Category Archives: Case Studies & Profiles

Imagine you have a policy with an insurance company.  This insurance company is mutually run, which means there are no stockholders.  Instead, the policyholders own the business and the enterprise is managed to give policyholders the best service, at the lowest possible price, as a cooperative undertaking.  Now, imagine that one day, the policyholders’ representatives decide they want the business to become a for-profit corporation.

It’s no secret that most wealth in the United States is so-called stealth wealth.  We now live in a country where roughly 1 in 5 families earns six-figures a year or more, which most people wouldn’t believe, and for those who put aside money, something like 80%+ of millionaires hide their net worth from friends and…

he Journal of Economic Perspectives: Vol. 27 No. 3 (Summer 2013) has a wonderful piece on the investment record of John Maynard Keynes, who managed to beat the market by an average of 8 percent per year from 1921 through 1946 by focusing on long-term, high quality dividend-paying stocks as well as smaller enterprises that had room to grow.  When he died in his early sixties, Keynes had achieved the rank of one of the richest economists in history, amassing a fortune equal to $30,000,000 today.

Indirectly, at least.  The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, arising from the events set in motion in 1969 when the country struck oil in the North Sea, has managed to avoid using the wealth it generates from crude on temporary boosts in government spending, instead conservatively investing it for the good of the nation.  It’s grown…

Jeremy wanted to know what I thought of a specific business but I think it’s more important to talk about how I think about businesses in general. Here’s a rundown of what I see when a company’s annual report lands on my desk.

Jack MacDonald was a frugal attorney who wanted to build a big net worth to give to charity. He quietly amassed a $188+ million fortune investing in stocks.