(Bloomberg) — Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner, called out the “wretched excess” in both venture capital and Bitcoin, and said that cryptocurrencies should be banned.
“I wish it had been banned immediately, and I admire the Chinese for banning it,” Munger said Wednesday at Daily Journal Corp.’s annual meeting, which was held virtually. “I certainly didn’t invest in crypto. I’m proud of the fact I’ve avoided it. It’s like a venereal disease or something. I just regard it as beneath contempt.”
The 98-year-old billionaire has long been a critic of Bitcoin, previously calling it “rat poison.” On Wednesday, he also warned of other “wretched” market excesses, including the flood of venture capital into startups.
“Certainly the great short squeeze in GameStop was wretched excess, certainly the Bitcoin thing is wretched excess,” Munger said. “I would argue that venture capital is throwing too much money too fast, and there’s a considerable wretched excess in venture capital and other forms of private equity.”
Munger touched on a range of topics at the Daily Journal meeting. The Los Angeles-based company sells software to court systems and justice agencies, and publishes newspapers. Munger has served as the firm’s chairman for years, in addition to being a vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., where billionaire Buffett is chairman and chief executive officer.
Daily Journal has recently been building up its stake in China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Munger was repeatedly questioned about that investment and his views on investing in China. He said that he’s more comfortable investing in that country than Buffett is.
“The companies we invest in are stronger relative to their competition and priced lower,” Munger said at the meeting, live-streamed by Yahoo Finance. “That’s why we’re in China.”
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.