# Killing the Market: Legendary Investor Robert Wilson Author: [[Roemer McPhee]] ## Review The book describes the investing career and style of Robert Wilson who is sometimes noted for creating the original hedged fund. - Went bust early on in his career (late 20s) due to significant leverage. His investment ideas went on to do well. The lesson he took away from this was that he needed to be hedged and diversified. - He held many stock (hundreds) but more stocks on the long side than on the short side. - Always looked for stocks with potential for large moves. Many of the longs were fast growers, producers or beneficiaries of new technology. He called these "new wave" stocks. The shorts were overvalued, overhyped and/or facing significant new competition where none was anticipated at first. - A description of his noteable investments on the long side and short side is given in one of his chapters. - He used significant leverage by getting credit from international bankers. The level of leverage was in excess of the spirit of stock exchange limits. - He was one of the most unemotional and dispassionate men in the industry. - His biggest investing mistakes was worrying about business competition too early. Instead see how it develops. Competition can often open new markets. - Over the course of managing money he returned 28% per year. - He gave up on his goal of becoming a billionaire to start giving away his money to charity and philanthropic purposes. From my reading it didn't seem the money was not all that well spent on these causes. - He eventually took his life by jumping out of his window and falling 150 feet. The motive given in the book was that he felt it was the right time and that he lived a satisfying life, but I can't buy into that. The death was too dramatic. The story was interesting overall, and the biggest investing takeaway for me was his biggest mistake: "anticipating competition too early". Personally I would not be interested in living his life. As I finished reading I realised that these types of books are only written about those with the highest returns, accumulating the largest wealth, often at the expense of a life that I consider worth living. I would be interested in reading about an investor who had great returns, great relationships and a fulfilling life (at the expense of fantastic returns and a lot of money). ## Related [[Investing]],[[Investing Styles]]