LifeQs
Bruce Greenwald
Answer one question or many - using words, photos or other media.
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Columbia Business School Centennial video featuring Bruce, 2015
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Tano Santos, Heilbrunn Center academic co-director writes "Of course first and foremost making Heilbrunn the value investing center of reference in the world is perhaps Bruce’s most important impact on the school. But because Bruce is at heart the greatest of teachers let me pick something else as Bruce’s legacy. I served in the strategy committee for the school a couple of years ago. As part of my responsibilities I had to read many an alum survey. His name, after so many years, repeatedly came up in the surveys as the professor who left the stronger impression on the students. But what was the most intriguing is the reason why they still remembered him. It was not because of his enormous personality, the booming voice or the “fashionable” attires that he wore in class but simply because, as one alum said, he “put it all together for us.” Bruce’s influence in the school is in that sense enormous: The value of a business school education will come in the future not simply in teaching the basics of corporate finance, accounting, marketing or strategy but rather on how these things can be combined to deliver a coherent vision of the world, one that can guide our students through changing conditions and the volatility."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Meredith Trivedi, director of the Heilbrunn Center writes "Bruce gives his time and talent across the Business School. Whether it's speaking at every Reunion, guest lecturing in his colleagues' classes, spending countless hours speaking to students, mentoring adjuncts or building an investing program unlike anywhere else in the world, Bruce has invested a tremendous amount in every facet of the School which is a much better place because of him"
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Peter Eliott '02, vice president and analyst at Capital Research Company and Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes "Bruce positively impacted my career in several ways. More than anything else I appreciate what a wonderful teacher he is. I vividly remember this (and it happened many times): A student threw a hardball question at Bruce. A smile illuminated Bruce's face as he turned on a dime and smashed a home run into the bleachers. The room erupted with laughter and Bruce had made a point that his students will never forget. THAT is teaching."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Tano Santos, Heilbrunn Center academic co-director writes "1. Bruce has influenced me in many different ways. First and foremost it is through him that I have learned the remarkable wealth of ideas in the field of value investing, a field to which he has contributed many original ideas himself. Second, he is, as we all know, a pedagogical genius. His classes are simply a superb learning experience, and incredibly entertaining, and I am afraid I keep lifting “tricks” from his classes for my own teaching. Third, Bruce is simply terrific at going from academia to the world of practice and back. Like all the great economists, he knows how to use this remarkable tool that is micro to understand the world around us and also to interpret it and bring it back to the classroom. This commitment to disciplined thinking is a constant lesson to me. But perhaps there is one aspect in which Bruce has had a unique impact on me and it is in the subtle lesson that in order to succeed one needs to be willing to stand alone. Bruce has a gift for seeing things in a uniquely original way. He thinks by himself, and if he is completely alone in that view so much the better, and in the business of value investing I cannot think of a more valuable trait. It is this example, that of his originality and willingness to defend his views without any apologies, which I strive to imitate. "
Hugues Le Bras
I first learned about investing from Bruce. His knowledge and passion for understanding investing and value inspired my passion for the subject. He has been an invaluable mentor.
But more important than investing, Bruce has taught me the importance of being generous. He is one of the most generous people I know, and remains very discreet about it. First of all, he believes in what he calls “private socialism”, which means taking responsibility as a private citizen to take care of the family, friends, institutions and communities that matter the most to you. Secondly—though he likes to claim the contrary—he is very generous with his time. He spends many hours speaking with students, meeting with alumni and sharing his knowledge in conferences with fellow investors. He has inspired me to make my primary goal what I believe is his ultimate goal: to make the people he cares about happy.
But more important than investing, Bruce has taught me the importance of being generous. He is one of the most generous people I know, and remains very discreet about it. First of all, he believes in what he calls “private socialism”, which means taking responsibility as a private citizen to take care of the family, friends, institutions and communities that matter the most to you. Secondly—though he likes to claim the contrary—he is very generous with his time. He spends many hours speaking with students, meeting with alumni and sharing his knowledge in conferences with fellow investors. He has inspired me to make my primary goal what I believe is his ultimate goal: to make the people he cares about happy.
