Donna Adelson was recently found guilty of murdering her son‑in‑law Dan Markel on all 3 counts. Murder, conspiracy to murder and solicitation for murder. And it took just 3 hours for the jury to find her guilty. It’s been a long lurid journey that has lasted…

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison on Robben Island. But that isolation did not diminish his influence. Instead, he reached out to musicians, inspiring and encouraging them to write songs of resistence. Rather than succumb to his fate, he found and encouraged…

Trump’s tariff policy seems to be one of the most stupid, asinine, dumb-headed, counterproductive, head-up-the-ass things that he has done so far. Here is why I am less concerned than you might be: The tariffs create political headlines that distract. But just…

In the early 2000’s Mohnish Pabrai became the first person the investment world to talk openly about an uncomfortable truth. Many investment managers – who claimed to be original thinkers were actually just copying other investors that they admired. It was…

The relationship between Israel and Iran is rooted in our collective memories. It stretches back more than 2,500 years, to when Cyrus of Persia freed the Jews from our Babylonian exile. It was the same Cyrus the Great who allowed us to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem….

An improved sovereign rating would save the India 5 billion USD annually. A local sovereign ratings agency in India is crucial. CareEdge Sovereign Ratings will be instrumental in helping India achieve it’s economic destiny. pic.twitter.com/wKZoZ5mrat — Guy Spier…

Trump’s tariff policy seems to be one of the most stupid, asinine, dumb-headed, counterproductive, head-up-the-ass things that he has done so far. Here is why I am less concerned than you might be: The tariffs create political headlines that distract. But just…

Following Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel has big shoes to fill. But mark my words – he will knock the cover off the ball. Why? 1. He is already delivering huge operational improvements at Berkshire. 2. He understands capital allocation. 3….

I am really alarmed by how few books are translated into Arabic. Between 1979 and 2019, only 13,418 books were translated into Arabic. That’s just 1 book per 26,979 native speakers, making Arabic the least-served major language for translated literature. For…

This is why I live in Europe. Check out this flashmob rendition of Ode to Joy – from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It has turned into a sort of European national anthem. The words are from the first two verses of Friedrich Schiller’s famous poem. Here is…

I did an interview with Lucy Handley of BigThink The act of self-reflection on one’s own, or in a group with the help of a significant other, is a more meaningful way to live one’s life. When you go into therapy, you’re going into a personal adventure, maybe the only…

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New York is going to be electing an new mayor. And my friend Whitney Tilson is running. I may live in Switzerland but I am a New Yorker at heart. I’ve lived there longer than anywhere else. I met my wife Lory in NYC, and our 3 children were born there. So I care…

Joshua Cohen Might Have Been a Great Writer. I first encountered Joshua Cohen through his novel Book of Numbers (2015). The biblical references drew in me and I stayed for the excellent, dare I say, prophetic writing. I felt like I was reading a Jewish James Joyce….

Somebody wrote me a plea for mentorship. I answered him with this Charlie Munger / Mozart story: A young man comes to visit Mozart. “Mozart” he says, “I want to write symphonies”. Mozart: “How old are you?” The man replies; “I’m 23.” And Mozart says, “You’re too…

    This post originally appeared on my LinkedIn feed.   I recently had the privilege of joining Monsoon Pabrai to give an online talk to Millennium Mams. It’s in organization that is based in India – dedicated to empowering women through…

At Aquamarine, I’ve been able to work with a number of outstanding and talented people. I’m proud of being able to maintain long-term relationships. Here is a list  of some of the people with whom I’ve worked in one capacity or another. And who have…

    Okay. I don’t hate humanity – nowhere close – but I get bored with many conversations quickly. I’m not good at small talk, especially in noisy places where there is loud music, for example, or if one or both of us have to raise our voices to be heard….

  In the early 2000s, the California energy market went into a crisis. Early in 2000, energy prices spiked. And then blackouts started. During a heatwave in the summer of 2000, 97,000 homes were blacked out. In 2001, following blackouts that affected hundreds of…

  I have been humbled by how tragedy is never far away – no matter how good our lives are. Take Quadriplegia: Around two and a half years ago, a classmate from Harvard Business School fell in her apartment.  In a freak of bad luck, she broke her C4 vertebra…

  I’ve been asked the question why I don’t invest in Israeli companies, given my connections to Israel: Half my family is there, my father was born there, I have an Israeli passport, I lived there, I speak very bad Hebrew. And I think that it’s not that I don’t…

Professor Chris Chabris has a new book coming out: Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It – co-authored authored with Dan Simons. It’s their first book since “The Invisible Gorilla” which was published 13 years ago! Chabris tells me…

