William Green on Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, Art of subtraction and how to be Richer, Wiser and Happier

Breaking Investment Stereotypes with Rajkumar Singhal

My guest for today is William Green. William is the author of very popular book 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 publications and has also given many talks about the lessons we can learn from the most successful investors, not only about how to invest but about how to improve our thinking.

Green has written for many leading publications in the US and Europe, including The New Yorker, Time, Fortune, Forbes, Barron’s, Bloomberg Markets, and The Economist. He has reported in places as diverse as China, India, Japan, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the US, Mexico, England, France, Monaco, Poland, Italy, and Russia. He has interviewed presidents and prime ministers including our own Manmohan Singh, inventors, criminals, prize-winning authors, the CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies, and countless billionaires.

He also worked closely with a renowned hedge fund manager, Guy Spier, helping him to write his much-praised 2014 memoir, The Education of a Value Investor: My Transformative Quest for Wealth, Wisdom, and Enlightenment. Green 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.

Born and raised in London, Green was educated at Eton College, studied English literature at Oxford University, and received a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. He lives in New York with his wife, Lauren, and their children, Henry and Madeleine.

Show Notes:

0:00-8:15 : Introduction

08:15-15:32 : About his book - ‘Richer, Wiser, Happier’

15:32-22:37 : Important things William has learnt from successful people & their traits

22:37-37:21 : The 'Art of subtraction' & how it has helped & impacted William

37:21-42:26 : Role played by insights as well as luck for great investors

42:26-49:06 : What's it like to meet billionaires - there is a combination of arrogance, pride, vulnerability, fragility etc

49:06-53:51 : What drives Warren Buffett and his partnership with Charlie Munger for 50 odd years

53:51-1:00:19 : How does one balance between the concept of diversification and concentration

1:00:19-1:10:09 : How do great investors think through the market cycles, the chaos, the calmness

1:10:09-1:19:14 : Investment done by any person that has fascinated William

1:19:14-1:29:04 : Happiness quotient of rich & wise people

1:29:04-1:42:01 : Advice to 20 year self

1:42:01-1:50:40 : How does William bring himself back to normality after being with these rich people