WEBVTT - Happy Holidays for Amazon Sales, Remembering Charlie Munger 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.280 Hey, it's Carol and Tim and we have something new 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:03.160 and exciting for you. 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.680 Everything you love about Bloomberg Radio is now in your car. 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.160 The new Bloomberg Business App now featuring Apple CarPlay and 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:10.800 Android Auto. 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:14.400 Listen to your favorite Bloomberg Radio stations anytime. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.280 Plus every Bloomberg podcast, the latest news, and more, all 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:18.360 at the click of a button. 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:21.560 It's free and simple to use. Just download the Bloomberg 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.079 Business App on your smartphone and connect your phone to 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:24.680 your car. 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:27.880 The Bloomberg Business App now with Apple CarPlay and Android 0:00:27.920 --> 0:00:30.720 Auto features. 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The Bloomberg Business Week Podcast with 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:53.760 Carol Messer and Tim Stenebeck from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:56.160 It was really kind of hard to keep up with 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.000 stories about Amazon today because they just kept coming and coming. 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.600 Amazon out of course today talking about Black Friday and 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:06.160 Cyber Monday, saying that customers around the world purchased over 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:10.720 one billion billion items on Amazon and that shopping event, 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:13.440 that extended event, if you will, breaking records. 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:13.640 Tim. 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.840 They also today Aws Amazon Web Services, and in Nvidia 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.360 announcing an expansion of their strategic collaboration. And then Carol, there's. 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:24.759 This Amazon dot Com joining that chep Race announcing Amazon 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.920 Q their own digital assistant for corporate customers to do 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:31.639 lots of things like search for info, RTE, code review, 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:32.520 business metrics. 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:33.080 So much. 0:01:33.120 --> 0:01:33.960 How smart is it? 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.560 I don't know, So let's ask somebody who is super 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.480 smart on all things Amazon. Bloomberg News Senior Executive editor 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:41.880 of Global Tech Bradstone is in the house. He's written 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:45.080 several books, including two on Amazon, The Everything's Store and 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:48.720 also Amazon Unbound. And while he's based in San Francisca, 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:50.760 as we said, he's here in New York. Hello, Hello, Hello. 0:01:51.520 --> 0:01:54.200 It's kind of crazy the amount of stories. Where to 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:57.600 start when you think about this company. I don't know. 0:01:57.760 --> 0:01:59.640 We have a flurry of headlines like this, like what 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:00.640 I'm sad at you? 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:04.560 Well, today's a reminder of the breath and extent of 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:08.880 Amazon's businesses and how it covers a lot of territory 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.720 and it's you know, in large part succeeding in a 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.280 lot of different ways. I mean, the e commerce information 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:17.919 that they released is characteristically useless. You know, they throw 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.560 out numbers that are foggy at best. But Adobe does 0:02:21.600 --> 0:02:23.600 a pretty good job of telling us what's happening in 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:27.240 cyberscope in the US and in cybersecurity in the US overall. 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.760 And cyber Monday was up like nine point six percent 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:34.880 over last year, Cyber Week seven point eight percent. And look, 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.080 that's in an environment where we thought consumers were going 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.960 to be really reluctant to spend one bright spot somewhat 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.680 sort of ironically. We know Americans love credit. Is this 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:46.919 whole buy now, pay later scheme? Yeah, and that's up 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:48.840 like forty five percent over last year. And you look 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:50.600 at the stock of a company like a firm, which 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.400 jumped i think like fifteen percent yesterday, and so. 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:54.960 You know that's kind of scary. 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:56.400 Yeah, maybe a little bit. 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.720 But consumers are discovering it and they're taking advantage of 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.560 the deals. And it's not just a day or two days, 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.560 it's the whole week. Like even Thanksgiving sales were up 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:05.560 five or six percent. 0:03:05.840 --> 0:03:07.960 That's amazing, right, We really thought, Okay, it is the 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:09.600 consumer slowing down, No signs of it. 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.280 I think we often talk about ecosystems, and we talk 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:14.919 about Apple and Google and Microsoft and the way these 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.680 companies sort of own parts of your digital life. But 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.600 I was actually thinking over the weekend brat about Amazon's ecosystem. 