Charlie Munger, 98, steps down as Daily Journal chairman
By Jonathan Stempel
March 28 (Reuters) - Charlie Munger, the 98-year-old business partner of Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc , on Monday gave up his role as chairman of Daily Journal Corp, a newspaper publisher and provider of software to courthouses.
Munger, who had chaired Los Angeles-based Daily Journal since 1977, will remain a director and focus on matters he has worked on, including its securities portfolio.
He is better known for his work at Berkshire, where he has been a director and vice chairman since 1978 and known for his collaboration and friendship with fellow billionaire Buffett, Berkshire's 91-year-old chairman and chief executive.
Munger still helps Buffett with major capital allocation decisions. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire in 2018 promoted Greg Abel and Ajit Jain to vice chairmen overseeing its non-insurance and insurance businesses, respectively.
Berkshire and Daily Journal both invest in Bank of America Corp, while Daily Journal's other investments include Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Neither Berkshire nor Daily Journal immediately responded to requests for additional comment.
Daily Journal also announced several other management changes, including the retirement of Gerald Salzman, 83, after two decades as chief executive and 44 years at the company.
Steven Myhill-Jones, 46, a Canadian technology executive, was named chairman and interim chief executive, while controller Tu To, 59, was promoted to chief financial officer.
Munger is donating $1 million of Daily Journal stock to fund an equity incentive plan there.
On April 30, Munger and Buffett are scheduled to field five hours of shareholder questions at Berkshire's first annual meeting in Omaha since 2019, part of a weekend that Buffett calls "Woodstock for Capitalists."
Munger has held similar, shorter question sessions at Daily Journal's annual meetings. It wasn't immediately clear whether those will continue. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
