Charlie Munger's Final Years: Still Making Bold Investments at 99, Helping a Young Neighbor Build a Real Estate Empire
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Charlie Munger's Final Years: Still Making Bold Investments at 99, Helping a Young Neighbor Build a Real Estate Empire
He maintained rapid mental activity, a sharp business acumen, and a passionate enthusiasm for learning even in the final moments of his life.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Ye Zhen
Source: Wall Street Journal China
Charlie Munger’s final chapter was not a quiet retirement by the seaside, but a vibrant period filled with contrarian investments and new challenges. Until the very end, the investing titan remained actively engaged in investment decisions, forming new friendships, and calmly navigating health issues.
According to a recent feature in The Wall Street Journal, in his later years Munger gave up his ocean-view mansion in Montecito, California, choosing instead to stay in his old Los Angeles home—without even air conditioning—because it kept him closer to the people he admired and projects that excited him.
In the final year of his life, Munger made a bold bet on an industry he had avoided for 60 years—coal—and earned over $50 million in paper gains. In his later years, he also partnered with a young neighbor to deeply engage in real estate, building an apartment empire worth approximately $3 billion.
Meanwhile, the legendary vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway faced health challenges such as deteriorating vision, yet he met them with composure and humor, fighting the loneliness of aging through regular breakfast meetings and dinners with friends.
The report, drawing on recollections from family and friends, pieces together a lesser-known portrait of Munger—a man whose mind remained sharp to the end, retaining his keen business sense and passion for learning.
Contrarian Bet on Coal Stocks Pays Off Handsomely
For an investor who had long shunned the coal industry for six decades, Munger’s move in 2023 surprised the market.
While many investors were bearish on coal due to its long-term decline in usage, Munger saw a different logic. He believed that with growing global energy demand, coal would remain necessary, many producers were still profitable, and their stock prices were unusually low.
"He read an article saying the coal industry was finished," recalled his stepson Hal Borthwick. "He said, 'Nonsense.'"
So in May 2023, Munger bought shares in coal producer Consol Energy, and later that year acquired stakes in metallurgical coal producer Alpha Metallurgical Resources. By the time of his death, Consol’s stock had doubled and Alpha’s had surged significantly, generating combined paper gains of over $50 million.
A Cross-Generational Friendship and a Real Estate Empire
Another remarkable investment in Munger’s later years began with a cross-generational friendship.
In 2005, Avi Mayer, then just 17 years old, knocked on Munger’s door. At the time, Mayer was struggling academically and uncertain about his future. Munger became his listener and mentor, supporting his decision to skip college and attend “Munger University”—learning through observation and practice.
Years later, when Mayer teamed up with childhood friend Reuven Gradon to enter real estate, Munger observed their early operations and decided to back their company, Afton Properties. Starting around 2017, the trio acquired nearly 10,000 low-rise apartments across Southern California. Munger was deeply involved in every aspect—from site selection and building evaluation to paint colors, even personally approving expenditures of hundreds of thousands of dollars to plant new trees for landscaping.
On Munger’s advice, the company opted for long-term loans to lock in favorable interest rates and hold assets over the long term.
The strategy proved highly effective. According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, Afton Properties now holds assets valued at approximately $3 billion. Right up until his final days, Munger remained involved in decision-making; just days after his passing, a property acquisition deal across from a Costco store was finalized.
Confronting Aging with Composure and Humor
In the last decade of his life, Munger began facing health challenges.
A botched cataract surgery in 1978 left him blind in one eye, and around 2014, he developed optic nerve issues in his right eye, briefly putting him at risk of total blindness. As his friend Li Lu recalled, Munger remained calm, even preparing to learn Braille. Fortunately, his vision in the right eye gradually improved.
As mobility declined, he gave up hobbies like golf and relied on a cane to walk. Yet he consistently used humor to deflect the struggles of aging. He joked that his secret to longevity was Diet Coke and once told a visitor, "Oh, if only I could go back to being 86." His family eventually abandoned efforts to enforce healthy eating—he enjoyed takeout favorites like Costco hot dogs, In-N-Out burgers, and Korean fried chicken.
Fearing loneliness and irrelevance, Munger chose to enrich his life through deeper social connections. Every Tuesday, he joined a group of business leaders for breakfast at the Los Angeles Country Club, sharing investment insights and life philosophies. He once told friends, "At my age, you either make new friends or you have none."
The Final Farewell to Buffett
Although Munger reduced his day-to-day involvement with Berkshire Hathaway in his final decade, his friendship and partnership with Buffett endured.
The two spoke on the phone every week or two. With Munger in Los Angeles and Buffett in Omaha, both dealing with hearing difficulties, communication became more challenging.
As Munger’s granddaughter-in-law Whitney Jackson recalled: "They’d shout into the phone. The conversations might have been meant to be confidential, but anyone within a mile could hear them."
According to The Wall Street Journal, in the days before his death, Munger was taken to a hospital near Montecito. He asked his family to leave the room so he could make one final call to Buffett—the two legendary partners thus shared their last goodbye.
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