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:22.760 I said this earlier, but I just reupped my membership 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:24.560 at one Medical and instead of doing it through one 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:26.800 Medical this year, I did it through Amazon Prime. I 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:29.880 saved one hundred bucks. We got a ring doorbell and 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.119 like we're getting the ring security year they got you. Yeah, 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:35.720 and that's owned you know, Amazon bought that company. 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.760 So like, these are two companies enchanting Amazon the story. 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:41.280 But it's also and look seriously, we have Amazon like 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:43.280 groceries being delivered Tonight's kind of. 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:45.360 Apple model, Like you're in the system. 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.280 But it's not books and it's not like, you know, 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:49.680 just knick knacks that we're buying on Amazon. These are 0:03:49.720 --> 0:03:53.040 totally different businesses for Amazon. Not to mention Aws here, 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:54.680 just talk about how you think about the Amazon and 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:56.120 ecosystem in twenty twenty. 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.480 Things, because is ecosystem even the right word? I mean, 0:03:58.520 --> 0:04:01.480 when we think about iOS and Apple, all the different 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:04.920 pieces and parts nurture each other. If you have an iPhone, 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:07.600 you're more likely to get an Apple Watch or to 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:12.360 use Apple software. Amazon's got a lot of these disword businesses. 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:15.120 And you know this week they have their annual Reinvent 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:18.640 conference in Las Vegas. Their big aws show Amazon is 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.719 the leader in cloud computing. But you know, one year 0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:25.159 ago Thursday was the introduction of chat GPT, and ever since, 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:28.120 you know, there has been a narrative that Amazon is 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.279 behind in generative AI, that it doesn't. 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:32.480 Have quite the story. And so today, as. 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:36.000 You guys mentioned, they were released this qu workplace chatbot. 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:38.239 If you're gonna name it Q, you have to assume 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.239 that's gonna be able to espouse conspiracy theories, I guess. 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:44.960 But it's their bid to compete with chat GPT in 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:47.120 the enterprise, and I think it's interesting. 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:48.599 We'll have to see how good it is. But it 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:49.719 has nothing to do. 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.400 With one medical or the ring doorbell or so this 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:55.840 is a company I mean, I remember, I remember one 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.960 of the last quotes from Bezos in my first book, 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:01.520 The Everything Store, was as him saying, we don't have 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:04.159 a lot of advantages, so we have to weave a 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:07.480 rope of smaller advantages like that. In some ways, back 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.479 then that book was published in twenty thirteen, it was 0:05:10.520 --> 0:05:13.160 all connected. I don't think that's true anymore. 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.440 Meaning they don't have the iOS ecosystem or the Android 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:16.200 operating systems. 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:17.520 They tried and fair or something. 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.960 Yeah, and there are a lot of these dissert businesses, 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:22.800 and the extent that there are connections, they're very light. 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:28.279 And maybe that's to the company's credit. It certainly would 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:31.560 make will make it easier to break the parts, to 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.960 break the pieces apart, if they have to do that 0:05:34.000 --> 0:05:35.440 one day, Hello Lena Khan. 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:37.479 Well, and it's also interesting, so they also did the 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.120 announcement about making or an update to their own ships 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.280 that they are making. At the same time, they are 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.719 kind of extending their collaboration with Nvidia, like it does 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.599 feel like they just kind of are everywhere. 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:51.240 Well, and that's something Google is doing as well. Keep 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:53.440 your friends close and your enemies closer. And all these 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.880 companies are totally dependent on Nvidia for these graphic processors 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:01.520 that are so important to Center of AI, and yet 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:06.200 the prices are extremely high and Nvidia can't supply the 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:08.679 volume of chips that companies need to meet the demand. 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.800 And so with Graviton four and the announcement Amazon made 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.400 this week, it's this more long term project of competing 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.080 with Nvidia and putting its own chips and its data 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:19.719 centers to meet customer demand. 