Charlie Munger, the right-hand man of Warren Buffett, died Tuesday at the age of 99. Long considered one of Buffet's closest confidants and Buffett’s reliable No. 2, Munger held the nickname of “The Abominable No-Man” because of the frequency with which he turned down investment ideas he deemed unworthy. But the older man was a renowned investor in his own right, and responsible for shaping much of Buffett’s thinking over the course of his career.
Buffet credited Munger with encouraging him to diversify his investing strategy. Prior to meeting Munger, who was trained as a lawyer, rather than investor, Buffet had focused almost exclusively on investments in distressed businesses, a strategy he described in a 1989 letter as “cigar butt” investing. “A cigar butt found on the street that has only one puff left in it may not offer much of a smoke, but the ‘bargain purchase’ will make that puff all profit,” he wrote.
