Why This Investor Doesn't Just Dabble In the Market: Brad Gerstner Reveals His Strategies

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My guest today is Brad Gerstner, founder and CIO of Altimeter Capital, a multi-billion dollar technology-focused investment firm that invests in both public and private markets.
In today's episode, Brad discusses his journey in investing, how to invest in the AI supercycle, and how he incorporates the impact of stock compensation when analyzing companies. Brad also covers his initiative, Invest America (www.investamer..., aimed at promoting financial literacy and inclusion for children in the U.S. He highlights the need for a collective effort to empower the next generation and ensure they have a stake in the economy.
To see links or read the transcript of the episode, visit us at www.themebfabe...
(2:10) Intro of Brad Gerstner
(7:47) Current market thoughts
(10:58) The state of AI
(16:16) Brad's investment philosophy
(22:32) Impact of AI on both enterprise and consumer technology
(25:46) Global advancements in AI
(27:27) Autonomous vehicles
(30:39) Stock-based compensation
(36:31) Invest America
(53:06) Importance of financial literacy for kids
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[@davidpaterson7142]

Brad is very smart! Combines fundamental investment principles with a modern outlook!

[@allan2765]

Check out his Snowflake investment. It was his favorite if I recall back in 2020, along wirh a few other tech stocks that have tanked and not recovered as of yet. Nobody's perfect.

[@ST5S5]

@@allan2765exactly. Even the best make mistakes. Best not to judge someone on any one investment but rather their overall performance. Brad definitely makes more right bets than wrong ones

[@SSSS7-p8f]

@@allan2765 the reality is, guys like him dont know the industry as deeply as they think. so they make wild swings and talk confidently. sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesnt. meh lol.

[@jeffossola668]

great to see Brad on Meb Faber show, recommend his B2B podcast with Gurley, entertaining

[@JimStoneFIManager]

brad brings the energy! Invest America could be huge, really hope it goes through

[@amarkmanpeters]

Brad is a stud. His returns are amazing. His knowledge of both private and public is unique.

[@dereks66]

Marry him

[@HelloWorld-hb7yt]

I remember his letter to meta. It was probably the best thing he did and everything went his way and he got famous for it. Not sure about his performance before COVID. Is it luck or intelligence? I respect the guy. Well spoken and pretty smart.

[@skipkapur1]

Wonderful interview. Brad was impressive, a guy living life to the fullest, and loves his country to boot.

[@54woodsgirl]

Yes, finally somebody worth listening to. We listen to a lot of entertaining but opinionated and inaccurate BS on KZbin.

[@finnurth]

The "Invest America" idea is simply brilliant and should be taken up world wide!

[@mermadone6465]

Why so many jump cuts? Super smooth on that editing though.

[@SectorUpTrend]

Great Interview - Find the Winning sector. Invest in the clear winners in the group.

[@ericR1999]

Cyber security is going to be the most important AI theme.

[@kii6099]

Amen to Mr. Brad Gerstner!

[@ChristianFrankIvezaj]

Bill Ackman mentioned this same idea in a previous interview - I must say, it does make a fair amount of sense...

[@granttharby9123]

Great interview. I enjoy listening to these successful people.

[@rickfool1452]

How do you know he's successful

[@Nvidia-Lover]

​@rickfool1452 Brad Gerstner is a Havard grad. Net worth is 400 million.

[@rickfool1452]

@@Nvidia-Lover I'm a graduate of las vegas university. Net worth of a cool $4500.

[@craignewbauer9718]

@@rickfool1452Brad came from a family who struggled with money, his father’s business failed and he grew up modestly. Obviously born with some talent and pushes himself more than most of us. He’s looking to give back.

[@simoncabral1004]

Fantastic conversation…I learnt a lot from this….

[@EveReilly-s6u]

Awesome guest list lately.

[@paolocit]

So true about dilution

[@J-D248]

Great idea, but I'd add a restriction that you can't withdraw from it until it reaches a certain amount, and you can't withdraw more than 10% at any age.

[@RafeCruise]

Great interview.

[@allan2765]

People in comments saying how great this guy is. Not saying he's good or bad, I just know that he was massively invested in and pushing SNOWFLAKE when it debuted - I believe it was his biggest position, don't know if it is now (maybe he mentions it here?). If you bought it at its first available price on its debut in 2020, I believe you'd be down about 30 % today, 4 years later. Maybe SNOW takes off at some point, but that has been a horrible investment thus far. My message? Don't blindly follow any of these guys, they all make mistakes, including massive ones. To add: I like him, much of what he says and has said (pro west, pro capitalism), and I do not believe he is a pump and dumper at all. I'm just saying he, like all others, make gaffes. Nvidia was always a better biz than Snowflake. I don't even know if he's still in the name, but it was his no. 1 if I recall.