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:21.560 How do you think about Amazon for the future, Like, 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:24.440 I don't know what your next book is on this company, 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:27.800 But having said that, is it going to be? Yeah, 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.000 these businesses, but yeah, so much more? 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.479 Still, well, look, I mean it's it's there. They're very 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:38.479 kind of strategically positioned in businesses that seem to show. 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:39.479 No signs of slowing down. 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.080 Yeah, I mean the Great e commerce revolution. We're twenty 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.320 five years into it and as we just said, it's 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:46.880 still growing ten percent every year. 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:48.920 Over oversight my default when I buy something. 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:51.360 They're finding great ways to get us to I mean 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:55.279 Friday night football and the kinds of ads that they 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:59.280 had and the experimentation they're doing with advertising that leads 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:00.000 to purchases. 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.440 Is this is all like a green field for Amazon. 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.240 And then on the cloud side, we're in the very 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:09.040 earliest days of companies moving their operations to the cloud 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:13.920 bringing using these AI tools. We have no idea how 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:15.520 it's going to go. We might look back and think 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.760 all this was very over hyped one day. But certainly, Amazon, 0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:20.520 like a lot of the other big tech companies, are 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:23.320 positioning themselves for another phase of growth. 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:25.800 But I think the fact is is increasingly people are 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:30.640 finding increasing shares of their dollar are going to Amazon, 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:33.760 whether it's for groceries, whether it's for medical care, security, whatever, 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.040 or just you know sort of AWS stuff that they 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.960 don't even know that they're using. I was joking about 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:41.440 Lena Conn earlier, but from a regulatory perspective, and you 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:44.040 were talking about potentially breaking this stuff up in the future. 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.240 What should be on Amazon's radar when it comes to regulators. 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:51.920 Well, I mean there, I think the FTC and this 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:56.000 case that has been filed, and they're fighting battles on 0:07:56.360 --> 0:08:00.560 multiple fronts, state ags, the European Union. It's almost an 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:04.640 existential battle for Amazon, right They're they're having to explain, 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:07.400 you know, what they do, how they do things for 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:11.160 a company that's been incredibly cryptic and secretive over the 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:16.320 span of its life, and then also maybe proving and 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:18.680 it's increasingly hard that they're not a monopoly. 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.880 Now they can point to these. 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.320 Cyber week shopping numbers and say, look, this was not 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.600 just Amazon, but Shopify had a great week. 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:30.560 Walmart dot com had a great week. 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:35.880 We yesterday heard news of Shean, this Chinese retailer quietly 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.199 filing to go public. The Shean stories this incredible story 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:41.400 of a retailer that has come out of nowhere over 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.120 the past few years to compete in fast fashion in 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:46.440 the West. So there are a lot of competitors. So 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:48.960 I think first and foremost for Amazon is proving that 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.680 while it is a wildly successful story, that it is 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:52.760 not the only game in town. 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:56.120 Andy Jesse's really just taken the baton and run with it. 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:57.040 How do you well? 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:00.480 Ways he was, Yeah, in some way he was. 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:04.240 He had to fix some of the problems of Bezos's 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.959 final tenure where he may have taken his eye off 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:08.800 the ball a little bit and hired too many people 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.000 and created too many experiments, And I think Jesse did 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:16.559 a good job of really narrowing it down and making 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:19.800 the company more efficient, and then placing a couple of 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:23.480 strategic bets healthcare is one, keeping the emphasis on the 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.760 cloud and not doing all the crazy things that Jeff really, 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:31.040 you know, initiated when he had an idea that Amazon 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:34.640 could be everything to everyone and compete in every single industry. 