Tom Gayner's Book Recommendations
In our April 2009 interview with Tom Gayner, Chief Investment Officer of Markel Corporation (NYSE: MKL), we asked Tom the following question, among many others:
The Manual of Ideas: What books have you read in recent years that have stood out as valuable additions to your "latticework of mental models"?
Tom Gayner: There are a number of books that help you to think and teach you things you didn’t know. We all know Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor and they have stood the test of time.
I think Mark Twain is a great writer and his insights and observations about human nature and money are invaluable. He was broke and rich several times in his life and his writing carries an undertone of his struggles with money. You get a twofer from Twain. You can laugh and learn at the same time.
I read endlessly. John Wooden, the basketball coach at UCLA during their dynasty is a hero to me. General Grant is a hero. Warren Buffett is a hero. Pick some good heroes and read everything you can about them.
I also like reading about history, psychology, and human nature, technological progress and scientific thought. The world is a fascinating place and you will never run out of rich material if you want to keep understanding more and more.
I think I saw a recent interview with Seth Klarman where he said something like, “value investing is the marriage of a contrarian and a calculator.” Some books, like Twain’s, the histories and biographies help you with the human nature and contrarian side of that equation. Some books, like the ones about science and technological developments, along with the accounting homework I did a long time ago, help you with the calculator side. Both elements are essential. Each is severely limited without appropriate balance and understanding from the other side.
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