“The most important thing to take care of is your customers and your brand. It’s hard to get customers back. And once you damage the brand, it’s damaged.”
Munger and Li struck up a conversation about stocks and were still talking a few hours later. It was the beginning of a partnership that would last 20 years. “He was a very intelligent, self-confident young man,” says Munger, who is 99 and still vice-chair of Berkshire.
Berkshire’s compound annual gain was 19.8% from 1965 through 2022, compared with 9.9% for the S&P 500. That’s an overall total return of 3,787,464% vs. 24,708% for the benchmark. Many Berkshire shareholders were made millionaires by Buffett’s shrewd moves and patient value philosophy over the years.