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:37.000 Just really quickly ten seconds. Is Jeff still very involved 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:37.760 as a. 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.080 Board member that as an operator? Interesting? 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.280 Good stuff. Thank you. I know you're busy and you 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:45.280 found time for us. Bradstone, we love, we love, Senior 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:48.080 Executive editor of Global Technology here at Bloomberg. 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:49.600 Check out his books. He wrote the best books on 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.280 Amazon to go check them out and more books. 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:56.360 Yeah, you're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.760 us live weekday afternoons from three to six Eastern Listen 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.319 on Bloomberg dot com, the iHeartRadio app and the Bloomberg 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:06.600 Business app. Or wants us live on YouTube? 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.400 All right, everybody, Carol Master Tim Stenevik live here on 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:12.640 Bloomberg Business Week. We're going to stay with what is 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:16.560 certainly our top story, and as we've mentioned, we are 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.360 talking about Charlie Munger, who, as many would say, new 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.840 Nobo Hier writing in a Bloomberg story, the alter ego 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.160 sidekick and foyle to Warren Buffett for almost sixty years 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:29.840 as they transform Bert Berkshire Hathaway from a failing textile 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.920 maker into an empire. Has died. He was ninety nine. 0:10:33.360 --> 0:10:34.440 Let's talk a little bit more about it. 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:37.199 Yeah, an incredible life led. For more, we go to 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.960 Bloomberg Intelligence Property and Casualty Insurance senior analyst Matthew Palazola, 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.480 who joins us this afternoon. Matthew, good to have you 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.840 with us. What was your first reaction, your first thought 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.640 when you saw this news that Charlie Monker died at 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:50.440 ninety nine. 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:55.320 Yeah, I mean, obviously very sad day. I was at 0:10:55.360 --> 0:11:00.200 the annual meeting this year. He's still incredibly sharp, you know, 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:03.480 very much with it. You know, I have to look 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:07.960 at it from the operations of Berkshire Hathaway, and clearly 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:12.839 he has taken a reduced role over time. So my 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:15.840 thought is, you know, very sad day. But for the 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:19.240 company that they've built, you know, they talked about it 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.839 actually being quote easy, you know, which is I guess 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:26.960 a very humble understatement. But I think they buy good companies, 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.679 they let them run, and you know, this machine they've 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.679 built will will go on for you know, all time. 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.240 Really, and yet they've allowed it to be tweaked with 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:39.760 bringing in the next generation of investors and also listening 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.600 to what they have to say. And it says something 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:47.040 about their relationship. Monger and Warren Buffett's together to kind 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.079 of maintain their core in terms of their investment strategy, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.000 but also be open to listening to kind of what's 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:54.800 what's out there and how the world is changing. 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:59.440 Yeah, I think you know they've they've always been hands 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.800 off with the company means they buy and you know, 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:04.440 they've brought in investment managers. They've seeded a lot of 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.920 power to Greg Abel and A G. Jane over time, 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.480 which is just prudent. And you know, if if anything 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.280 you could say is that they've been very prudent managers 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.120 of Berkshire Hathaway's Capital over time. 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:20.520 Talk to me about this partnership between Munger and Buffett. 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.320 What were the I haditate to call them characters, but 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:27.400 you know they were certainly larger than life and h 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.920 and they have been, I should say, talk to me about, 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:34.160 you know, their interactions at the annual meeting and and 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.880 sort of their partnership and how it was on display. 