Whitney Tilson’s email to investors discussing the Hard Money’s Million Dollar Podcast; Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American way of power; excerpt from my book on the dangers of drunkenness and alcohol abuse.
Q1 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
Favorite Podcasts And Audible Books
1) I actually look forward to long drives by myself (I'm driving the rented van, while my wife and daughter will be in the car) because it's a great opportunity to listen (at 2.75 times speed) to my favorite podcasts and Audible books. Specifically, here's what I have lined up for tomorrow:
- I love Hard Money's Million Dollar Podcast, which follows my colleagues Enrique Abeyta and Gabe Marshank as they try to turn $10,000 into $1 million. They're off to a great start, having more than doubled their money! In the latest weekly episode, they interview Michael Levy, King of NBA Top Shot.
- I've finished the first four chapters of the new book by my friend Zachary Karabell: Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power. Honestly, I started to listen to it only because I know him and what a great writer he is, but c'mon, a book about Brown Brothers Harriman? What a snoozer, right? In fact, it's a fascinating look at the economic, financial, and business history of the U.S.
Here's an excerpt from the book from the Wall Street Journal: The Capitalist Culture That Built America. Excerpt:
At the dawn of the 19th century, an Irish immigrant named Alexander Brown arrived in Baltimore and set up shop as a linen merchant. The firm that he founded would evolve into one of America's most important investment banks, Brown Brothers Harriman, which is still in business today. Over more than two centuries, as a unique form of capitalism turned the U.S. into the most potent and affluent country in the world, Brown Brothers was the alchemist at the center.
And here's Roger Lowenstein's review in the New York Times: The Wall Street Capitalists Who Put Morals Above Money. Excerpt:
Other firms were better known, and frankly, others had more dramatic stories. Yet there is something quietly stirring in the tale of Alexander Brown, a Belfast linen merchant who emigrated (exactly why no one knows) to Baltimore in 1800, and together with his four sons became, first, a major linen importer, then a dealer in cotton, coffee, copper, iron and sugar, then a financier.
Best regards,
Whitney
