Billions Quote by Charlie Munger
“After nearly making a terrible mistake not buying See's, we've made this mistake many times. We are apparently slow learners. These opportunity costs don't show up on financial statements, but have cost us many billions.”
About This Quote
Source Interview: CNBC, 2023
Ignoring intangible costs leads to repeated poor decisions and massive financial loss.
In simple terms: Missing hidden costs hurts profits.
Key Takeaway
Track and value opportunity costs.
Themes
decisionmaking
learning
finance
Mood
analytical
cautious
Type
advisory
reflective
When to use this quote
- corporate strategy
- personal finance
- investment analysis
- product development
- risk management
Key Concepts
behavioral economics
opportunity cost
risk assessment
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you systematically capture hidden costs?
- What processes prevent repeated mistakes?
A Different Perspective
Opportunity costs are hard to quantify and may be overlooked without disciplined tracking.
![“They [Mc Donalds] take people and give them a first job, which enables them to get a second job. They do a very good job of educating troubled young people to be good citizens and they're probably more successful than charter schools.” quote by Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a55/charlie-munger-458_be-good_they-mc-donalds-take-people-and-give-the_41809.jpg)
![“It is way less certain to be a wonderful business in the future. The threat is alternative mediums of information. Every newspaper is scrambling to parlay their existing advantage into dominance on the Internet. But it is way less sure [that this will occur] than the certainty 20 years ago that…” quote by Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/8d0/charlie-munger-458_advantage_it-is-way-less-certain-to-be-a-wonderful_59627.jpg)
