"I love everything about Costco," Munger said last year. "I'm never going to sell a share."
Indeed, he was Costco's second-largest individual stockholder after outgoing CEO Craig Jelinek, owning 187,180 shares as of last November, worth more than $110 million today.
"He was a legend to me," Jelinek said in a statement after Munger's death. "A tremendous asset to Costco."
Munger was effusive in his praise of the wholesale club's operations too.
"I wish everything else in America was working as well as Costco does," he said in early 2022. "Think what a blessing that would be for us all."
Munger told CNBC his only quibble with Costco was that its share price was a bit higher than an investor like himself would buy.
"Other than that, it's a perfect damn company and it has a marvelous future," he said.
Costco was notoriously slow to move to e-commerce. But even compared to Amazon, Munger thought Costco had an advantage.
"People really trust Costco to be delivering enormous values," he said."Costco presents some danger to Amazon — because they've got a better reputation for providing value than practically anybody including Amazon,"
Known to many as the confidante and righthand man to Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, Munger was unquestionably a financial genius in his own right.
"Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built to its present status without Charlie's inspiration, wisdom and participation," Buffett said in a statement.
"No one loved Costco more than Charlie," Jelinek said in a later statement on Wednesday."The Company benefited greatly from his wisdom over the last quarter-century plus. We at Costco extend our deep condolences to his family."
Munger thought differently and recognized early on that Costco had an incredible business model: “They really did sell cheaper than anybody else in America and they did it in big, efficient stores.
Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day-if you live long enough-like most people, you will get out of life what you deserve.
In contrast, Buffett holds top-10 spots on both lists with an estimated $116 billion fortune. Why is Munger's net worth so much smaller? Mostly because Buffett has always owned a much larger Berkshire stake, but also because Munger has sold or donated more than 75% of his Berkshire stock over the years.
As of Oct. 22, Munger held 167,615 Costco shares personally and another 19,565 through the Alfred C. Munger Foundation, named for his father, Alfred Case Munger, also a lawyer.
Berkshire Hathaway grew its holdings in the famous retailer from a split-adjusted 710,000 shares worth $32 million at the end of 1999, to 4.3 million shares valued at $1.3 billion in June 2020. Since Buffett sold the company's shares, Costco stock has soared between 88% and 127% to all-time highs.
Warren Buffett on his friendship with Charlie Munger: We never had any doubts about the other person. Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett presides over the 2024 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting.
He was vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett. Buffett described Munger as his closest partner and right-hand man, and credited him with being the "architect" of modern Berkshire Hathaway's business philosophy.
"Price is what you pay.Value is what you get." Buffett is widely celebrated as the greatest value investor of all time – and with good reason. That's exactly why this 2008 quote resonates.
He is a renowned investor and has held a variety of positions with companies such as Berkshire Hathaway and Wesco Financial Corporation. Through these investments, he has earned a tremendous amount of wealth over the years. He has also made smart investments in real estate and other businesses.
Charlie Munger Gave His Family Fortune To The 'Chinese Warren Buffett' Who Turned It Into Over $400 Million: 'Unholy Good Returns' In this article: BRK-B.
The superlatives don't stop there. Musk, the newest board member of Twitter (TWTR), is worth more than double the wealth of legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) CEO Warren Buffett, who started investing in 1941 when he was 11.
His fortune is largely tied to his investment company.
The vast majority of Buffett's net worth is tied to Berkshire Hathaway, his publicly traded conglomerate that owns businesses like Geico and See's Candies and holds multibillion-dollar stakes in companies like Apple and Coca-Cola.
Charlie Munger was Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett's closest business partner and right-hand man. Charlie Munger died on Nov.28 at age 99. These reflections on his life and career, which he wrote for CNBC Make It, are among his final writings.
Costco is mainly owned by institutional investors, who own over 70% of shares. The largest shareholders in December 2023 are: The Vanguard Group (9.10%) BlackRock (6.90%)
When compared to other similar retailers, Costco's competitive advantage lies in its own private label, its discount prices, and its membership dues. This has provided customers with a product that they can rely on at low prices.
Largest shareholders include Vanguard Group Inc, BlackRock Inc., State Street Corp, VTSMX - Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares, VFINX - Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares, Morgan Stanley, Fmr Llc, Geode Capital Management, Llc, Invesco Qqq Trust, Series 1, and Bank Of America Corp /de/ .
Key Points. Costco is gaining new members and maintaining high renewal rates. The company's comps are rising and its margins are stabilizing in a challenging environment. It's opening new stores as other retailers shrink their businesses.
Key Points. Costco shares have more than tripled in the past five years. Because of that strong performance, the stock trades at a steep P/E ratio of 49.
Introduction: My name is Melvina Ondricka, I am a helpful, fancy, friendly, innocent, outstanding, courageous, thoughtful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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