Charlie Munger interview with Becky Quick; Poor Charlie's Almanack available online for free; Munger flew coach; Cookies for my heroes; Bid for Macy's; World's largest retailers

1) My hero and mentor Charlie Munger is on my mind for four reasons today...

First, CNBC's Becky Quick – the journalist who had the closest relationship with Munger (other than perhaps legendary journalist Carol Loomis) – posted the audio of her last interview with Munger. This took place only two weeks before his death... Here's part one, and below is an excerpt of the description:

He was irreverent, he was focused, he was one of the world's most successful investors. And he was one of a kind. Billionaire investor Charlie Munger – the longtime right-hand man and close friend of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett – died at age 99, a few weeks shy of what would have been his 100th birthday.

Becky Quick, Squawk Box co-host, interviewed Munger two weeks before his death. She traveled to his home in Los Angeles for a discussion on how to live a long life, pragmatic investing, and the stunning advancements of the last century. This would be their final conversation.

And here's part two, with an excerpt of the description below:

"I'm an accidental guru." This is the second episode of a series remembering and celebrating billionaire investor Charlie Munger. At age 99, the right-hand man to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett sat down with Becky Quick in what became their last interview together – after years of Becky covering the company and facilitating shareholder questions at the raucous Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meetings.

Munger passed away two weeks after this interview was recorded, just a month shy of his 100th birthday. In this extended audio version of that final CNBC interview, Charlie Munger reflects on his century of life, the childhood traumas that shaped him, the investing wins and losses that made his career, and the perspective and knowledge he gained in his final years.

2) I just discovered that the best book about Munger, Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, is now available for free online on the website of publisher Stripe Press here. This is what the landing page looks like:

Here's what I wrote about the book on November 29:

There are also well over a dozen books about him, but one stands head and shoulders above the rest: Peter Kaufman's brilliant biography, Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. Kaufman invited me to be a contributor to it because I had transcribed five of Munger's speeches that comprised the heart of the book. It was such an honor! Here's a picture of the team behind it that appears in the first pages:

That's (a much younger) me wearing a red tie in the lower left. Others I recognize are Kaufman, the primary author, in the front also wearing a red tie, and the three women to his right: legendary journalist Carol Loomis, who has worked with Buffett for decades on his annual letter, Buffett's assistant Debbie Bosanek, and Munger's assistant Doerthe Obert.

3) My friend Mohnish Pabrai has a good story of how frugal Munger was:

4) Lastly, every December for the past 15 years, I've baked and sent Buffett and Munger homemade chocolate chip cookies as a small thank-you for everything they've taught me.

Today, as I mail them to Buffett and Obert (who was Munger's assistant for 31 years!), I'm reminded of what a loss Munger's passing is... Here's a picture of me with my wife Susan, who made the batter:

5) Retailer Macy's (M) is in the news today due to an announcement of a buyout bid. (Here's the Wall Street Journal with the story: Investor Group Launches $5.8 Billion Buyout Bid for Macy's.)

I've always felt that Macy's faces huge, likely permanent structural challenges, so I have avoided the stock – the right call, given that M shares first reached $21 (today's offer) in 1997, as you can see in this chart:

6) Speaking of retailers, this graphic from Visual Capitalist shows the largest ones based on U.S. and global sales (note that Macy's, with $23.9 billion in trailing 12-month sales, doesn't even come close to making the list):

Best regards,

Whitney

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