At 99, most people are slowing down. Charlie Munger was doubling down—on coal.
According to The Wall Street Journal’s deep-dive profile on Thursday, “The Untold Story of Charlie Munger’s Final Years,” the Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman made a stunning investment in 2023 that shocked even his close friends. After steering clear of coal for six decades, Munger suddenly jumped in with both feet—and walked away with more than $50 million in paper gains.
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The move came from the same library he’d worked in for decades—a room without air conditioning, where friends once hauled in ice and electric fans during a heatwave to keep him comfortable. Sitting in a recliner, surrounded by green Value Line binders, Munger still had the same sharp eye for value he’d become known for across a legendary investing career.
Munger came across an article declaring coal “down the chute,” the Journal reported. He wasn’t buying it. “Horse feathers,” he told his stepson, Hal Borthwick. While the industry had seen a long-term decline, Munger believed many coal producers remained highly profitable and deeply undervalued—especially those producing metallurgical coal, which is still critical to global steelmaking.
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So in May 2023, Munger purchased shares of Consol Energy. Later that year, he added Alpha Metallurgical Resources to the mix. By the time of his death in late November 2023—just weeks shy of his 100th birthday—Consol’s stock had doubled, and Alpha had soared as well. Friends close to Munger said the combined paper gains from the two positions exceeded $50 million.
“He made a very large bet, and it turned out really well,” Borthwick told The Journal.
The coal trade wasn’t a fluke. While Munger was no longer deeply involved in Berkshire’s day-to-day operations—despite holding a $2.2 billion stake—he was far from retired. According to the Journal, he spoke with Warren Buffett every week or two. Both men had hearing issues, which made calls more dramatic than discreet.
“They would scream to each other,” said Whitney Jackson, Munger’s grandson’s wife. “It was likely meant to be confidential, but anyone within a mile’s radius could hear them.”
In his later years, Munger also poured energy into other ventures. He remained a devoted board member of Costco, where his stake was reportedly worth $100 million. He invested in smaller firms in Boston and Melbourne, Australia, and backed hedge fund manager Li Lu’s Himalaya Capital—often dubbed the “Chinese Warren Buffett.”
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In an interview with Business Insider posted early this year, Li said that Munger’s coal trades weren’t just gutsy—they were deliberate. “He could still go against the market consensus and live to see this stock double,” Li said, adding that the position remained in the Munger family portfolio and was still performing well. He emphasized that Munger insisted on unusually high odds—around an 80% chance of success—before making a move, a standard that separated him from more aggressive risk-takers. Even in his final year, Munger was applying the same principles that built his fortune.
During Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting back in 2015, he famously remarked, “If people weren’t so often wrong, we wouldn’t be so rich.” That mindset didn’t fade with age. Even at 99, he stayed alert to moments when markets misjudged reality—and acted accordingly. His late-in-life coal investment wasn’t about nostalgia or luck; it was a sharp reminder that in a world quick to write things off, there’s still room for those willing to look twice, think independently, and trust their own math.
And at 99, Munger still had the conviction—and clarity—to call out the crowd, buy when others bailed, and walk off with a win most investors half his age would envy.
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This article Charlie Munger Made Over $50 Million Betting On Coal At 99—After Avoiding It For 60 Years and Calling The Panic ‘Horse Feathers’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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