0:12:37.080 --> 0:12:39.480 Yeah, I mean it's it was. It was really fun 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:42.160 to watch. I mean they'd be sitting up there eating 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:44.800 seas candy and drinking Coca Cola at the same time, 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.520 you know, which which I find kind of crazy. But 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:53.000 you know, they're they're doing that, and they're recalling individual 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:56.680 meetings that they had, you know, forty fifty years ago, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.840 and Buffett is forgetting a couple of things, and Mongers 0:12:59.880 --> 0:13:02.440 were minding him of, well, this guy said that, and 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:04.720 we said this, and we made this much money in 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:07.719 these meetings. I mean, it was, you know, truly a 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:11.319 partnership for all of that time, and their interactions was 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.800 just amazing. They would finish each other sentences. You know, 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.719 it's it's just it's really sad to see that kind 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:19.640 of broken up. But you know, on the other hand, 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.320 when we go to these meetings, you know, it was 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.960 the feeling like, you know, they're very old, maybe they'll retire, 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.080 or maybe this would be the last time they'd be together. 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.920 So you know, it wasn't obviously something completely unexpected. 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.640 Well for sixty years though they worked together side by side. 0:13:34.679 --> 0:13:37.199 I want to bring in Katcha Kolinsky. She's Bloomberg News 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.880 real estate team leader now, but she covered Berkshire, Hathaway 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:43.640 and Warren Buffett went to the meetings, would report on it. 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:45.800 We'd have her on for a long time and. 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:48.600 A lot of saturdays working on these earnings. 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.679 Kat So, how are you, how are you thinking about 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:52.240 this today. 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.480 You know, it's really an end of an error. I mean, 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:57.640 Munger was the foiled buffet for so many years, and 0:13:57.679 --> 0:13:59.920 it was a it was a funny partnership, you know. 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.160 I think they really kind of drew out different ideas 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:04.720 in each other and pushed each other. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:05.040 You know. 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.320 Why do you say funny, Well, because they I mean 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:09.439 they really had a good time. 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.480 Like if you know, going to those annual meetings you 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:14.120 were like it was it was kind of a comedy 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.000 show between the two of them. Like, yes, they'd offer 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:19.480 investment and advice, but they really bantered back and forth 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:21.840 and it was it was it was fun to cover 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:22.520 for a long time. 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:26.880 Kat, Who is Warren Buffett without Charlie Monger, you know, 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:28.040 Like I think. 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:30.640 I think Charlie pushed him on a lot of things. 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.480 Like I think, you know, for example, in our obituary 0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:37.000 we talk a lot about Charlie was really interested in 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:42.480 investing in China, and I think some of that mental flexibility, 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:46.000 that sort of a desire to push Buffett into maybe 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.760 maybe areas he'd be a little more skeptical to get into. 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.200 I think that was a large part of Charlie. 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:53.480 Yeah, he's a little bit older, right, just a few 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:54.040 years older. 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.680 Yeah, he's just shy of his one hundredth birthday. 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.640 So yeah, now, but I was thinking older than Buffett, right, 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:02.840 just years older. Now, talk to us a little bit 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.040 about in terms of your coverage. I mean, like, as 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:08.880 you said, they were funny together, but the company did evolve, 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.000 right in terms of their investments. There's some things that 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.680 I feel like they've they've held on to forever, but 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:16.000 they also then kind of moved into some of we 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.920 talked about Apple as an investment, and that was you know, 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:20.680 indicative of I guess some of the new folks that 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:21.600 they brought in as well. 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:25.200 Yeah, it has evolved like it was mostly for the 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:27.840 longest time Buffetted and Charlie kind of leading it, and 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.040 it still remained that way until the very last day. 0:15:31.080 --> 0:15:33.640 But you know, they did bring in new people. Ted 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.320 and Todd are key on their investments, and I think, 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:39.200 you know, there was a moment a couple of years 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.360 ago when Agit Jane and Greg Abil were both promoted 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.600 to vice chairman alongside Charlie, and I think that was 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:47.840 a really big sign that they were preparing the future 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:51.960 generation of this company. But I think Buffett and Munger 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:53.760 had such a good time running it that they didn't 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.920 want to stop until they sort of until the very end. 