Charlie Munger, the late Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, never hesitated to praise Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos. In a 2019 discussion, Munger compared Bezos to Singapore’s transformative leader, Lee Kuan Yew, and lauded him as an “amazing human leader.” Despite recognizing Bezos’ leadership that propelled Amazon to global dominance in e-commerce and cloud computing, Munger and Berkshire Hathaway were notably late in investing in the company.
Munger admitted his hesitation stemmed from Amazon’s complexity and inherent uncertainties. “It’s always been too complicated and uncertain for my particular temperament,” he said, highlighting his preference for investments with predictable outcomes. This conservative approach has been central to Berkshire Hathaway’s strategy, focusing on businesses with clear, stable trajectories.
While Munger admired Bezos’ leadership, he stayed true to his principles, favoring simpler, more predictable ventures. “I find other things to do that’ll work fine,” he remarked. This cautiousness led to a missed opportunity, acknowledged with a hint of regret. Over the past decade, Amazon’s shares gained over 1,055%, a contrast to Munger’s conservative investment choices.