'Assume life will be really tough...': Zerodha's Nithin Kamath shares Charlie Munger's nuggets of investing wisdom

The death of Charlie Munger, the longtime vice chairman and second-in-command to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway, has cast a pall of gloom over the investor community and Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath also condoled the death of the ace investor at the age of 99. 

On a post on X platform (formerly Twitter), Kamath said every time he read and listened to Munger, he discovered more about himself and what he thinks Zerodha should be. Kamath said Munger's ideas had a "tremendous influence" on him professionally and that he'll be missed.

He shared a few investment nuggets that the market veteran gave over the years: 

* One of the greatest ways to avoid trouble is to keep it simple… the system often goes out of control.

* would argue that passion is more important than brainpower.

* Remember that reputation and integrity are your most valuable assets and can be lost in a heartbeat.

* To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward a whole bunch of undeserving people.

* Is there such a thing as a cheerful pessimist? That’s what I am.

* The best thing a human can do is to help another human being know more.

*Assume life will be really tough, and then ask if you can handle it. If the answer is yes, you’ve won.

The death of Munger, a Berkshire vice chairman since 1978, marks an end of an era in corporate America and investing.

Alongside Buffett, Munger was respected and adored by investors around the world, many of whom flocked to Berkshire's annual shareholder weekends in Omaha, Nebraska, to hear the duo’s folksy wisdom on investing and life.

Though Munger was not involved in Berkshire's day-to-day operations, his death leaves Buffett without his longtime sounding board.

Investors also said that while Berkshire has installed managers it could trust to keep the company going, Munger's loss would be deeply felt, and it prompted an outpouring of sorrow.

Berkshire is unlikely to replace Munger and has not publicly discussed any need or desire to do so.

Two other vice chairmen, Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, have day-to-day oversight of Berkshire's non-insurance and insurance businesses, respectively.

Munger's death comes one week after Buffett donated about $866 million of Berkshire stock to four family charities and issued a rare shareholder letter acknowledging that his own time was finite.

In last week's letter, Buffett said Berkshire was "built to last" and would remain in good hands without him.

With inputs from Reuters