Charlie Munger Made Over $50 Million Betting On Coal At 99—After Avoiding It For 60 Years and Calling The Panic 'Horse Feathers'

At 99, astir radical are slowing down. Charlie Munger was doubling down—on coal.

According to The Wall Street Journal's deep-dive illustration connected Thursday, "The Untold Story of Charlie Munger's Final Years," the Berkshire Hathaway vice president made a stunning concern successful 2023 that shocked adjacent his adjacent friends. After steering wide of ember for six decades, Munger abruptly jumped successful with some feet—and walked distant with much than $50 cardinal successful insubstantial gains.

Don't Miss:

• Missed Nvidia and Tesla? RAD Intel Could Be the Next AI Powerhouse — Just $0.85 a Share

• 7 Million Gamers Already Trust Gameflip With Their Digital Assets — Now You Can Own a Stake successful the Platform

The determination came from the aforesaid room he'd worked successful for decades—a country without aerial conditioning, wherever friends erstwhile hauled successful crystal and electrical fans during a heatwave to support him comfortable. Sitting successful a recliner, surrounded by greenish Value Line binders, Munger inactive had the aforesaid crisp oculus for worth he'd go known for crossed a legendary investing career.

Munger came crossed an nonfiction declaring ember "down the chute," the Journal reported. He wasn't buying it. "Horse feathers," helium told his stepson, Hal Borthwick. While the manufacture had seen a semipermanent decline, Munger believed galore ember producers remained highly profitable and profoundly undervalued—especially those producing metallurgical coal, which is inactive captious to planetary steelmaking.

Trending: Buffett's Secret to Wealth? Private Real Estate—Get Institutional Access Yourself

So successful May 2023, Munger purchased shares of Consol Energy. Later that year, helium added Alpha Metallurgical Resources to the mix. By the clip of his decease successful precocious November 2023—just weeks shy of his 100th birthday—Consol's banal had doubled, and Alpha had soared arsenic well. Friends adjacent to Munger said the combined insubstantial gains from the 2 positions exceeded $50 million.

"He made a precise ample bet, and it turned retired truly well," Borthwick told The Journal.

The ember commercialized wasn't a fluke. While Munger was nary longer profoundly progressive successful Berkshire's day-to-day operations—despite holding a $2.2 cardinal stake—he was acold from retired. According to the Journal, helium spoke with Warren Buffett each week oregon two. Both men had proceeding issues, which made calls much melodramatic than discreet.

"They would shriek to each other," said Whitney Jackson, Munger's grandson's wife. "It was apt meant to beryllium confidential, but anyone wrong a mile's radius could perceive them."