Just realized something interesting about Warren Buffett's partner Charlie Munger that most people miss. When he passed away in late 2023, this legendary investor had basically put almost his entire $2.6 billion fortune into just three bets. No diversification, no hedging - just pure conviction.

Munger was actually pretty vocal about this. He called diversification a "rule for those who don't know anything," which is wild coming from someone who clearly knew exactly what he was doing. Before joining Berkshire Hathaway, he ran his own fund that crushed it - averaging 19.5% annual returns from 1962 to 1975. That's not luck. That's skill.

So here's where it gets interesting. Let me break down his three plays and how they're looking roughly two years later.

First up: Costco. Munger literally called himself "a total addict" of this company and served on their board for decades. At one point he held over 187,000 shares worth around $110 million and swore he'd never sell a single one. Since he passed, Costco has returned 47% and even threw in a special dividend. The company also bumped its regular dividend by 27%. Not bad for a "boring" retailer.

Second: Himalaya Capital. This is the interesting one because it's private. Back in the early 2000s, Munger gave $88 million to Li Lu - this guy's known as the Chinese Warren Buffett for his value investing track record. Himalaya follows the same principles Buffett and Munger lived by. While we don't get full transparency on the fund, its biggest holding is Alphabet, which makes up almost 40% of their assets. Alphabet alone has jumped 130% since Munger's death, so you can imagine the fund's doing pretty well.

Third: Berkshire Hathaway itself. This was the heavyweight - almost 90% of Munger's net worth sat in Berkshire shares. He owned around 4,033 Class A shares worth roughly $2.2 billion when he passed. Since then, Berkshire Class A has climbed 37%. Honestly, it's wild to think he could have been worth $10 billion if he hadn't sold off about 75% of his Berkshire holdings back in the 1990s.

Here's what's striking though. In the roughly two years since Munger's death, his three core holdings haven't quite kept pace with the broader market. Berkshire up 38%, Costco up 47%, while the S&P 500 jumped 52%. On paper, that looks like underperformance.

But I think that misses the point. These aren't get-rich-quick plays. They're quality businesses with real competitive advantages - what Munger called "moats" - that can weather different economic environments. For a conservative investor like Munger, that stability probably mattered more than chasing maximum returns.

The real takeaway? Even with Munger gone, his investing principles seem to be holding up. Value investing might be out of favor right now, but these three positions are still delivering solid results. That's the kind of timeless approach that works across market cycles.