Congratulations to Director Bryan Vogel for his movie The Dissident – which tells the story of gruesome murder of Jamal Kashoggi. Part of that story is that Jeff Bezos got his phone hacked probably with the use of Pegasus which is software made by an Israeli company -…

Introduction a refreshing conversation with Guy Spier during my internship at Aquamarine Capital, we discussed what it is I would like to write my white paper about. With relatively little discussion on the direction of the paper, the overarching theme was “I want to…

Introduction and health warning: a refreshing conversation with Guy Spier during my internship at Aquamarine Capital, we discussed what it is I would like to write my white paper about. With relatively little discussion on the direction of the paper, the overarching…

Introduction The objective of this paper is to give my view on real estate company Adler Group and its listed subsidiaries. I will place particular focus on egregious behavior by company insiders and how they manage to fool investors to the present day. Although this…

Introduction and Health Warning Intrigued by the laws of supply and demand, I initially started reselling artificially scarce clothing at the age of 14, which eventually led me to develop a deep interest in the economics of the fashion industry. Based on this interest…

Introduction The objectives of this research paper are to give my perspective on Darryl Rawlings and Trupanion, the company he leads. Although I am an undergraduate student – studying for a degree at the University of Manchester, I have insider knowledge of the pet…

Introduction Not all great works of art live on beyond their time. No one today reads Spenser’s Faerie Queene or Tasso’s Orlando Furioso for pleasure even though both poems were for a while hugely influential, spawning popular operas and famous paintings. But, from…

  My answer to this question is to ask another: What if I keep seeking out the very best people? To learn from them: To shine a light on what they are doing right. If I make them a part of my ecosystem? If I amplify their actions? My email newsletter is one…

Introduction This paper is part of a continued journey in exploring the topic of company culture. As discussed in prior White Papers, by observing great investors around the world, we can assume that making company culture a predominant part of the investment research…

1 The Interactivity of DianPing 点评 DianPing is China’s largest word-of-mouth lifestyle app. Everything from cafes to salons to entertainment to hotels exist on DianPing. Opportunities for the US market: Unlike western review apps like Yelp or Tripadvisor, DianPing…

A capital allocator’s culture Introduction In my first conversation with Guy Spier about writing a white paper, I mentioned to him that I have a list of individuals I thought of interviewing. “Do you have an opinion on which person I should interview?” I asked,…

FOREWORD I wrote this primer on the CRM software industry as part of an internship with Aquamarine Capital. I am not an industry expert, so think of this white paper as more of a conversation starter than my final word. If, after reading this, you have insights or…

The Future of Investment Research Learning in Public 30th June, 2021 The Future of Investment Research: Learning in Public There is a revolution happening in investment research. Twenty five years ago, only a minority practiced fundamental analysis. Staring at the…

Envy is Not the Worst. Of the Seven Deadly Sins, it’s the Most Auspicious. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger are fond of saying that envy is the worst of the seven deadly sins – because, unlike the others it’s no fun at all. The response – from Berkshire Hathaway…

Dear Readers, I would like to thank you all, and especially the ones who reached out to Guy Spier and me after the “Doing Scuttlebutt on Company Culture” white paper was published – I surely didn’t expect that attention and really appreciate anyone who bothered…

The Internet Messed with my Research skills. This is how I got them back. My relationship with the Internet is love-hate. The part of me that’s curious and inquisitive loves it. Without it, I could not have moved so easily from New York to Zurich. The Internet made it…

My relationship with the Internet is love-hate. The part of me that’s curious and inquisitive loves it. Without it, I could not have moved so easily from New York to Zurich. The Internet made it a seamless and uneventful transition. But the Internet is also…

Introduction In contrast to ESG ratings which allow users to engage in corporate “virtue-signalling”, IMAG Environmental and Carbon ratings are independently produced by professionals with deep technical and engineering knowledge. They are designed to take a…

INTRODUCTION AND ABOUT ME My intent in writing this paper is to share my unorthodox views regarding the auto industry. Unlike many industry experts and participants, I do not have years of experience in the business. What I do have is years of experience that comes…

1 Introduction and Disclaimer This white paper is the product of my time interning for Guy Spier. As a young woman of Indian descent and an aspiring businesswoman who has spent time in other parts of the planet, I have seen the world change before my eyes, especially…

INTRODUCTION: PART I Some time ago, I wrote up the criteria that I would use in deciding with whom I would invest my and my family’s money if I was not doing the job myself: I argue that there are five attributes that the ideal money manager should possess: 1 …

