82 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
Michael Lewis's podcast examining the changing role of referees, umpires, and arbiters of fairness across American institutions — from sports to finance to medicine.
American financial trader and author — former market maker — author of The Laws of Trading — who provides the most rigorous conceptual framework for understanding market making and trading.
American author and former Wall Street insurance analyst who wrote The Snowball — the only authorized biography of Warren Buffett — after meeting him through her work analyzing Berkshire Hathaway's insurance businesses.
American banker, industrialist, art collector, and Treasury Secretary who expanded T. Mellon & Sons into one of America's greatest fortunes — financing the creation of Alcoa, Gulf Oil, and Koppers — and served as Treasury Secretary under three presidents while building the collection that became the National Gallery of Art.
Sixth-generation Hermès family member and current CEO since 2013, who led the defense against Bernard Arnault's LVMH hostile takeover attempt and has overseen Hermès's extraordinary share price appreciation.
American financial journalist — co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room (on Enron) and Shaky Ground (on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) — whose 2001 Fortune article questioning Enron's earnings was the first published questioning of Enron's accounting, triggering the collapse.
American hedge fund manager and energy trader — author of Die With Zero — who argues that accumulating wealth beyond what you can spend and experience is irrational, and that life optimization means maximizing memorable experiences.
American technologist — former President of FTX US — who left FTX before the collapse and has spoken publicly about the warning signs he observed — co-founder of Architect Financial Technologies.
American financial writer and analyst — author of The Diff newsletter (one of the highest-quality finance and technology newsletters) — whose writing on financial history, technology companies, and economic dynamics is considered among the most intellectually serious financial commentary available.
The theory and practice of how executives allocate the capital generated by their businesses — arguing that capital allocation skill is the most underappreciated determinant of long-run shareholder value.
The investment framework that analyzes industries through the supply side — tracking capital flows in and out of industries to predict future investment returns.
A collection of Marathon Asset Management's investor letters edited by Edward Chancellor — presenting the 'capital cycle' framework for equity investing: focusing on supply (capital allocation) rather than demand to identify investment opportunities.
Italian-American fraudster who defrauded investors in Boston in 1919–1920 by promising 50% returns in 90 days through international postal reply coupon arbitrage — which was impossible at scale — creating the scheme that now bears his name.
Bogle's comprehensive account of the mutual fund industry — documenting how costs, turnover, and manager behavior systematically transfer wealth from investors to fund managers.
British economist and financial analyst who wrote The Unaccountability Machine (2024) — applying cybernetics and systems thinking to explain why large institutions consistently fail to be accountable and make the wrong decisions — and Lying for Money (2018) on financial fraud.
Bill Perkins's 2020 argument — that optimal life planning means spending down your wealth entirely by death, that experiences should be front-loaded while health allows full enjoyment, and that dying rich is a failure of optimization.
American banker at Lee Higginson who was the primary distributor of Ivar Kreuger's fraudulent bonds to American investors — believing in Kreuger's genius and selling his securities widely — whose reputation was destroyed when the fraud collapsed.
Buffett's metaphor for a company's durable competitive advantage — the structural features that protect its returns on capital from competitive erosion.
Michael Lewis's 2023 account of Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX, drawn from extensive personal access to SBF before and during his fraud trial.
American investment bank founded by Marcus Goldman in 1869 — which built its commercial paper business, moved into underwriting under Henry Goldman, and grew to be one of the world's most prestigious financial institutions.
Founder of East Rock Capital and prominent allocator known for his frameworks on talent assessment, investor psychology, and what he calls the 'grip' on one's work.
American financial journalist — Wall Street Journal reporter and author — who wrote The Man Who Solved the Market (on Jim Simons and Renaissance Technologies) — the most credentialed journalist covering quantitative finance.
American investor who was the richest woman in America at her death in 1916 — earning the nickname 'Witch of Wall Street' — by investing in bonds and real estate with a value approach decades before Graham formalized value investing, while being legendarily frugal.
Patrick O'Shaughnessy's interview podcast featuring investors, entrepreneurs, and thinkers exploring capital allocation, business building, and decision-making.
Swedish entrepreneur who built the world's largest match monopoly — controlling two-thirds of global match production — and who financed his empire through fraudulent bonds sold to American investors, creating history's most sophisticated financial fraud before dying (suicide or murder) in 1932 as the scheme collapsed.
American banking titan who reorganized railroads, financed U.S. Steel (largest company in the world at formation), saved the US government from bankruptcy twice (1895, 1907), and assembled the most important private art collection in American history.
America's largest bank by assets, formed by the 2000 merger of J.P. Morgan & Co. and Chase Manhattan, led since 2005 by CEO Jamie Dimon.