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Ethan Binder '06, partner at Slate Path Capital and Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes " My favorite memory of Bruce is really more multiple memories of him arguing a point and making up the facts. Not only is he one of the smartest people I know but I don't think he has ever lost an argument as he very smoothly will make up the facts in order to prove his points if necessary! I've know Bruce for my entire life as he has also been a close family friend. His books are what initially got me so interested in investing in college. And his advice on firms to work for while in business school is the reason why I work where I do today. Bruce has had a positive and profound impact on me personally and professionally that will always be remembered and appreciated."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Tano Santos, Heilbrunn Center academic co-director writes "The best Bruce moments happen in the least expected way; the quick comment that in a single line illuminates the issue at hand, or the sharp and witty retort. I also love those moments when he takes a controversial position and it is Bruce against the entire room (too many of these moments to single out any of them.) We all have witnessed this many times. But to pick a moment there is a recent one that left a strong impression on me and that showed a different but not unexpected side of Bruce. Recently we had a distinguished investor in our legends class; his analysts were at hand as well. The investor presented a case for a company that Bruce had also looked at and rejected. At the end of the presentation the two analysts in the class approached him, innocently, to meet him. Bruce immediately started going over the specifics of the investment idea. His command of the details of the financials, the economics of the firm, the knowledge of the industry, the ancillary evidence that he was bringing to bear in the discussion were stunning. Here you had these two young bright men and they could scarcely keep up with Bruce. Yes, he is brilliant but he also does his homework."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Khachig Tölölyan, professor and director, College of Letters at Wesleyan University writes "We have known each other for over 41 years, starting in January 1975, when we were instructors at Wesleyan University still working on our PhDs and living in modest faculty housing. Bruce would show up at 2 AM and say "I am hungry, can you make a tuna sandwich?" and then at 3 AM we would drive ten miles to the Olympia diner, the only all-night place in that stretch of central Connecticut, drink coffee, eat pie, and talk about money, love, politics and ideas. We were ravenous for ideas. For decades, he or I have gone on sudden road trips to see the other, to reconnect, to talk about ideas. One day, my wife Ellen and I were in Paris; I had not told him where we would be. With his uncanny ability to track me down, which he has demonstrated repeatedly, he showed up in the obscure location where we were and we got into a rental car and drove to Verdun, to stand at the ridge and look down on ground where 800,000 men were casualties in 1916.
We talked about war and history, not just the gore but the conceptions and misconceptions that led western Europe to try and commit suicide twice, once in 1914 and again in 1939. Standing between Ellen, the love of my life, and my best friend, looking out at a scene of almost unbearable sadness, I was as happy as I have ever been."
We talked about war and history, not just the gore but the conceptions and misconceptions that led western Europe to try and commit suicide twice, once in 1914 and again in 1939. Standing between Ellen, the love of my life, and my best friend, looking out at a scene of almost unbearable sadness, I was as happy as I have ever been."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Khachig Tölölyan, professor and director, College of Letters at Wesleyan University writes "I can’t answer that question directly, since I am not an economist or a serious investor. Everything I know about it I learned from him, so not Graham, not Dodd, not Buffett, not Mario Gabelli, but Bruce IS value investing for me. His successful performance as an investor is persuasive in itself, but so is his ability to explain why he is right and all who disagree with him are pitifully mistaken; he is simultaneously ruthless and intellectually irresistible when he is doing that.
Part of what makes his analyses so compelling is their range. When he is explaining why a particular company's stock is ripe for purchase, he offers reasons at three different registers. First, he discusses expertly a range of sometimes obscure but always relevant factors, for example, what technical innovations and managerial decisions place the particular company he is studying ahead of the competition. He combines this with an explanation of why the so-called wisdom of the market can be safely ignored in a particular case. Finally, he caps these two with a powerful narrative of where the economy as a whole is going and why its long-range trajectory favors the company in question. He offers a view of the whole even as he demonstrates a painstaking grasp of the necessary details."