I enjoyed talking with Ali Velshi at the Time to Grow Conference held at the Ismaili Center in Toronto

Introduction and Health Warning I wrote this short discussion paper during my internship with Guy Spier at Aquamarine Capital. I am no expert in artificial intelligence. But as a second year Natural Sciences student at Cambridge University in the UK, I have had some…

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi Introduction I don’t have many original ideas, and this essay isn’t one of them. I’ve always tried to synthesize the best ideas from other people, and over the past few years, I have shamelessly…

This white paper emerges from conversations that I have been having on longevity with Guy Spier, Maya Elhalal and others. It presents my current thinking on this topic. While it’s pretty clear to me that I and others will most likely live for 1,000 years or more, my…

“We live at the end of the information age.” – a bold statement – starkly at odds with the zeitgeist but apparently justified. The real value is not in information but in how we acquire and analyse it, in “Recognising that I may be wrong.”. As the information age…

I just published “Zero Management Fee, Deep Learning, Cardiac Arrest, Dodie Clark, Brexit, Strava, FitBit” https://t.co/NQkzAAtuAq — GSpier (@GSpier) 31. August 2017

#zurich streets in #hyperlapse A post shared by Guy Spier (@gspier) on Jun 29, 2017 at 2:42am PDT

I just published “Singularity, Slack, Renewables, Peterson Capital, Pabrai, Neuralink, Metalab, Mad Minute…” https://t.co/HINVUc2Iti — GSpier (@GSpier) June 25, 2017

Nutrition the next frontier for the consumer and health care industries (1) from Guy Spier

“The Mad Minute” — @GSpier https://t.co/sZnB48i6VB pic.twitter.com/fLqhuxD33K — GSpier (@GSpier) 23 June 2017

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Guy Spier (@gspier) on Mar 2, 2016 at 3:48pm PST Here are some of the key things that Eric Schmidt said at this lunch: “I am not an entrepreneur” Eric has no pretensions to being an entrepreneur. He’s a manager and is happy…

I just published “We Like London Business School” https://t.co/tbGjCyPzky — GSpier (@GSpier) 22 June 2017

So grateful to meet the #inspiring @rabbisacks in person A post shared by Guy Spier (@gspier) on Apr 24, 2017 at 8:24pm PDT

The Global View With Mohnish Pabrai And Guy Spier https://t.co/xLzPQUVS5v — York MacPherson (@_Y0rk) April 15, 2017

Introduction and Health Warning This memo is a first draft, a jumping-off point. Writing things down helps to clarify my thoughts, so please think of this as a conversation starter rather than the final word. The purpose is not to provide a conclusive stock pitch, but…

GM, Ford Boost Shareholder Payouts in Sign of Detroit’s Optimism 2017-01-11 14:30:43.17 GMT By David Welch and Keith Naughton (Bloomberg) — 2017 has been touted in Detroit as the year that’ll mark the end to a nearly decade-long boom in U.S. auto sales. And…

DJ Credit-Card Rates Are Going Up and May Keep Rising 2016-12-16 14:30:45.480 GMT By Peter Rudegeair and AnnaMaria Andriotis Credit-card companies have been spending huge sums to woo consumers with perks and rewards. Now, cardholders are about to be reminded that…

TRADER’S NOTES: Treat the Trump Presser Like a Trending Market 2017-01-11 07:33:25.368 GMT By Richard K Breslow (Bloomberg) — In a few hours we’ll be treated to the President-Elect’s much-anticipated first press conference. I’m not sure there’s been a more…

Is Trump Too Impulsive to Be President? 58% of Americans Think 2017-01-11 13:34:52.284 GMT (The Fiscal Times) — Just ten days before President-elect Donald Trump is handed the keys to the White House and the nation’s nuclear weapons code, more than half of…

Introduction and Health Warning This note is a first draft: writing down thoughts helps clarify them, and so I lay some down here as a jumping off point. Please think of it as a conversation starter rather than the final word; indeed, please join with me in chewing on…

Introduction and Health Warning This note is a first draft: a jumping off point. Writing things down helps to clarify my thoughts and hence this note: please think of it as a conversation starter rather than the final word. Indeed, please join with me in chewing on…

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Thank you Lord Karan Bilmoria for a fantastic visit pic.twitter.com/1tnt0KoFlQ — GSpier (@GSpier) March 24, 2016

Finally details on GSpier new book! Cant wait to read it !! http://t.co/Jm9ACgKg1J — ValueWalk.com (@valuewalk) March 23, 2014

I hosted a lunch at YPO’er Daniel Frankel’s restaurant the Tap and Barrel in Vancouver just before TED. This was Daniel’s welcome (he was in Arizona) This was the thank-you to him and Justin for organizing it.