American financier and railroad speculator who was the most feared businessman of the Gilded Age — manipulating railroad stocks, attempting to corner the gold market (Black Friday 1869), and building a railroad empire from the Western Union telegraph monopoly.
Chairman of the Federal Reserve (2018–) — former investment banker at Dillon Read and Carlyle Group — who managed Fed policy through COVID (zero interest rates, QE), the subsequent inflation surge (2022 rate hike cycle), and the largest Fed balance sheet expansion in history.
American mathematician and hedge fund manager — founder of Renaissance Technologies — whose Medallion Fund produced 66% annual returns before fees from 1988–2018 — the greatest investor in history by quantitative measure — who died in 2024.
American financial economist — Rose-Marie and Jack Anderson Senior Fellow at Hoover Institution — former University of Chicago Booth School professor — author of The Fiscal Theory of the Price Level — who blogs as The Grumpy Economist.
American banker who built the London-based J.S. Morgan & Co — a major merchant bank for Anglo-American trade — and who trained his son J.P. Morgan in the standards and discipline of the banking profession.
Former Federal Reserve Governor (2006–2011) — Hoover Institution fellow — investment banker (Morgan Stanley) — one of the youngest Federal Reserve Governors in history — considered a potential Fed Chair under Trump.
Swedish construction and holding company founded by Ivar Kreuger and Paul Toll — which became the financial vehicle for Kreuger's match empire — and which collapsed in 1932 with the revelation of the fraud.
Duff McDonald's 2009 biography of Jamie Dimon, tracing his rise from Sandy Weill's protégé to CEO of JPMorgan Chase through the 2008 financial crisis.
Michael Lewis's 1989 memoir of his years as a bond trader at Salomon Brothers — the most widely read insider account of 1980s Wall Street culture — which Lewis intended as a warning but which inspired a generation of young graduates to pursue finance careers.
American financial executive and former US representative to the World Bank — who worked at the US Treasury and in international finance.
Global co-head of JP Morgan Payments, one of the largest payment processing businesses in the world, responsible for the bank's transaction banking and payments infrastructure.
American author — author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short, Flash Boys, and The Undoing Project — the most commercially successful business and finance narrative nonfiction writer of his generation.
Individual referenced in the Founders podcast ecosystem — likely an investor or entrepreneur in the community surrounding the podcast.
The most powerful banking dynasty in European history — founded by Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt's Jewish ghetto — who established banking houses in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Vienna, and Naples — financing European wars, governments, and the British Empire.
European banking dynasty founded by Mayer Amschel Rothschild in Frankfurt in the 1760s — which built the dominant investment banking operation in Europe through five sons placed in five financial capitals — and has maintained family ownership through 250+ years of wars, revolutions, and market upheavals.
American financier and railroad investor who partnered with Jay Gould in various railroad ventures — and who was known for money lending at high interest rates — accumulating one of the largest fortunes in America despite a miserly lifestyle.
American executive who has served as Oracle's co-CEO (with Larry Ellison and Mark Hurd) since 2014 — and who has been Oracle's chief financial and M&A officer since 1999 — overseeing Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft, Siebel, Sun Microsystems, and dozens of others.
American entrepreneur — co-founder and former CEO of FTX (bankrupt 2022) — convicted of fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in 2023 (sentenced to 25 years) — who combined effective altruism rhetoric with large-scale financial fraud.
American financial journalist — Wall Street Journal reporter — author of The Quants (on quantitative traders before the 2008 crash) and Dark Pools (on high-frequency trading) — who covers the intersection of technology and finance.
British journalist and author at the Council on Foreign Relations — who wrote The Power Law (venture capital history), More Money Than God (hedge funds), and biographies of Alan Greenspan and Robert McNamara — making him the leading historian of modern finance.
Michael Lewis's 2010 account of the handful of investors who saw the 2008 financial crisis coming and bet against mortgage-backed securities — told through the eccentric characters who understood what most of Wall Street missed.
John Bogle's distillation of his case for index fund investing — the most accessible statement of his argument that costs are the primary determinant of investment returns.
Gregory Zuckerman's 2019 biography of Jim Simons and Renaissance Technologies — the most complete public account of how a mathematician built the most successful trading firm in history through pattern recognition in financial data.
Frank Partnoy's 2009 biography of Ivar Kreuger — tracing his rise from Swedish match factory to global monopolist to the world's most sophisticated fraudster — and his role in inspiring New Deal securities regulation.
Scott Patterson's 2010 narrative of the quantitative traders whose mathematical models dominated Wall Street before failing catastrophically in 2008 — covering Jim Simons, Ken Griffin, Peter Muller, Cliff Asness, and Boaz Weinstein.
