Abuse Quote by Charlie Munger
“If you take sales presentations and brokers of commercial real estate and businesses... I'm 70 years old, I've never seen one I thought was even within hailing distance of objective truth… 'incentive-caused bias,' causes this terrible abuse. And many of the people who are doing it you would be glad to have married into your family compared to what you're otherwise going to get.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Annual Shareholder Meeting, Berkshire Hathaway, 2023
Munger warns that many sales and real‑estate pitches are distorted by personal incentives, leading to misleading claims and unethical behavior.
In simple terms: Incentives can corrupt truth in business pitches.
Key Takeaway
Scrutinize offers and demand evidence.
Themes
ethics
business
bias
truth
Mood
cautious
critical
Type
advice
warning
When to use this quote
- real‑estate negotiations
- investment decisions
- client consultations
Key Concepts
incentive bias
information distortion
conflict of interest
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you verify the objectivity of a pitch?
- What safeguards can reduce incentive‑driven distortion?
A Different Perspective
Bias may be subtle and hard to detect without thorough due diligence.
![“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)
