RWH058: WINNING WAYS

W/ BILL NYGREN

21 June 2025

In this episode, William Green chats with investing legend Bill Nygren, who oversees about $25 billion at Harris Associates. Bill is the firm’s Chief Investment Officer for US Equities & co-manages two flagship mutual funds: Oakmark Select & Oakmark Fund. Here, he discusses the processes, principles, habits & mindset that have enabled him to beat the market over three decades.

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IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

  • How Bill Nygren became a contrarian bargain hunter.
  • Why sports gambling companies often refuse to take his bets.
  • What three qualities he seeks in any company.
  • How he scored big on Amazon, Google, Apple & Netflix.
  • Why he never relaxes his disciplined focus on valuation.
  • What he learned from hedge fund star Michael Steinhardt.
  • How Bill’s team performs “Devil’s Advocate Reviews” for each stock.
  • Why he developed his “Mistake Management Protocol.”
  • How to succeed without ruining your health or your family.
  • Why he discourages people from entering the investing business.
  • What you must sacrifice to achieve greatness.
  • How to succeed by aligning yourself with top-decile people.
  • Why value investing isn’t dead.

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.

 

[00:00:00] William Green: Hi there. It’s wonderful to be back with you again on the Richer, Wiser, Happier podcast. Our guest today is one of the great long-term investors, Bill Nygren. Bill is the Chief Investment Officer at a firm called Harris Associates, where he oversees about $25 billion. He’s generated a superb investment record over more than 30 years.

[00:00:21] William Green: Today’s long in-depth conversation with him will give you a clear and thorough sense I think, of what it takes to sustain that level of investment success over such a long period, as I see it, build perfectly, embodies a lot of what it takes to beat the market over the course of a long and distinguished career.

[00:00:42] William Green: For a start, there’s his raw intellect and his idiosyncratic wiring, and an intensely competitive spirit. You’ll also see that he has these very robust investing principles and a willingness to keep evolving and changing the way he operates and invests. There’s also an exceptionally disciplined and rigorous investment process that he’s developed over many years and a really unusual openness to dissenting opinions from other highly intelligent investors who work alongside him and his team at Harris Associates.

[00:01:17] William Green: In short, I think if you want to succeed as an investor over the long term, there’s a huge amount to learn from Bill Nygren. Before we get started with our conversation, I also wanted to mention a new venture that I’m really excited about and that I hope might interest you too. Later this year, I’m going to be launching a Richer, Wiser, Happier Masterclass for a very small select group of people who like to study with me.

[00:01:43] William Green: Over the course of a year, we are going to meet once a month over Zoom, typically for about two hours per session to discuss the themes in my book, Richard Wiser, Happier. We’ll also meet in person at a couple of really special events. I’m going to cap the group at a maximum of 20 people. So this is a, an unusual opportunity to study very directly with me in a small group.

[00:02:08] William Green: What sort of people am I looking for to join the masterclass? Well, really, anyone who’s deeply interested in exploring how to live a life that’s truly richer, wiser, and happier, this is the second time that I’ve taught a Richer, Wiser, Happier Masterclass. And I’m planning to do this again because it’s really been a totally joyful experience for me over the last year to teach the first cohort to take the class.

[00:02:33] William Green: The group has included an amazing array of 20 people from six different countries, and I can tell you that the current members are an incredibly interesting, accomplished, and really delightful array of people. They include some extremely successful fund managers, some investment analysts, wealth advisors, heads of family offices, CEOs, entrepreneurs, a management consultant, a really renowned physicist, turned quant investor, and a friend of mine who’s a highly successful professional gambler. The common denominator here, I think, is that they’re all united in this desire to live a truly abundant life, and they’re also all great learners.

[00:03:17] William Green: One of the most joyful things for me personally, has been to see the friendships form between these remarkable people as they learn from each other and support each other. In any case, if this sounds like something that might appeal to you, please email my friend and fellow podcast host, Kyle Grieve at Kyle, which is kyle@theinvestorspodcast.com.

[00:03:41] William Green: Kyle is helping, as he did last year to select the applicants for the group, and he’ll be part of every meeting that we have with the masterclass. He can share more details with you about the price for this one year masterclass, and the dates and the application process, and whatever other questions you might have, and now as my friend Stig Brodersen would say back to the show.

[00:04:02] William Green: I hope you enjoy my conversation with the great Bill Nygren. Thanks so much for joining us.

[00:04:12] Intro: You are listening to the Richer, Wiser, Happier Podcast where your host, William Green, interviews the world’s greatest investors and explores how to win in markets and life.

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