The Education of a Value Investor

Exploring the perils of investing, the benefits of strategic game playing and the importance of creating good (and useful) partnerships, this book provides self-directed investors and investment professionals alike with the tools to tackle the emotional and confusing world of value investing.

Former Wall Street investment banker and philanthropist Guy Spier reveals how meeting Warren Buffett changed his career-and his life-in The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and Enlightenment.

A Harvard MBA graduate and a successful hedge fund manager, Guy Spier pursued an opportunity to meet one of America's wealthiest businessmen-bidding $650,100 with Mohnish Pabrai for the privilege to do so-at a charity lunch. What Warren Buffett shared was more important than market share strategies. He learned principles that put him on the path to becoming a real value investor.

In this fascinating inside story, 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. His journey is similar to the thousands that flock to New York's Financial District every year with their shiny new diplomas, aiming to be King of Wall Street, realizing just in the nick of time that the true King lived 1,500 miles away in Omaha, Nebraska.

Inspired by Warren's activist values, Spier altered his career trajectory, learning some powerful lessons along the way including: 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 financial investing advisory, and part how-to guide, 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.

Introduction
From the Belly of the Beast to Warren Buffet
The Perils of an Elite education
The Fire Walk: My First Steps as a Value Investor
The New York Vortex
Meeting a Master
Lunch with Warren
The Financial Crisis: Into the Void
My Own Version of Omaha: Creating the Ideal Environment
Learning to Tap Dance: A New Sense of Playfulness
Investing Tools: Building a Better Process
An Investor's Checklist: Survival Strategies from a Surgeon
Doing Business the Buffett-Pabrai Way
The Quest for True Value