What happens when a young hedge fund manager spends a small fortune to have lunch with Warren Buffett? He becomes a true value investor. This book traces the arc of a transformation. Author Guy Spier started his career as a Gordon Gekko wannabe — brash,…

Having Mark Chapman no longer be our auditor at Aquamarine Fund is quite a change for me and I’m very sorry to see him go. Mark, you were with me at critical moments in the development of Aquamarine Fund, and you also helped me to make some very important…

I found this video.  It turns out that the Schloss family were neighbours of my grandparents, and that my father played with their son, Zosty.

I talked about UBS, Standard Chartered Bank, the US, the Euro Crisis, emerging economies, Amore Pacific and one or two other things. spier from Guy Spier on Vimeo.

Soul-searching voters fear that the President’s social democracy will be the end of the American dream. Another spectacular opinion piece by Camilla Cavendish Anotehr  Obama doesn’t get america’s can do instinct the times from Guy Spier

Here is a link to the slides from my Partnership Presentations in London, Zurich and New York. Partner presentations final 2012 from Guy Spier   This was part of the Introductory Video Here is a video excerpt of the talk in Zurich.

  I went for a run this morning.  I had some tendonitis, as well as some hip pain.  On another morning, I would have felt discouraged by the the vicissitudes of an aging body that does not respond the way it used to.       But today, I thought of all…

Mohnish Pabrai and I did a talk with UC Davis using google hangouts. Initially the sound was not good because we had not figured out muting our mikes. In spite of that, I think that the format worked well. Both Mohnish and I enjoyed it.

First time with an opinion piece in the Times of London… The motown way can get greece motoring from Guy Spier

  Bankers are a hated breed right now, and some of the antipathy is justified I am sure.  But we do better as a society when we recognize that humans are humans, and it is systems and institutions that lead to bad behavior.  Let’s stop scapegoating…

When I was in Istanbul, I was interviewed by the BBC World Service about lunch with Warren. Interview with the BBC World Service.

In 2004 both Bill o’Chee and I travelled half way around the planet – he from Australia, and me from New York in order to hang out together…    

Video of my conversation with Betty Liu of Bloomberg outside Smith and Wollensky. Ever since I joined Toastmasters, my ability to speak in front of various different kinds of audience has gotten a lot better.  In particular, I joined Pacers toastmasters, which…

You gotta love the French.  And, after all, why not if it is effective in rehabilitating the prisoners.

It has been hard to follow the Iran protests via twitter – because there is so much noise.  As usual, Wikipedia provides an excellent summary of events / timeline. But one important part of the story that has not been widely covered is the leading role…

I like this article which appeared The Atlantic .  It updates the reader on the new technologies that will enhance our brains – starting with various drugs that target specific brain functions, all the way to the point at which we will be able to…

How interesting that Tyler Brule just wrote an article about Zurich for the FT. Actually though, this article gives London a backhanded compliment, and Zurich a backhanded slap.  Here is what he writes: As for London, my home, it didn’t make the top 25 for many…

Aquamarine Fund has been ranked #6 in the Equity Long-Bias category for the month of April, 2009 by BarclayHedge.   This fund was ranked based on Barclay’s hedge fund database

When I left HBS, there was a controversy over the stealing of an election for the HBS Finance Club.  At the time, I thought that it would be a good idea if HBS could retroactively rescind the MBA if someone behaved badly.  For example, the MBA could be…

From time to time, I come across something that makes me really proud of Israel. How many of the best human qualities to you need to think of making a mechanical snake for military use? Israel seems to produce those qualities in spades….

Zurich,Quality of Life, Et Al Zurich,Quality of Life, Et Al Procyonm The Swiss could teach the world a few good things, the act of preservation is so central to their life. Publish at Scribd or explore others: Humanities Research why is the quality…

There is mounting evidence that Bridge is much more than just a game. Not only does Warren Buffett play the game, he encourages Berkshire Shareholders by setting up a bridge area outside Borsheims at the annual shareholder meeting. Now this New York Times article adds…

I think that Michael Lewis provides the best review yet of Snowball.  Indeed, I think that it builds on Alice Schroeder’s work & gives some perspective on the book itself.  

This is really important. The internet and social networking are going to change the face of education beyond all recognition.  First thing to go will be textbooks:  Bye bye McGraw Hill and Pearson for starters.  Click on the link to read more.

