Charlie Munger, billionaire investor and vice chairman of American holding conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, again criticized bitcoin (BTC), financial markets-focused news outlet Markets Insider reported on May 4. Munger — who was invited to an event by an unnamed digital currency investment group, but did not attend it — stated that bitcoin investors "celebrate the life and work of Judas Iscariot." Munger thus reiterated his negative stance towards cryptocurrencies. Last February, Munger described the leading cryptocurrency as “totally asinine,” at the 2018 annual general meeting of the Daily Journal Corporation. He then stated: “And I think the people who are professional traders that go into trading cryptocurrencies, it is just disgusting. It is like somebody else is trading turds and you decide, 'I can't be left out.'" As Cointelegraph reported earlier today, Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive officer and chairman Warren Buffett — who is also well-known for his scathing stance toward cryptocurrencies — again derided bitcoin for its purported lack of real use value. Buffet likened the coin to a seashell that “just sits there.” “It’s like a seashell or something, and that is not an investment to me,” Buffett said. Last year, Chamath Palihapitiya, a self-professed “disciple” of investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, said that the two crypto skeptics are wrong about bitcoin. Regarding Munger, Palihapitiya said, “I think it’s really unfair to not understand something, and then to disparage it.” Bitcoin is currently trading at around $5,757, down 0.62% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. As previously reported, on May 3, the price of bitcoin spiked from around $5,300 to over $5,700 in major markets, allowing the crypto market to gain more than $7 billion in a single day.<doc-sep>Charlie Munger, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and a long-time business partner of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has recently claimed the “bitcoin people” celebrate the life of Judas Iscariot, the apostle that betrayed Jesus, in their happy hours. Speaking during the 2019 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting, Munger told the audience he was invited to a happy hour by the “bitcoin people,” and added: I wonder what they have been doing in their happy hour, and I finally figured it out. They celebrate the life and work of Judas Iscariot. Munger has in the past claimed he sees bitcoin and the cryptocurrency system as “anti-social, stupid, immortal,” and in another occasion claimed he dislikes cryptocurrencies more than Buffett himself. At the time, Munger claimed trading bitcoin was like “dementia,” and claimed it was “like somebody else is trading turds and you decide you can’t be left out.” Highlight: “Your vice chairman is getting new social distinction,” Munger says. “I've been invited during the gathering to go to a happy hour put together by the bitcoin people. And I tried to figure out what the bitcoin do in their happy hour and I finally figured it out…” pic.twitter.com/BM7FHiKPyf — Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) May 4, 2019 Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, then shared a story about his honeymoon in Las Vegas in 1952, when he saw people who came from all over the world to gamble in casinos, something “every damn one of them knew was mathematically dumb.” The billionaire investors recalled telling his wife they were “going to make a lot of money” because of the gamblers’ attitudes, and added bitcoin reminds him of the feeling he had then. Buffett, as recently reported, sees bitcoin as a “gambling device” based on speculation, and not as an investment. He noted, however, that blockchain technology has potential, but doesn’t necessarily need BTC. He used JP Morgan Chase, which launched its own cryptocurrency earlier this year, as an example. When asked whether Berkshire was investing in blockchain technology, the Oracle of Omaha noted they’re probably doing so “indirectly through a bank,” and added he “wouldn’t be the person to be a big leader in blockchain.” Currently, Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio includes giants like Apple, Coca-Cola, and Moody’s, as well as various financial institutions, including JP Morgan Chase. Featured image via TEDizen, Flickr, CC by 2.0<doc-sep>Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, he’s proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.“There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering,” said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New York’s Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. “But they’ve done great.”A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGM’s development of “The Hobbit” franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, “Skyfall,” which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studio’s work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice,” but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahn’s stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGM’s film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGM’s board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barber’s contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barber’s deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasn’t replaced him, instead operating an “office of the chief executive officer,” comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorage’s overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorage’s flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, “No Time to Die,” was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGM’s library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorage’s flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.