Here's the story Charlie Munger tells lawyers who ask him how they can become billionaires
It’s easy to be envious of the investment prowess of Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-A, BRK-B) Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Taking a question at the 2019 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting on how to become a great investor, Munger enlisted the help of Mozart.
The company’s vice chair told the story of a young man who had asked Mozart about how he could begin composing symphonies.
Mozart told the man that at 22 years old, he was too young.
“You were writing symphonies when you were 10 years old,” the man protested.
“Yes, but I wasn’t running around asking other people how to do it,” Mozart responded according to Munger.
Highlight: Munger: "Let me tell you a story that I tell young lawyers who frequently come to me and say, 'How can I quit practicing law and become a billionaire instead?'
"So I say, 'Well that reminds me a story about Mozart ...'" https://t.co/114KPZ80sc #YFBuffett pic.twitter.com/jHVtZggIDq— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) May 4, 2019
He explained that he often fields the question from young attorneys who want to “quit practicing law and become a billionaire instead.”
The Mozart parable is to say: “It isn’t that easy to be a great investor,” Munger said.
‘I don’t wanna be like everybody else’
Earlier in the day, Munger told shareholders that the “very peculiar” way Berkshire conducts business isn’t going anywhere.
“We have a different kind of unbureaucratic way of making decisions,” Munger said. “We don’t have endless committees deliberating forever and making bad decisions.”
Munger went on to explain “it’s awkward being so different, but I don’t wanna be like everybody else, because this has worked better.”
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More from Berkshire:
Warren Buffett decries accounting rule that made a mess of Berkshire earnings
Charlie Munger: ‘Berkshire will probably be more liberal when it comes to repurchasing shares.’
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