Bill Ackman’s favorite books on investing are listed in Confidence Game, a great new book by Bloomberg News reporter Christine Richard.
Ackman, who runs Pershing Square Capital Management, plays a starring role in Richard’s book, which discusses the hedge fund manager’s years-long crusade against bond insurer MBIA Inc. and his frustration with the lack of activity by the ratings agencies and SEC.
After reading every financial document and analyst report he could get his hands on in the early 2000s, Ackman made a huge bet against MBIA for his investors. He believed the company was misleading investors in its financial reports and thought the insurer’s overleveraged position on risky bonds would ultimately cause its collapse.
MBIA is still around, as evidenced by Bruce Berkowitz’s recently revealed 11 percent purchase of the company on behalf of Fairholme Capital Management. But its stock price is a fraction of where it was when Ackman started betting against it.
“Confidence Game” is a veritable who’s who of the investing gurus profiled on this Web site. Carl Icahn, Daniel Loeb, Ian Cumming, Martin Whitman, Wilbur Ross, David Einhorn, Warren Buffett and Whitney Tilson all make appearances in the book.
One section of “Confidence Game” describes Ackman meeting one of his eventual employees at Pershing Square during a fishing trip. As part of his recruiting efforts, Ackman sent the young man several of his favorite books on investing.
Ackman made more than $1 billion for his investors with the bet against MBIA. He is considered one of the best stock analysts in the business. As a result, it would make sense for aspiring “gurus” to read the books that he recommends.
Without further ado, here are Ackman’s recommended investing books listed in “Confidence Game.”
“Security Analysis,” Graham and Dodd
“One Up on Wall Street,” Peter Lynch
“The Intelligent Investor,” Benjamin Graham
“The Essays of Warren Buffett,” Lawrence Cunningham
“Quality of Earnings,” Thornton O’glove
Ackman, who runs Pershing Square Capital Management, plays a starring role in Richard’s book, which discusses the hedge fund manager’s years-long crusade against bond insurer MBIA Inc. and his frustration with the lack of activity by the ratings agencies and SEC.
After reading every financial document and analyst report he could get his hands on in the early 2000s, Ackman made a huge bet against MBIA for his investors. He believed the company was misleading investors in its financial reports and thought the insurer’s overleveraged position on risky bonds would ultimately cause its collapse.
MBIA is still around, as evidenced by Bruce Berkowitz’s recently revealed 11 percent purchase of the company on behalf of Fairholme Capital Management. But its stock price is a fraction of where it was when Ackman started betting against it.
“Confidence Game” is a veritable who’s who of the investing gurus profiled on this Web site. Carl Icahn, Daniel Loeb, Ian Cumming, Martin Whitman, Wilbur Ross, David Einhorn, Warren Buffett and Whitney Tilson all make appearances in the book.
One section of “Confidence Game” describes Ackman meeting one of his eventual employees at Pershing Square during a fishing trip. As part of his recruiting efforts, Ackman sent the young man several of his favorite books on investing.
Ackman made more than $1 billion for his investors with the bet against MBIA. He is considered one of the best stock analysts in the business. As a result, it would make sense for aspiring “gurus” to read the books that he recommends.
Without further ado, here are Ackman’s recommended investing books listed in “Confidence Game.”
“Security Analysis,” Graham and Dodd
“One Up on Wall Street,” Peter Lynch
“The Intelligent Investor,” Benjamin Graham
“The Essays of Warren Buffett,” Lawrence Cunningham
“Quality of Earnings,” Thornton O’glove
