99.9 years I mean it if you'd pick two guys you know he never he he he publicly said he never did a day of exercise except where it was required when he was in the Army he never

did a day of voluntary exercise he never thought about what he ate you we started every day and Charlie had he was interested in more things than I was but uh we never had any doubts about the other person period and uh so if I'd had another day with them we'd probably done the same thing we were doing the earlier days but but and we wouldn't have wanted to know that we only had one day that there's a great advantage in and uh not knowing where you're going to what what day you're going to die

but uh uh and Charlie always said you know that uh just tell me where I'm going to die so I'll never go there well uh the truth is you know he went everywhere with his mind and therefore he was not only interested in the world at 99 but the world was interested in him it's it's remarkable I I told him to in the last few years I never seen anybody that was peing you know in 99 and and and and uh where the world wanted to come and see him I mean they actually wanted to

go out the three 51 North June Street and well it was well I could name a whole bunch of names but just I'll start with Elon musker but good on the list and they all wanted to meet Charlie and Charlie was happy to talk with them and I the only the only uh person I could think of otherwise was the dolly Lama I don't know that they had a lot else in common but but uh it was he he he lived his life the way he wanted to and uh he got to say what he

wanted to say he like I loved having a Podium again I can't remember any time that he was mad at me or I was mad at him it just didn't happen uh uh and calling him was fun back when longdistance rates were high and and the and we didn't talk as often as the years in recent years as we used to be on daily uh for long periods and we did keep learning and we liked learning together you know we tended to be a little smarter because when as the years went by cuz we had

mistakes and we had other things that where we learned something and and the fact that he and I were on the same wavelength in that respect meant that uh that the world was still a very interesting place to us when he got to be 99 and I got to be 93 so I don't have a perfect answer for you there but I can tell you the ingredients that would go into uh uh sometimes people would say to me or Charlie at one of these meetings you know if you have lunch with one person that lived

over the last 2,000 or so years you know who would you want to have it with Charlie says I've already met all of them you know because he he read all the books I mean he he he and he eliminated all the trouble of going to restaurants to meet him anything like that he just went through a book and he met Ben Franklin and he he really uh he was remarkable he that uh he said he really had no one else to meet because he he'd read all their stuff and he liked Ben Frankl stuff

better than he liked mine but but uh but with Ben Franklin he just had to read about it didn't have to they didn't have to go have lunch with him or anything of the sort uh but it's an interesting question what you should probably ask yourself is that who do you feel that uh you want to start spending the last day of your life with and uh and then figure out a way to start meeting him for tomorrow and uh and meet them as often as you can Cu uh why wait a little last day

but uh and don't bother with the others go