(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.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Stocks Edge Higher With Fed Hiking Bets Steady: Markets Wrap
Hong Kong to Test Whole City for Covid With Beijing’s Help
Jho Low’s Wild Nights on Display: $250,000 for DiCaprio, Fox
Fed Eyes Rate Hike Soon and Faster Tightening Pace If Needed
Trump's Accountants Just Quit. What Took So Long?
“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.”
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
Tourists Returning to Thailand Find Closed Bars, Empty Streets
How Instagram’s ‘Billionaire Gucci Master’ Sank Nigeria’s Super Cop
China Is Showing Off the Digital Yuan at the Olympics. Can the U.S. Compete?
Pramila Jayapal Is Imposing Discipline on the Democratic Left
Hidden Brain Drain Threatens Argentina’s Recovery
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