American entrepreneur, biotechnology investor, and politician — founder of Roivant Sciences — author of Woke, Inc. and Nation of Victims — 2024 Republican presidential primary candidate — who became the most prominent young voice in anti-woke conservatism.
Agustin Lebron's philosophical guide to trading — written by a former Jane Street trader — applying trading concepts (adverse selection, edge, variance) to life decisions generally.
Byrne Hobart's daily newsletter analyzing financial markets, technology companies, and business models — known for unusually sophisticated analysis that combines financial history with current events.
Michael Bloomberg's financial data and media company — whose Bloomberg Terminal is the indispensable infrastructure of global financial markets, subsidizing a massive news and media operation.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — the federal agency responsible for regulating securities markets, enforcing disclosure requirements, and protecting investors.
Founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty — the Frankfurt ghetto merchant who sent his five sons to establish banks across five European capitals, creating the first multinational banking network.
New York-based quantitative trading firm and market maker — one of the most profitable financial institutions in the world, known for its culture of rigorous probabilistic reasoning and talent for recruiting mathematically exceptional people.
Cable television executive who built TCI into the largest cable company in America — and subsequently Liberty Media into a global media empire — using extraordinary financial engineering and capital allocation.
American merchant banker in London who became the template for large-scale philanthropy — founding the Peabody Trust (affordable London housing), Peabody Institute, Peabody Museum, and giving away most of his $20M fortune.
19th-century American financier and stock manipulator — former cattle drover who made and lost fortunes on Wall Street through manipulation of Erie Railroad stock and eventually died penniless.
Former options trader and philosopher of risk — author of the Incerto series (Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile, Skin in the Game) — whose framework for thinking about uncertainty and tail risk reshaped how practitioners think about probability.
Hungarian-American investor who built one of the most successful hedge funds in history (Quantum Fund) — best known for 'breaking the Bank of England' in 1992 — and whose Open Society Foundations is among the world's largest philanthropic organizations.
American banking institution founded during the California Gold Rush (1852) — one of the largest U.S. banks, whose 2016 fake account scandal became the defining case of incentive-driven corporate misconduct.
George Soros's 1987 account of his investment philosophy — centered on the concept of reflexivity, the idea that market participants' perceptions influence market fundamentals, creating feedback loops that can drive markets far from equilibrium.
The world's largest asset management firm, managing over $10 trillion in assets — and a central actor in the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing movement under CEO Larry Fink.
The set of criteria (Environmental, Social, Governance) used to evaluate corporations' non-financial impacts and risks — promoted by institutional investors like BlackRock and WEF as a framework for sustainable investing.
Edward Renehan's biography of Jay Gould — the most reviled of the Gilded Age robber barons — presenting a more complex portrait than the standard villain narrative.
The London branch founder of the Rothschild banking dynasty — who built N.M. Rothschild & Sons into the world's most powerful bank through exceptional intelligence gathering, information advantage, and risk-taking.
Former JP Morgan China executive and co-author of Red Capitalism — one of the most rigorous analyses of China's state-directed financial system and its hidden risks.
Flamboyant Gilded Age financier and partner of Jay Gould — co-conspirator in the Erie War and the Black Friday gold corner attempt (1869), shot by a rival suitor for his mistress.
Australia's sovereign wealth fund — established in 2006 to invest the proceeds of asset sales and budget surpluses for long-term national benefit.
Quantitative risk manager at AQR Capital — and author of two books on risk that treat poker, finance, and risk management as aspects of the same underlying discipline.
Aaron Brown's argument for treating risk as a discipline to be mastered rather than minimized — connecting poker, financial markets, and general decision-making under uncertainty.
Aaron Brown's parallel between poker and financial markets — arguing that professional gambling and Wall Street trading share the same cognitive and risk-management foundations.
The hedge fund founded by John Meriwether (and including Nobel laureates Merton and Scholes) that generated extraordinary returns through leveraged arbitrage before losing $4.6B and requiring a Fed-orchestrated bailout in 1998.
Roger Lowenstein's narrative history of Long-Term Capital Management — the rise and collapse of the hedge fund run by Nobel laureates and Wall Street legends.
Richard Werner's account of how the Bank of Japan's credit allocation decisions shaped Japan's postwar economic 'miracle' and subsequent decade of stagnation — arguing that central banks wield more autonomous power than standard accounts acknowledge.
First CEO of McDonald's Corporation and the financial architect who revealed that McDonald's is a real estate company, not a hamburger company.
Roman general and the wealthiest man in Rome — member of the First Triumvirate with Caesar and Pompey — who died catastrophically invading Parthia at the Battle of Carrhae.
The Baring family's banking dynasty — which financed the Louisiana Purchase, dominated British finance for a century, survived near-collapse in 1890, and finally collapsed in 1995 when Nick Leeson lost $1.3B on derivatives.