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.560 And they've always been the face of the company, no 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:00.000 doubt about it. 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:00.560 Yeah. 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:02.760 And I think they were a huge draw for investors 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.280 for so many years because you're not only getting a big, 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.760 you know, industrial behemoth with insurance companies and all these 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:12.800 different businesses, but are also getting this huge stock portfolio 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:14.560 that they can bet on Apple, they can bet on 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:15.760 all these different companies with. 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:17.840 So, you know, I pulled up the list of companies 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.920 like these candies. We always talk about what we talk 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:24.080 We used to talk about Brooks as sneakers. Of course, 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.480 Geico looking at the Brown shoe company. There's Dime, you know, 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.840 jewelry like he just they were in so many different things. 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.560 Yeah, and I think I think the way Berkshire got 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:37.120 built up was really part of that partnership is them 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.000 pushing each other to try different companies, to look at 0:16:40.000 --> 0:16:42.320 different industries, to say, hey, what do you think about 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:44.520 this business and how it works? And they would talk 0:16:44.600 --> 0:16:46.680 a lot, you know, even though Charlie was often in 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:50.160 California and Buffett lived in Omaha. You know, I think 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:52.920 sort of the weird mixture of Berkshire is things in 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:54.040 part a lot to Monger. 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:58.000 Yeah, and Matthew Palozola from Bloomberg Intelligence, come on back 0:16:58.040 --> 0:16:59.600 in here and talk a little bit about what this 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:02.600 means for Berkshire Hathaway without a Charlie Munger there. 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:06.880 Yeah, I mean, like I said, I mean, I do 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:09.640 think his role was clearly it's taken a step back. 0:17:10.600 --> 0:17:13.600 They have seeded a lot of power. I don't I 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:15.359 hate to say I don't. I don't think it's a 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:20.600 huge deficiency on the operations going forward. I mean, many 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.280 of these businesses that they have, I call it kind 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.720 of an all weather portfolio. The earnings power of the 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.840 company is I think, you know, going to be totally intact. 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:32.160 You know, they've been on the hunt for a big 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:36.480 deal for a while and Buffett's really they've been really 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.960 shy on valuations, so you know, I don't think I 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.919 don't think it really much changes from the operations of 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:49.720 the company. I probably think they don't maybe pull Buffett 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:53.520 doesn't pull that trigger on a big deal anytime soon, 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:55.040 and if he does, it's probably gonna be something we 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:55.600 never heard of. 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.560 Honestly, Cat Saved twenty seconds for your last thoughts here. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:01.080 Yeah, I mean I think it's it's really a huge 0:18:01.119 --> 0:18:05.159 loss today. I think Charlie Munger was an interesting individual 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.760 who made us laugh, but also you know, taught us 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:10.840 a lot about different investments, and you know, I think 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:12.640 it's really, yeah, the end of an era for. 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:17.040 Berkshire, absolutely right in terms of companies, the investment world, 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:19.560 and just kind of someone there to kind of write 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:21.640 the ship like when there was crisis or so on, 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.080 the two of them together. Keatchiklinski, thank you so much. 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:29.080 Matthew Palizola, thank you as well. You're listening to Bloomberg Radio. 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:35.000 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch us 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:39.040 live weekday afternoons from three to six Easter on Bloomberg Radio, 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.520 the Bloomberg Business app and YouTube. You can also listen 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.720 live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship New York station 0:18:46.160 --> 0:18:48.960 Just Say Alexa playing Bloomberg eleven thirty. 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.080 As you know, Charlie Munger, who has worked side by 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:57.359 side with Warren Buffett to build out Berkshire Hathaway for 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.480 the past sixty years, has passed away at the age 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.960 of ninety nine. Berkshire Hathaway could not have been built 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:07.720 to its present status without Charlie's inspiration, wisdom and participation. 0:19:07.840 --> 0:19:12.119 This is coming from Warren Buffett on that news. We 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:14.280 want to talk a little bit about this a little 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:17.120