Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates recently shared the best lesson she learned from Charlie Munger -- one of the masterminds behind Berkshire Hathaway’s decades of financial success who died last year at 99.
During a recent commencement speech at Stanford University, French Gates said that Munger was not only great at managing Berkshire Hathaway, but also at offering life advice.
“Charlie famously said that the highest form which civilization can reach is a seamless web of deserved trust. Totally reliable people, correctly trusting each other,” she said. “What a thing to aspire to.”
“As a society, we aren’t always set up to feel responsibility for the person who’s next to us or the person who’s on the other side of a divide or a debate,” CNBC Make It quoted French Gates as saying. “But we need each other. No matter who you are, there will be moments in your journey when you need to be carried or when someone else will need you to carry them.”
Elaborating on how Munger's advice helped her, French Gates told the students a story of a close friend whom she comforted when her young husband died of cancer. That friend in turn helped her when she ended her marriage with Bill Gates after 27 years.
“Yes, you are graduating into a broken world, but it is community that rebuilds things,” French Gates said. “You’ve already started building that community here, and together is how you’ll make the broken things whole again.”
Munger -- Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner and right-hand man -- often offered advice that extended beyond finance and investing, usually shaped by his down-to-earth demeanor and optimistic outlook on life.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
