Just came across something interesting about Charlie Munger's investment philosophy that really stands out. You know, most people talk about diversification like it's gospel, but Munger completely rejected that idea. He called it a rule for people who don't know what they're doing, and honestly, his track record backed that up.

Munger basically put almost his entire $2.6 billion net worth into just three investments. No hedge, no safety net. When he passed away in November 2023, I started thinking about how those bets actually played out. Two years later, here's what happened.

First up was Costco Wholesale. Munger was obsessed with this company - literally called himself a total addict. He sat on their board for decades and said he'd never sell a share. Since his death, Costco has returned 47%, and they even threw in a special dividend on top of their regular 27% dividend increase. Not bad for a company he loved that much.

Then there was Himalaya Capital. Back in the early 2000s, Munger gave $88 million to Li Lu, this fund manager known as the Chinese Warren Buffett. The fund focuses on value investing principles, same philosophy Munger and Buffett followed. While Himalaya doesn't publicly share returns, their biggest holding is Alphabet, which jumped 130% since Munger died. That alone tells you something.

But here's the wild part - around 90% of Munger's wealth was actually in Berkshire Hathaway itself. He held about 4,033 Class A shares worth roughly $2.2 billion at the time of his death. Since then, Berkshire Class A shares have climbed 37%. Interestingly, he'd sold off like 75% of his original holdings from 1996, otherwise his net worth would've been close to $10 billion.

So how did these three high-conviction bets actually perform? Berkshire returned 38%, Costco 47%, and Alphabet 130% through its fund. The S&P 500 went up 52% in that same period, so yeah, Munger's picks didn't beat the broader market. But that's not really the point.

What strikes me is that these weren't flashy, high-risk plays. They were boring, fundamental businesses with real competitive advantages - what Buffett and Munger called moats. In a period where value investing has been kind of out of favor, these three investments still delivered solid double-digit returns. That's the real lesson here. Even after Charlie Munger is gone, the principles he lived by - finding quality businesses and holding them - still work. The market's always changing, but that approach seems timeless.