Charlie Munger

Rod Hills somehow knew Saul Price and knew what he was doing. He said, you have to go down and meet him, he said. So I drove down and went through his store and talked with Saul. And, of course, Saul was a very intelligent man. Saul was an ordinary lawyer until he was 39 years of age. Then he went out and formed a government employees discount company or whatever. Was this in the Fedco days?

Rod Hills somehow knew Saul Price and knew what he was doing. He said, you have to go down and meet him, he said. So I drove down and went through his store and talked with Saul. And, of course, Saul was a very intelligent man. Saul was an ordinary lawyer until he was 39 years of age. Then he went out and formed a government employees discount company or whatever. Was this in the Fedco days?

He was no longer with Fedco. He sold Fedco to the Germans.

He was no longer with Fedco. He sold Fedco to the Germans.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes, I did. But I just bought my stock in the market.

Yes, I did. But I just bought my stock in the market.

Well, Sanigo asked Warren to become a director of Costco. He was looking for somebody with a financial reputation. As an independent? Yes, and Warren wouldn't do it. He said, well, get Charlie to do it. I want shorter plane rides to director's meetings and so on. So that's how that happened.

Well, Sanigo asked Warren to become a director of Costco. He was looking for somebody with a financial reputation. As an independent? Yes, and Warren wouldn't do it. He said, well, get Charlie to do it. I want shorter plane rides to director's meetings and so on. So that's how that happened.

They tried to get Warren to buy out the French when they left Carrefour. And Warren wouldn't do it. Warren doesn't like retailing.

They tried to get Warren to buy out the French when they left Carrefour. And Warren wouldn't do it. Warren doesn't like retailing.

He's afraid of retail. Practically everything that was Monty Mighty in retail is gone. Cesar Roebuck is gone. The big departments are gone, you know. It's just too damn difficult as far as he's concerned. And he had a bad experience with diversified retail, right? No, we made nothing but money in diversified. We didn't exactly make it in retailing, but we made a lot of money.

He's afraid of retail. Practically everything that was Monty Mighty in retail is gone. Cesar Roebuck is gone. The big departments are gone, you know. It's just too damn difficult as far as he's concerned. And he had a bad experience with diversified retail, right? No, we made nothing but money in diversified. We didn't exactly make it in retailing, but we made a lot of money.

We bought this little pissant department store chain in Baltimore. Big mistake, too. As the ink dried on the closing papers, we realized it would be a terrible mistake. So we decided just to reverse it and take the hits to look foolish rather than go broke. He just told us how to get us out of this. By that time, we'd already financed half of it on covenant-free debt and so forth.

We bought this little pissant department store chain in Baltimore. Big mistake, too. As the ink dried on the closing papers, we realized it would be a terrible mistake. So we decided just to reverse it and take the hits to look foolish rather than go broke. He just told us how to get us out of this. By that time, we'd already financed half of it on covenant-free debt and so forth.

And they had all this extra cash. And our own stocks got down to selling in enormous. We just, in the middle of one of those recessions, we just bought and bought and bought and bought. And all that money went right into those stocks. And of course, we tripled and just sitting on our ass. And that led to Blue Chip? Yeah, it was part of the early success of Blue Chip.

And they had all this extra cash. And our own stocks got down to selling in enormous. We just, in the middle of one of those recessions, we just bought and bought and bought and bought. And all that money went right into those stocks. And of course, we tripled and just sitting on our ass. And that led to Blue Chip? Yeah, it was part of the early success of Blue Chip.

It's something else that people don't know about. Yeah. We bought a little piss-ant savings and loan company for maybe $20 million. And when we left that thing, we had taken out of our little $20 million investment. over $2 billion in marketable securities, which went into Nebraska insurance companies as part of their bedrock capital. So we had some wonderful early years.

It's something else that people don't know about. Yeah. We bought a little piss-ant savings and loan company for maybe $20 million. And when we left that thing, we had taken out of our little $20 million investment. over $2 billion in marketable securities, which went into Nebraska insurance companies as part of their bedrock capital. So we had some wonderful early years.