Charlie Munger, Investor Billionaire and Amateur Architect Behind UC Santa Barbara’s Dormzilla, Dies at 99

[Updated: Wed., Nov. 29, 2023, 7:50am]

Charlie Munger, the outspokenly plainspoken billionaire and sometime Montecito resident who helped propel Warren Buffett and the investment firm Berkshire Hathaway into the outer stratosphere of financial success, died this week at the age of 99. 

Munger was much in the news recently because of his role instigating UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang’s ill-fated proposal to build an 11-story dorm capable of housing 4,500 students dubbed “Dormzilla” because 94 percent of the rooms had no real windows. Munger had reportedly pledged to donate $200 million for a structure estimated to cost in excess of $1 billion to build. 

The proposal — and Munger himself — generated considerable heat, though Munger never betrayed any hint of second thoughts. 

UCSB Chancellor Yang quietly pulled the plug on the proposal over the summer after it had been soundly denounced by the faculty senate, the county fire marshal, and a boat-load of architects. Munger had proposed installing artificial windows wired to mimic the seasonal light cycles of nature. 

Munger — whose architectural passions were not straitjacketed by conventional thinking — had donated $65 million to UCSB for the construction of a visiting scholars’ residence for the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics. It remains unknown at this point how much Munger has bequeathed the campus.

Chancellor Yang enjoyed a long collaborative partnership with Munger — who wasn’t bashful about praising China’s current leadership despite human rights abuses. Yang issued a statement saying, “My wife, Dilling, and I are deeply saddened by the loss of legendary philanthropist and internationally respected businessman Charlie Munger, who was a creative thinker and a generous supporter of universities, including our UC Santa Barbara campus. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family and friends.

“We are profoundly grateful for his friendship these many years, his immense generosity, his passion, and his energy, which he brought to so many initiatives for the benefit of our campus to enhance research and learning. 

“His contributions will have an enduring impact on our campus. He will be sorely missed.”