Charles Munger, vice president of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
Jonathan Alcorn | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Charlie Munger, vice president of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner, ruled out on Wednesday the skyrocketing Tesla stock price and the recent bitcoin frenzy.
During an interview at the Daily Journal’s annual shareholder meeting, Munger was asked if he thought it was crazier for bitcoin to reach $ 50,000 or for Tesla to achieve a fully diluted business value of $ 1 trillion, he said: “Well, I I have the same difficulty as Samuel Johnson once, when he received a similar question, he said, ‘I can’t decide the order of precedence between a flea and a louse’, and I feel the same about those choices. I don’t know what’s worse. . “
Tesla’s shares shot up 743% last year, although they are currently down about 3% in 2021. Their market value is around $ 689 billion. Bitcoin continued to rise to more than $ 50,000 last week, after Tesla announced it bought $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin.
Munger was also asked what the biggest threat to banks is and whether it was bitcoin or digital wallets like Apple Pay and Square.
“I don’t think I know what the future of the banking system is and I don’t think I know how the payment system will evolve,” he said. “I really think that a well-run bank is a big contributor to civilization and that the world’s central banks like to control their own banking system and their own money supply.
“So, I don’t think bitcoin will end up as a medium of exchange for the world. It’s very volatile to serve well as a medium of exchange. And it’s really kind of an artificial substitute for gold. And since I never buy any gold, I I never buy any bitcoin. “
Munger recommended that others follow his practice.
“Bitcoin reminds me of what Oscar Wilde said about fox hunting. He said it was the search for the intractable for the unspeakable, ”added Munger.
During the same event, Munger also issued a dire warning to start-up investors who he said were being drawn into a trading bubble through applications like Robinhood.
You can watch the full interview below.
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