IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

•  Why Michael Moritz has always felt like an outsider.
•  How his family’s survival was built on the kindness of others.
•  How his relentlessness became the key to his success.
• How Oxford & Time magazine prepared him for investing.
• How the novelist Philip Roth changed his life.
•  What Michael learned from observing Bill Gates up close.
• What made Steve Jobs special.
• Why it’s so hard to predict which founders will succeed or fail.
• Why investors must be open enough to learn from younger people.
• What Charlie Munger identified as Michael’s investing edge.
• What soccer legend Sir Alex Ferguson taught Michael about leadership.
• Why he views Elon Musk as the greatest industrialist in US history.
• What Michael learned from his wife & children.

Disclosure: This episode and the resources on this page are for informational and educational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. For full disclosures, see link.

TRANSCRIPT

Disclaimer: The transcript that follows has been generated using artificial intelligence. We strive to be as accurate as possible, but minor errors and slightly off timestamps may be present due to platform differences.

[00:00:03] William Green: Hi there. It’s wonderful to see you again on the Richer, Wiser, Happier Podcast. Our guest today is one of the most successful investors of all time, a legendary venture capitalist named Sir Michael Moritz, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at more than seven billion dollars.

[00:00:19] William Green: As you’ll hear, he and his colleagues at Sequoia Capital racked up astonishing returns by investing very early in businesses like NVIDIA, Google, YouTube, Airbnb, PayPal, Stripe, and LinkedIn. Moritz was incredibly farsighted in identifying some of the most successful corporate founders of all time, but he also had another secret, the patience to hold onto his winning investments and never sell. Charlie Munger once told me that this temperamental advantage helped to explain why Moritz outperformed pretty much all of his peers.

[00:00:52] William Green: But before we get to my conversation with Michael Moritz, I also wanted to mention quickly that I still have several open spaces in my Richer, Wiser, Happier Masterclass, which begins in December.

[00:01:03] William Green: This is an opportunity to study with me over the course of a year in a very small, intimate group that’s likely to be somewhere between 10 and 20 people. We’ll meet once a month over Zoom, and we’ll also get together in person at a couple of unique events. The aim is to create a year-long journey of exploration to help you move toward a life that is truly richer, wiser, and happier.

[00:01:27] William Green: We’ll talk in depth about how we can actually apply in our own lives the lessons I’ve learned from great investors like Sir John Templeton, Charlie Munger, Howard Marks, Bill Miller, and Nick Sleep. Not just lessons about how to build enduring wealth, but about how to think and how to live. This will be the third year in a row that I’ve hosted a Richer, Wiser, Happier Masterclass, and I’m planning to make this my final offering of the class.

[00:01:52] William Green: The first two groups include an amazingly accomplished selection of people from around the world, including some hugely successful hedge fund managers and mutual fund managers, asset allocators, wealth advisors, managers of family offices, a medical doctor, a management consultant, several CEOs and entrepreneurs, and even a renowned physicist turned quant fund manager.

[00:02:15] William Green: But what matters most to me is that they’re an unusually thoughtful, soulful group of people who love learning from one another and sharing insights about investing, business, and life. If you’re a keen investor and a passionate learner and would like to know more about the masterclass, please feel free to contact my friend and fellow podcast host, Kyle Grieve, and he can answer any questions you might have about dates, prices, and the like.

[00:02:41] William Green: His email address is Kyle, that’s K-Y-L-E, kyle@theinvestorspodcast.com. I’m totally biased, but I think this is a really rare opportunity to become a better investor, to think more deeply about how you want to live, and to build rich friendships with a very special group of people. If this idea appeals to you, please reach out to Kyle, and if the stars align, I’d love to see you in December. And now, back to the show.

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BOOKS AND RESOURCES

• Inquire about William Green’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Richer, Wiser, Happier Masterclass⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.
• Michael Moritz’s book, “Auslander.”
• Michael Moritz’s book “Return to the Little Kingdom.”
• Alex Ferguson & Michael Moritz’s book, “Leading.”
• Alex Ferguson & Michael Moritz’s book, “The Games of My Life.”
• Philip Roth’s book “Sabbath’s Theater.”
• William Green’s book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – ⁠read the reviews of this book⁠.
• Related ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠books⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ mentioned in the podcast.
• Ad-free episodes on our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Premium Feed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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