SOURCE OF WEALTH: Berkshire Hathaway
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Health, Los Angeles Community
OVERVIEW: The bulk of Munger’s philanthropy has gone to education institutions that he has been affiliated with, usually for new buildings and improvements. He believed in the power of capitalism to do good and had been critical of philanthropy in the past, but he had been stepping up his donations in recent years.
BACKGROUND: The late Charles Munger briefly attended the University of Michigan before joining the U.S. Army Air Corps. He entered Harvard Law School without an undergraduate degree and graduated magna cum laude. He worked in real estate for several years before starting a successful investment firm that eventually caught the eye of Warren Buffett, who brought him into Berkshire Hathaway, where he served as vice chairman. Munger has served on the boards of Costco and the Daily Journal Corp. He and his children also have been active political donors, particularly when it comes to supporting education ballot initiatives in California. In recent years, he had been described as “the conscience of the investment world.” Munger died in November 2023.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: Munger has donated more than $110 million to the University of Michigan to build a graduate center. He’s also made major donations to Stanford University, Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California Harvard-Westlake, and other institutions that he, his wife, and his children have been affiliated with. He and his children also have supported education-related ballot initiatives in California.
In 2014, Munger gave $65 million to support the theoretical physics department at University of Santa Barbara. He has been a supporter of UCSB, his son Charles’s alma mater, and he donated $20 million worth Class A stocks of Berkshire-Hathaway to the university.
HEALTH: Munger is chairman of Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles and has helped the hospital on several major capital campaigns. He has also given shares of his Berkshire Hathaway stock to Planned Parenthood.
LOS ANGELES: In addition to supporting a number of education institutions, Munger has made major gifts to the Los Angeles YMCA and the Huntington Library.
LOOKING FORWARD: Munger, who died in November 2023, had accelerated his giving in recent years, recognizing that “I won’t need it where I’m going.”
