The Education of a Value Investor
My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and Enlightenment
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4.3 • 19 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
What happens when a young Wall Street investment banker spends a small fortune to have lunch with Warren Buffett? He becomes a real value investor.
In this fascinating inside story, Guy Spier details his career from Harvard MBA to hedge fund manager. But the path was not so straightforward. Spier reveals his transformation from a Gordon Gekko wannabe, driven by greed, to a sophisticated investor who enjoys success without selling his soul to the highest bidder.
Spier's journey is similar to the thousands that flock to Wall Street every year with their shiny new diplomas, aiming to be King of Wall Street. Yet what Guy realized just in the nick of time was that the King really lived 1,500 miles away in Omaha, Nebraska. Spier determinedly set out to create a new career in his own way. Along the way he learned some powerful lessons which include:
> why the right mentors and partners are critical to long term success on Wall Street;
> why a topnotch education can sometimes get in the way of your success;
> that real learning doesn't begin until you are on your own;
> and how the best lessons from Warren Buffett have less to do with investing and more to do with being true to yourself.
Spier also reveals some of his own winning investment strategies, detailing deals that were winners but also what he learned from deals that went south.
Part memoir, part Wall Street advice, and part how-to, Guy Spier takes readers on a ride through Wall Street--but, more importantly, provides those that want to take a different path with the insight, guidance, and inspiration they need to carve out their own definition of success.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Investing is about much more than money. So as your wealth grows, I hope you will also come to realize that the money is largely irrelevant": this puzzling statement opens a career advice roundup from Spier, who transformed from a self-centered investment banker to a socially-conscious value investor and business commentator. After graduating from Oxford University and Harvard Business School, Spier landed his first job with a shady investor, and soon found himself jobless and miserable. After picking himself back up, he began to explore value investing and became friends with investor Mohnish Pabrai. This friendship led him to a life-changing lunch with Warren Buffet in 2008 (for which he bid over $650,000 at an auction). A fan of leadership gurus like Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie, and Napoleon Hill, Spier decided to make a change to be able to take pride in his work and improve the world. Here, he shares lessons learned, many garnered from that lunch, such as how to preserve your reputation, weather enormous changes like the financial crisis, and find the perfect investment environment. Also included are rules, routines, and habits that he learned from Pabrai. This vanity project will likely appeal most to Buffett fans.
Customer Reviews
Well-Written, Honest, Revealing, Though-Provoking
This is a wonderful book.
I picked up this book because I wanted to learn about Guy's transformative journey to becoming a value investor.
What stands out immediately is Guy's candor. He generously shares his early struggles and the process of self-reflection he went through to re-educate/re-wire himself. He does not set out to teach us anything. He shares with us how he came to designing and structuring his life in a certain way that works for him and how these insights came about.
In my opinion, Guy does the investing public a great service in sharing his story. Ultimately, we get from the book not only insights into improving the investment process, but also how we can and should foster a passion for life-long learning.
Joe Lai
A must for new and experienced investors
For new investors, this book can help save you from yourself.
For more experienced investors, this book helps show you that even the best make mistakes but that there are always great lessons to learn from our mistakes if we choose to improve on them.
Thank you Guy for the honesty and personal experiences you've shared in this book. It made an impression on me that I hope seeps into my life.