I have been listening to the hearings today at the Financial Services Committee at AIG, and I have some advice to the people who have received bonuses: Pay them back.  Quickly! Then hurry down to Washington and give your testimony.  By doing so, you would…

I agree wholeheartedly with Lefrak and Schilling – there are very few problems that can’t be solved by another million immigrants or so. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123725421857750565.html Lefrak and Schilling suggest giving the right to reside in the…

I have not posted in a while – why add to the oodles of written words when there is not much to add, and everyone is already saying what I think? But this series of jokes, which I got off an anonymous comment by Max on www.israpundit.com was just too funny Q:…

In the midst of this market rout, it may be a good time to take a look at the optimistic perspective.  The writer of the Singularity 2050 blog believes that the world economy will grow at an accelerating rate, and that it is only a matter of time before there are…

You have to marvel at Warren’s timing:  He knew that once the valuation on a deal with Goldman would have been completely different after a federal bailout.  So he decided to bet on a bailout before it happened, but not before Paulson had announced…

Catherine Mayer interviewed me for about 2 hours for this piece.  While I can hardly claim to know “who is David Cameron”, I think that Catherine captured some really valuable things about his personality that were not in the public domain…

Merlin Mann on Time and Attention (Getting Things Done) This is important – I learned a lot from it. Merlin Mann on Time and Attention (Getting Things Done)

Gates of Vienna: A Painting of Mohammed

This mission to “Free Gaza” clearly has a lot of money and some very slick public relations minds behind it. ::..Free Gaza..:: And the Western press are obivously just lapping it all up, without any critical analysis, as I read to my disgust in Le Monde…

1,500 Reported Killed in Georgia Battle – NYTimes.com Perhaps Israel needs to take a page from the Russian playbook. Imagine the was an image from the 2006 War in Lebanon. Consider the uproar that there would have been. If Israel responded only once in the…

Russians Push Past Separatist Area to Assault Central Georgia – NYTimes.com This is so ugly. And what would Barack Obama’s policy be?

The lunch was reported by several news organizations… My $650,100 Lunch with Warren Buffett TIME – June 30, 2008 What would you pay to have lunch with the richest man in the world? For me and Mohnish Pabrai — a friend who, like me, runs a U.S.-based…

Mexico City, May 28, 2008 I have done various presentations recently – in Mexico City, Los Angeles, and Italy. It has been a very interesting experience, and I have gotten a lot better at public speaking. At the behest of one of the people that I have met…

I still believe that things will turn out allright in Iraq in the end, and that, in spite of its mistakes and shortcomings, the current administration’s actions in Iraq will be vindicated by history. VDH’s Private Papers::Iraq’s Savage Ironies

EO New York was written up in the Wall Street Journal. It is an accurate representation of what happens in Forum – which is a kind of alcoholics anonymous for entrepreneurs. http://www.eonyc.org/index.php?section=expertscorner&expid=53…

A friend just sent me an email asking me to sign the One Million Voices petition Here was my response I just signed it. If adding palestine (as yet another arabstate to a region that already has 23, while the Kurds, the Armenians and various other important ethnic…

“Hezbollah’s explanations for why it fired rockets at Israel’s civilian population utterly fail to justify these unlawful attacks” – Sarah Leah Whitson, director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division. I take…

Israpundit » Blog Archive » African Hebrews Here is the email that I wrote to the Rabbi: Rabbi Funnye, I just saw the video about you and your congregation that was posted on Israpundit. I had always dreamed about Jewish African Americans, and was so excited to see…

What the new science of complexity teaches us about risk, and how we should be investing. As an investor, should I be pessimistic, or optimistic about the future? And should I be aggressive, or defensive in my investing posture? In terms of economic history, we stand…

I got to this video from Little Green Footballs. Hirsi Ali speaks so well.

We are academics, scholars, researchers and professionals of differing religious and political perspectives. We all agree that singling out Israelis for an academic boycott is wrong. To show our solidarity with our Israeli academics in this matter, we, the…

This is valuable. The Ignorance of Crowds

Following a decision by the national union of journalists in the UK ( a trade union) to boycott Israel, many British journalists across the board ridiculed the decision, some even canceled membership, but by far the most interesting article to come out of all this is…

The World Jewish Congress suffers from the same issues that have plagued political parties in the UK – in that there are too few donors with too much influence. My impression is that the World Jewish Congress does not reflect well on Jews in general. Perhaps…

And he has my vote. Israpundit » Blog Archive » Rabbi speaks out with moral clarity The letter, published in Olam Katan [Small World], a weekly pamphlet to be distributed in synagogues nationwide this Friday, cited the biblical story of the Shechem massacre (Genesis…