<doc-sep>Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger said Monday political leaders in the U.S. and Europe shouldn't push central banks to cut interest rates. "I am so afraid of a democracy getting the idea that you can just print money to solve all problems. Eventually I know that will fail," Warren Buffett's longtime investing partner told CNBC's Becky Quick in an interview. "You don't have to raise taxes, you just print." "In the end, if you end up printing too much, you end up like Venezuela," he added. Venezuela, which is now in the midst of an economic and humanitarian crisis, has been used as a cautionary tale about socialism. Munger added that he didn't think the U.S. was anywhere near a situation such as that, but that it is dangerous when a democracy thinks it can print money to solve all of its problems. President Donald Trump last month, in his most brazen attack yet on the Federal Reserve, called for the central bank to cut interest rates by 1 percentage point and to implement more money-printing quantitative easing. Trump has expressed concerns that high interest rates could hurt economic growth under his presidency. The call for rate cuts comes despite another strong economic performance in the first quarter. GDP rose at a robust 3.2% after many economists had been predicting little or no growth. Last week, the Fed voted to hold interest rates steady. Buffett, speaking in the same interview Monday with Munger, also responded with, "I could not conceive of a world where you would have full employment, 5% budget deficits ... and have the long bond at 3%" Buffett and Munger appeared on "Squawk Box" for a wide-ranging interview on Monday, following the weekend festivities at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting. Watch: Modern Monetary Theory explained by Stephanie Kelton<doc-sep>
In a bizarre turn of events, Charlie Munger–one of Wall Street’s most recognizable figures and long-time partner to Warren Buffett–compared cryptocurrency investors to the biblical figure of Judas Iscariot. The billionaire investor and Vice Chairman for Berkshire Hathaway continued his criticism of Bitcoin, which has been ongoing for several years. Munger’s comments follow on the heels of the most recent remarks by partner Warren Buffett, who last week called Bitcoin a “gambling device.” Buffett, who is worth over $90 billion, lamented the state of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investing as a stage for fraudsters and charlatans, despite the growing valuations for digital assets. Instead, Buffett used the opportunity to renew his attack against the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization, claiming that Bitcoin was responsible for a series of frauds and “disappearances” related to the digital asset. Munger echoed the comments of his esteemed investment partner, as reported by news outlet Markets Insider in a post on May 4. The comments were made in relation to Munger being invited to a cryptocurrency event by an unnamed digital assets group. Despite declining the invitation, Munger managed to sneak in his views towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, which amounted to more negative press for the industry in the vein of comments made by Warren Buffett. The most recent comments by Munger are not the first detraction by the billionaire towards cryptocurrency. A year ago, Munger claimed that cryptocurrency trading was equivalent to “just dementia,” going on to say, “And I think the people who are professional traders that go into trading cryptocurrencies, it’s just disgusting. It’s like somebody else is trading turds and you decide, ‘I can’t be left out. '” While Munger and partner Warren Buffett found substantial traction in criticizing Bitcoin throughout 2018, when the asset class fell over 80 percent and the crypto markets entered what many analysts called a “crypto winter,” the recent rally in digital assets has made the comments fall on deaf ears. Sentiment towards both cryptocurrency and Bitcoin took a 180 degree turn in the last month, with Bitcoin approaching the $6000 mark for the first time in the last six months, since November 2018. While the markets faltered at the beginning of last week, when news broke that the New York Attorney General’s office accused Bitfinex of defrauding investors and manipulating the market of cryptocurrency, the price of Bitcoin has since recovered. BTC market dominance has approached a relative high of 56 percent, up nearly 12 percent since the start of the month. SFOX, a crypto prime dealer, has published a ‘mildly bullish’ outlook for Bitcoin into the fifth month of the year, continuing on four months of growth to start 2019. However, other analysts have pointed to the $6000 mark for cryptocurrency as a potential barrier for the digital asset, claiming that retail investors who lost substantial money last year will be looking to recoup losses. While BTC is up nearly 100 percent since the start of 2019, Bitcoin suffered a sudden drop in price from around $6000 to $3000 during November 2018. The precipitous and sudden fall for Bitcoin has some analysts wondering just how steep the price resistance will be as BTC approaches its $6k marker.