Charlie Munger Turned $1,000 Into Over $1 Million — And Made His Unemployed Friend Rich Too: 'Trouble With That Story Is It Only Happened Once'

What do you get when you mix $1,000, an unemployed golf buddy, and Charlie Munger's brain? Apparently, a passive income stream that lasted decades. No hedge fund, no Wall Street pitch deck — just Munger, long before his Berkshire Hathaway days, spotting a scrappy oil royalty deal and turning it into one of the most quietly outrageous investments of his life.

And the best part? He didn't go it alone — he brought his unemployed friend along for the million-dollar ride.

Back in 1962, Munger was still practicing law in Los Angeles when he met Al Marshall, an out-of-work oil industry worker trying to buy mineral rights at auction. 

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Munger, seeing the flaws in Marshall's strategy but liking the bones of the deal, decided to go in with him. Each put up $1,000 and bought into oil royalties through what was then a legal tax shelter known as an AB trust, which was later outlawed.

And the returns? Straight-up legendary.

"Fifty years later we were getting $100,000 a year on that investment," Munger told the crowd at the 2016 Daily Journal shareholder meeting. "The trouble with that story is that it only happened once."

He delivered it with a chuckle, but the message was clear: not every great investment is repeatable — which is exactly why you act when you spot one.

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Munger touched on the story again during his final Daily Journal meeting in 2023, a full-circle moment near the end of his career, where he once more emphasized the rarity of those life-changing opportunities.

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The story is backed by Janet Lowe's 2000 biography "Damn Right!," where Marshall said, "We only put up $1,000 each, and we've each probably made a half a million out of it." He added, "I'm still getting $2,000 to $3,000 a month from that," confirming the checks were still rolling in decades later. 

That's right — from a $1,000 investment, Munger's family was still cashing royalty checks well into the 21st century. All from a single, overlooked opportunity.

Of course, Munger never sugarcoated it. "The trick in life," he told that 2016 crowd, "is when you get the one, or two, or three [big opportunities] that your fair allotment for a life is — that you've got to do something about it."

And if you're still grinding toward that first big win? He had advice for that, too: "The first $100,000 is a b*tch, but you gotta do it."

Hard work. A sharp eye. A little luck. And when the rare opportunity does show up? Move fast — because even for Charlie Munger, it only happened once.

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