Collection: Charlie Munger - #131 'Giving Pledge'
[Transcript]
ANDY SERWER 00:00
And finally, Charlie, I want to ask you a little bit about philanthropy. And, you know, it seems like Warren has been sort of a little bit more upfront about that with Bill Gates and the Giving Pledge. And I know you're philanthropic as well. What is your thinking on that? How upfront –
CHARLIE MUNGER 00:17
Well, I wouldn't sign the Giving Pledge because I have already transferred so much to my children that I've already violated it. So I think I'm asking – I'm seeking false credit if I join them and say I'm a big philanthropist that's going to give more than half of my wealth to charity. I've already given more than half of it to my children. So I can't join them. It's like coming back from the dead. I can't do it.
ANDY SERWER 00:43
But doesn't that make Warren mad? I mean, come on, Charlie –
CHARLIE MUNGER 00:45
No, he's not mad. When is Warren mad about somebody else's? Warren thinks that each Berkshire Hathaway is entitled to do with his own money what he damn pleases.
ANDY SERWER 00:55
So let me just follow up on that – what you did then. What was your thinking in terms of giving away money like that though?
CHARLIE MUNGER 01:01
Well, it's simple. I had a wonderful wife. Most wives worry that the husband, if he survives, will get involved with some nurse or something in his dotage and that the money will go away from the children. And I knew that my dead wife would have preferred to have the money go the children. So I arranged that she got her wish.
(Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/influencers-transcript-charlie-munger-105001910.html)
