Billionaire investor Charlie Munger: ‘The world is not driven by greed, it’s driven by envy’

Billionaire capitalist Charlie Munger says he's ne'er cared astir comparing his riches to the wealth of others.

Rather, helium says his motivation successful accumulating wealth has ever been astir securing independence, the state to bash what helium wishes successful concern and successful beingness — and helium wishes much radical would travel his example.

"The satellite is not driven by greed. It's driven by envy," Munger said astatine the yearly gathering of the Daily Journal, the paper institution wherever helium is simply a director, earlier this year.

The 98-year-old, who has amassed a luck that Forbes estimates astatine $2.2 billion, added that it's easy, and common, for radical to go envious. No substance however overmuch immoderate radical have, idiosyncratic other volition ever person more, helium noted.

It's a sentiment that Munger has expressed successful the past, and 1 he's antecedently attributed to his longtime person and concern partner, Warren Buffett. But Munger seems assured that he's flooded the inclination himself.

"I person conquered envy successful my ain life. I don't envy anybody," Munger said. "I don't springiness a damn what idiosyncratic other has. But different radical are driven brainsick by it."

Of course, it's easier to accidental that erstwhile you're a billionaire. Forbes lists much than 1,300 different billionaires with larger fortunes than his — including Buffett, who has an estimated nett worthy of $106 billion — but Munger's wealthiness is inactive much than capable to guarantee helium would privation for nothing.

In 2017, Munger said successful an interrogation that helium ever tries to debar feelings of "envy and jealousy" successful business. Those types of thoughts tin wounded your career, due to the fact that you'll beryllium much apt to marque biased decisions that could crook retired poorly, helium added.

In 2019, helium spoke retired against envy again, telling CNBC that avoiding envy is 1 of the "simple" secrets to surviving a agelong and blessed life.

Indeed, a 2018 study that recovered radical driven by envy are much apt to acquisition poorer intelligence wellness and well-being. The emergence of societal media has besides been criticized for feeding into people's feelings of envy and materialism — by perpetually offering windows into the lives of radical who either have, oregon look to have, peculiarly luxurious lives.

Envy is simply "built into the quality of things," Munger said astatine the Daily Journal's meeting. The billionaire added that helium can't recognize wherefore radical contiguous aren't much contented with what they have, particularly erstwhile compared to hard times erstwhile generations endured.

Munger himself lived done the Great Depression, and cited poorer surviving conditions and shorter lifespans arsenic acold backmost arsenic the 1800s arsenic examples of however acold humanity has come.

"The information that everybody's 5 times amended disconnected than they utilized to be, they instrumentality that for granted," Munger said. "All they deliberation astir is idiosyncratic other [has] much now, and it's not just that helium should person it and they don't."

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