MI REWIND: RICHER, WISER, HAPPIER

W/ WILLIAM GREEN

3 March 2022

Clay Finck chats with William Green about how the greatest investors taught him how to live a better life, the lessons William learned in simplifying an investment approach, what it takes to know if you’re ready to buy individual stocks and try to outperform the market, why investing in mudanity is often a very good investing approach, Bill Miller’s incredible story during the financial crisis, and much, much more!

William Green is the author of Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World’s Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life. Over the last quarter of a century, he has interviewed many of the world’s best investors, exploring in depth the question of what qualities and insights enable them to achieve enduring success. He’s written extensively about investing for many leading publications such as Time, Fortune, Forbes, Barron’s, The Economist, and many others.

William also wrote and edited The Great Minds of Investing, which features short profiles of 33 renowned investors, along with stunning portraits created by Michael O’Brien, one of America’s preeminent photographers.

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IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • What led William to study the best investors not just to discover the investing lessons, but also to learn how to live a better life.
  • The lessons William learned in simplifying an investment approach.
  • What it takes to know if you’re ready to buy individual stocks and try to outperform the market.
  • The role humility has played in the lives of the best investors in the world.
  • Why investing in mudanity is often a very good investing approach.
  • What William’s biggest takeaways are in interviewing and studying Charlie Munger.
  • The benefits of having conservative finances and how Bill Miller has influenced how he views this subject.
  • One simple idea that William would like listeners of the show to implement into their own lives.
  • And much, much more!

TRANSCRIPT

Disclaimer: The transcript that follows has been generated using artificial intelligence. We strive to be as accurate as possible, but minor errors and slightly off timestamps may be present due to platform differences.

William Green (00:00:03):

Most people thought that amazon.com was going to go bankrupt, and so Amazon had fallen from $90 a share to about $6 a share at the time, which is hard to think of, $6 a share. And Bill had bought 15% of the company. I saw him at an event get pillared for this by a bunch of his peers in value investing communities, who were like, “This thing is going to go bankrupt,” and he says, “Look, I may be wrong, and if I’m wrong, I’m going to lose 100% of my money, and if I’m right, which I think I am, I’m going to make 50 times my money.”

Clay Finck (00:00:37):

Man, oh, man, am I excited to bring you today’s guest, William Green. William is the author of Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World’s Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life. Over the last quarter of a century he has interviewed many of the world’s best investors exploring in depth the question of what qualities and insights enable them to achieve enduring success. He’s written extensively about investing for many leading publications, such as Time, Fortune, Forbes, Barron’s, The Economists, and many others. During the episode, I chat with William about how the greatest investors taught him how to live a better life, the lessons William learned and simplifying one’s investment approach, what it takes to know if you’re ready to buy individual stocks and try to outperform the market, why investing in mundanity is often a very profitable strategy, William’s biggest takeaways in interviewing and studying Charlie Munger and much, much more.

Clay Finck (00:01:34):

My favorite parts of the episode were the fantastic stories about Sir John Templeton, investing in bankrupt companies after the Great Depression and Bill Miller’s experience going through the 2008 financial crisis, losing the majority of his investors and bouncing back stronger than ever in the years following. So make sure you stick around to listen to those bits. Now, without further delay, I hope you enjoy this brilliant episode with William Green.

Intro (00:01:59):

You’re listening to Millennial Investing by The Investors Podcast Network where your hosts, Robert Leonard and Clay Finck interview successful entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors to help educate and inspire the millennial generation.

Clay Finck (00:02:20):

Hey everyone, welcome to the Millennial Investing Podcast. I’m your host, Clay Finck and on today’s episode, I’m joined by William Green. Welcome to the show William.

William Green (00:02:29):

Hi, Clay. It’s great to be here with you.

Clay Finck (00:02:31):

Now I’ve read a number of investment books, but I must say that yours is easily towards the top of my list of books to reread and recommend the others. That book is Richer, Wiser, Happier. Not only does it include an incredible number of timeless investment principles, but it’s also very well written. So first off, congratulations on the successful book.

William Green (00:02:54):

Thank you so much.

Clay Finck (00:02:56):

Now there’s a saying that if you want to become wealthy, study wealthy people, I’m very curious what led you to study the best investors, not just to discover those investing lessons, but also to learn how to live a better life as well?

William Green (00:03:11):

I started off originally, I just wanted to make money. I didn’t like the idea of working for a really annoying boss who I had to take orders from. I was always a little bit subversive and independent minded even as a kid. So I think when I discovered investing in my 20s, I thought, “This is this miraculous thing where if you think well, you can achieve a degree of financial independence and security, is difficult to of any other way.”

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