Charlie Munger Said He'd 'Go Crazy' Taking Elon Musk's Risks, But Admitted Missing Out On Tesla, Amazon, And 'Extreme Talents' Like Musk, Bezos

When Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) bought See's Candies in 1972, the firm’s late vice chairman, Charlie Munger, learned a valuable lesson that would end up guiding his investing career.

The company raised prices without hurting sales, and Munger learned that you can get a bargain paying full price for a beloved brand.

Following the deal, Munger and Berkshire chairman and CEO Warren Buffett began looking for companies selling for fair prices that had loyal customer bases. In their early days, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Tesla Inc(NASDAQ: TSLA) didn’t fit the bill.

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According to the Wall Street Journal, Munger admired Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, but the stock was too risky to bet on.

When Tesla came around, it was much of the same story. Munger believed Tesla CEO Elon Musk was “an extreme talent,” but he took on too many risks.

“I would go crazy if I took the risks he did,” Munger said of Musk. 

Amazon turned out to be one of the best-performing stocks of all time; Tesla has soared in value since its IPO in 2010, offering one of the highest average annual returns in the market.

Munger and Buffett eventually bought Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock, which turned out to be one of the firm’s best decisions ever. The duo had to overcome their long-held caution about tech stocks to jump in. Munger reportedly wished Berkshire had bought even more than they did.

Berkshire has cut its Apple stake by more than 55% so far in 2024. Despite offloading a significant chunk, Apple remains Berkshire’s top holding with an approximate 29% weighting in the Buffett-led portfolio.

“You have to let ideas die,” Munger said.

Munger died on November 28, 2023 at the age of 99.

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Photo: Shutterstock. Some elements of this story were previously reported by Benzinga and it has been updated.