Saturday, March 7, 2015

8 Things Billionaire Charlie Munger Expects from the Chairman of the Most Powerful Conglomerate Ever

The vice-chairman of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and long-time Buffett confidant, Charlie Munger, in the latest Berkshire Hathaway letter to shareholders, lists eight things he expects of the chairman of the company.

Buffett is, of course, the current chairman of Berkshire and the list strikes me as what Munger sees as Buffett's strengths in running the company.

The list via Business Insider. I find vii the most interesting:
Berkshire’s Chairman would reserve only a few activities for himself.

(i) He would manage almost all security investments, with these normally residing in Berkshire’s casualty insurers.

(ii) He would choose all CEOs of important subsidiaries, and he would fix their compensation and obtain from each a private recommendation for a successor in case one was suddenly needed.

(iii) He would deploy most cash not needed in subsidiaries after they had increased their competitive advantage, with the ideal deployment being the use of that cash to acquire new subsidiaries.

(iv) He would make himself promptly available for almost any contact wanted by any subsidiary’s CEO, and he would require almost no additional contact.

(v) He would write a long, logical, and useful letter for inclusion in his annual report, designed as he would wish it to be if he were only a passive shareholder, and he would be available for hours of answering questions at annual shareholders’ meetings.

(vi) He would try to be an exemplar in a culture that would work well for customers, shareholders, and other incumbents for a long time, both before and after his departure.

(vii) His first priority would be reservation of much time for quiet reading and thinking, particularly that which might advance his determined learning, no matter how old he became;

(viii) He would also spend much time in enthusiastically admiring what others were accomplishing.

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