Part of what makes his analyses so compelling is their range. When he is explaining why a particular company's stock is ripe for purchase, he offers reasons at three different registers. First, he discusses expertly a range of sometimes obscure but always relevant factors, for example, what technical innovations and managerial decisions place the particular company he is studying ahead of the competition. He combines this with an explanation of why the so-called wisdom of the market can be safely ignored in a particular case. Finally, he caps these two with a powerful narrative of where the economy as a whole is going and why its long-range trajectory favors the company in question. He offers a view of the whole even as he demonstrates a painstaking grasp of the necessary details."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Jon Salinas of Plymouth Lane Capital and Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes "Bruce's most significant impact on the field of value investing is his research on competitive dynamics and conceptualizing the notion of barriers-to-entry. Bruce has defined the concept of business quality for this generation's value investors."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Eric Almeraz '02, partner at Apis Capital and Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes "The most valuable thing I learned from Bruce was a firsthand lesson in competition. One year, after starting our first class as adjunct professors teaching AVI, my teaching partner and I realized about half our class was missing. I poked my head out the door just as Bruce was walking into the adjacent room to teach a class. A number of our students followed. We realized our students were playing hooky in order to catch a glimpse of Bruce’s class. We’re a lot more careful about scheduling now!"
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Khachig Tölölyan, professor and director, College of Letters at Wesleyan University writes "I have learned a lot, much of which I can't emulate because my brain is not powerful enough. Above all, he is a humbling example of how indispensable it is to master data and detail and to be able link that to an analysis of larger trends and issues. When he is discussing those larger patterns, he can comment on American society in a globalized world with a combination of shrewdness and intellectual daring that often dazzles me. I am not always fully convinced by some of his larger interpretive leaps, but I learn so much while trying to resist them that I am reminded over and over again how trying to disagree with him can make me smarter, can educate me."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Jon Salinas of Plymouth Lane Capital and Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes "The ability of a business to defend against competition is the most important component of all analysis. Also, surround oneself with not only great investors but great people."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Bruce Greenwald at the 2016 CSIMA conference
Aude Thibaut
Bruce and Ava contemplate the wisdom of the Greeks with former students Aude and Spyros, Agrigento, 2011.
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Erin Bellissimo, Bruce Greenwald, and Ava Seave in Munich in 2008
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Bruce's courses, including Value Investing, Economics of Strategic Behavior, and Globalization, are consistently over-subscribed with more than 600 students taking his classes each year. The below photo is of Bruce and his famous overhead projecter which the School now keeps just for him.
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Margaret Canella '76, Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes "It sometimes seems like Bruce Greenwald teaches all day and all night - every CBS student has been to his class, every CBS student clings to his teachings until graduation and beyond. Several years ago, I had a colleague who invested in the high yield bond market. She would talk about an investment at a morning meeting, sometimes pulling out notes that she read carefully as she prepared her remarks at the table in the minutes before the meeting. At one point, her boss - me - asked what it was she was referring to. She said 'notes from Bruce Greenwald's class.' Since she graduated from Columbia Business School 15 or so years prior, I thought this a little unusual until I too taught at CBS and a student told me 'if you remember what Professor Greenwald teaches, you will be the best investor!' Hundreds, if not thousands of students and alumni agree with that statement!"
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Pat Duff '84, former Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes "For the modern day Columbia MBA student, Bruce has brought to life the words of Graham, Dodd, and Murray. He has enthused his students with a consistent investment framework able to withstand all investment cycles. The vast trove of graduates with successful investment careers is testament of his legendary course and his message."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
The Industry Standard, October 2002
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Eric Almeraz '02, partner at Apis Capital and Heilbrunn Center adjunct faculty member writes "Bruce’s books have had a tremendous impact – Value Investing: from Graham to Buffett and Beyond as well as Competition Demystified are both must reads. They distill key elements of value investing in a way that no one else has been able to making these core concepts accessible and easily understood. I insist that my students read these as a basic foundation for understanding value investing."
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
All Strategy is Local, Harvard Business Review, 2005
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing
Invitation to receive Columbia Business School's Lifetime Achievement Award at the Centennial dinner on May 2, 2016.
