Wood, Kiyosaki, Byrne Call Out Munger for Fiery Tesla, Crypto Comments

• Charlie Munger denounced crypto and claimed BYD over Tesla in a polarizing interview.
• Cathie Wood, Robert Kiyosaki and Patrick Byrne hit back at his comments.
• Warren Buffett’s 99-year-old business partner doesn’t appreciate Tesla’s innovation, Wood said.

Charlie Munger panned bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as stupid, worthless and dangerous during the Daily Journal’s recent annual meeting.

The 99-year-old billionaire and vice chairman of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway also declared that Tesla’s main rival, BYD, was absurdly far ahead of Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company in China.

Munger’s fiery words prompted strong rejoinders from Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne. In contrast, supported “Dr. Doom” economist Nouriel Roubini the legendary investor’s crypto criticism.

Here’s how 4 top commentators reacted to Munger’s fiery comments:

1. Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest

“Charlie Munger and many on Wall Street fail to understand that passing on the lower costs associated with technology-enabled innovation, in #Teslaits batteries and powertrains, will cause a boom in demand for devices, discrediting the Keynesian/Fed Phillips Curve model,” Wood tweeted on Saturday.

The tech investor’s view is that Tesla’s innovations will reduce costs, allowing it to cut prices and increase demand without sacrificing profit margins. Wood also expects technological advances to curb US inflation, paving the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and fuel economic growth.

Wood’s perspective seems to be that if Tesla can cut prices without hurting margins, while lower prices and a strong economy underpin robust demand for the cars, it can crush rivals like BYD.

2. Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad”

“Charlie Munger is an old man like me,” Kiyosaki said in a recent interview with Stansberry Research.

“The reason I like crypto is not bitcoin, it’s because of blockchain, which is an accounting system,” Kiyosaki said. “It’s more legitimate than the Fed or Treasury or Wall Street. So Charlie Munger is in the Fed/Treasury/Wall Street crowd, and the younger generations, millennials and under, are in the iPhone crowd.”

Kiyosaki’s view is that Munger belongs to an older generation of Americans who like and trust the mainstream financial system, while younger people—who understand newer technology like Apple’s iPhone—are more eager to disrupt the status quo.

3. Patrick Byrne, former CEO of Overstock

“Munger is the most overrated mind in America,” Byrne tweeted on Friday about the investor’s crypto comments.

“If Buffett hadn’t picked him up, Munger would be the richest good lawyer in LA,” he continued. “The one good idea he ‘found and hammered all the way to heaven’ is to explain how everyone else’s good ideas were obvious, just sour.”

Byrne ran Berkshire-owned Fechheimer Brothers for a couple of years in the late 1990s, and his father ran Berkshire-owned Geico between 1976 and 1985. The former Overstock chief has described Buffett as his “Omaha rabbi” and a key mentor , but he is clearly much less of a Munger fan.

4. Nouriel Roubini, economics professor at NYU Stern

“Crypto advocates are IDIOTS! Well said. But they are idiotic thugs!” Roubini tweeted Friday in response to Munger’s crypto attack.

The NYU Stern economist, whose penchant for pessimistic predictions has earned him the nickname “Dr. Doom,” shares Munger’s disdain for crypto.

“Very well said! Totally ban this crypto scam!” Roubini answered to Munger’s recent call for the US government to ban crypto.

Also Roubini the retweet a 2018 Quartz article that highlighted Munger’s comments from Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting that year.

“To me, it’s just dementia,” Munger said of crypto’s growing popularity at the time. “It’s like someone else is dealing with hags and you decide you can’t be left out.”