- Li Lu, the "Chinese Warren Buffett," penned a tribute to his late mentor Charlie Munger.
- Li called Munger an "enlightened sage" and the embodiment of "modern-day Confucianism."
A hedge fund manager the late Charlie Munger once called the "Chinese Warren Buffett" has penned a glowing tribute to his mentor and friend, likening Munger to "an enlightened sage."
Li Lu, 57, was given the moniker by Munger after he nearly quintupled Munger's $88 million investment in his fund. Li is currently the founder of Himalaya Capital, a value-investing firm he founded in 1997.
Li penned a tribute to his late mentor in a Facebook post published on Friday.
Munger, who was aged 99, passed away on November 28. In his post, the hedge fund manager said that he got to give "a proper and private goodbye" to Munger the following day.
"For a moment, I was reminded of the Living Buddhas I once saw in the Buddhist temples of Thailand. In the Buddhist tradition, the bodies of truly enlightened monks, through life-long self-cultivation, can remain incorrupt, without any traces of mummification after death," Li wrote, recounting the thoughts he had as he looked at Munger.
"In that moment, it is what I saw in Charlie, an enlightened sage with an incorruptible body, surrounded by a glimmer of eternal light," Li continued.
Li went on to extol Munger's wisdom and teachings, noting that his ideas had begun to spread across the world, including to countries such as China and India.
Munger, according to Li, has come to be seen as the "embodiment of the modern-day Confucianism" by the Chinese educated class. Li said in his tribute that Munger had been able to maintain "a virtuous and enlightened life while embracing the market forces of capitalism."
The feelings between Li and Munger appear to be mutual, with Munger once saying that Li would become one of Berkshire Hathaway's top investment chiefs.
"In my mind, it's a foregone conclusion," Munger told The Wall Street Journal in an interview in 2010.
Representatives for Li did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.