[@grukoin2789]

I agree mostly with your point, but I wanna point out - it's not at all clear to me that he made a mistake on SNOW. Altimeter built it's position pre IPO. And as he says in the interview, when you build a high conviction long term position, you need a good reason to sell. and I'm fairly certain he trimmed at a nice profit. it may have underperformed his expectations in the public market tho. also, Nvidia and Snowflake aren't competitors

[@allan2765]

@@grukoin2789 I actually agree totally with you on every point - Snowflake's story is not complete. Nvidia and Snowflake aren't competitors, also agree. I didn't explain my point very well - perhaps the best "analyst" or investor to give some credence to would be whomever was touting Nvidia especially in the past 5 years, I believe it has proven to be the better investment and will continue to do this. I have Snowflake on my watchlist along with competitor Datadog. Finally - I like this fellow, have seen him for some years now. I would be curious to see if Snowflake is still a holding or his top holding. My main point may have sounded more harsh than it was meant to - it was just really meant to say that even the absolute best investors are wrong an awful lot, and every regular Joe investor like most of us commenting on KZbin or X should remember that when watching vids and even moreso making investment decisions. Just seeing how longwinded this is - don't judge as I am under the influence of some tremendous edibles at the moment!

[@roberthodsdon1926]

I really enjoy listening to Brad. His thoughts are spot on!!! Capital engine concepts, 401k at birth, all great!!, thank you

[@jeffreyharrison4045]

Wow. I really enjoyed this episode and guest! Thanks!

[@54woodsgirl]

I’ve been saying this exact thing and I’m so happy to hear you say this. Our mothers running out of money for long-term care and her money is invested in nothing. I’m trying to convince them to put money in the S&P. I wish that I had known this in high school and I would not be having the problems. I am at almost 70 years old. I didn’t fire my financial advisor until two years ago. now I’m making money! This is so important. I don’t know why it’s not taught in school bravo.

[@georgemessenger7539]

That was a seriously great discussion for sure

[@smitd4ty]

Great listen!

[@briancase6180]

His point about nuclear reactors in the US is spot on. We need to get over our scaredy-cat feelings about nuclear power. Look, if the majority of us citizens think capitalism is bad, dude, we're already screwed. It's just a matter of time. It's time to figure out a way to distribute the wealth, the BENEFITS of capitalism. We used to know how to do this. Look at marginal tax rates in the 50s and 60s. Go look. But be ready to be stunned.

[@indianajones3315]

The majority of US citizens couldn’t even define capitalism. And would also have no idea to to invest, they’d just spend it all on stupid stuff, NOT save it, and 50 years from now things would be absolutely no better.

[@CelluloidPoisoning]

great interview, Brad is brilliant.

[@lockdown24v74]

Great insight.

[@Akawa93]

Brad is a genius 🫶

[@lorilacour7816]

I like this guy! Forward looking thinking!

[@rac194]

Wow ! Great stuff.

[@oneyedman443]

Invest America has the potential to be the most important idea for society in American history. And it may be the only way to preserve free market capitalism.

[@videowatching9576]

100% need on focus on stock based comp!

[@anahitaaalami9064]

plz elaborate on cerebras.

[@davdhynes3518]

Harold Alfont has done this in Maine. Every newborn is given either 500. Or 1000. in an account.

[@JSS54321]

Wow excellent

[@Steve-o-l4j]

All I know is that compute don't make oysters grow so my living is safe

[@lancobear3544]

3d printed oysters and pearls coming soon 😂

[@jett7033]

Until roberts can do the manual labor

[@NorthStarPNW]

​@@jett7033presume you mean 'robots'!

[@susymay7831]

Knowing the future of an early industry rarely yields high percentage chance companies. Examples: 200 US auto makers have gone bankrupt. Radios, TVs and the United States have done well; however, there are no big U.S. radio or TV manufacturers.

[@jimjackson4256]

In yet warren buffet has the largest cash position ever. So who is right this guy or warren buffet?

[@wynnsimpson]

Great idea. Some questions: what happens if the child dies? Or, becomes disabled for any reason? How do you prevent irresponsible parents or grandparents from accessing the funds? How do you prevent Congress from corrupting the intent of the funds?

[@Joey-fs7ro]

The credit card companies and banks will try to never let financial literacy be taught to the masses. Jus sayin. 😏

[@SigFigNewton]

Also it’s based in the pipe dream that real returns will be as high as those of the past fifty years

[@grukoin2789]

your world model is cartoons

[@susymay7831]

If every child that was born a US citizen had 6,000 invested in the stock market to be given to them at the age of 50 or dolled out over time....;the average retiree figures to be quite wealthy. Perhaps with early withdrawals for extraordinary uncovered health expenses. Or something along the above. If someone died before 50, the money would stay within the system. And many of these people would feel invested in the US and be more interested.

[@MrWashraf]

Priceline share were reverse split 20 for 1 and that is why they are expensive.

[@rokyericksonroks]

Nice call, I forgot about that.

[@HelloWorld-hb7yt]

They did? But I think they went some crazy multiple?

[@indianajones3315]

@@HelloWorld-hb7ytBKNG P/E is 24x forward earnings. P/Es don’t change when stocks split. Stock is 10% more expensive than the SPX. You don’t think the industry leader deserves a valuation premium?

[@abbottmd]

I liked the cash vs stock based comp discussion. But from free market inefficient market standpoint shouldn't matter the market should see right through all of this so it would be interesting to analyze to see if anyone is really being fooled at all in the first place

[@alexi2460]

Pro active education based, finance back up, It's a dream to pull our kids and families up long overdue.

[@Poochie1]

The last time everything looked so bullish in technology was in 2000. We created, on the demand of investors a fund. It lost 90% in the following years. Maybe it would be up 5 to 10 x today, from the low even 20x. But it was simply not the right time to start a technology fund. But our clients absolutely demanded it. Will this time be different? Probably a bit. But certainly, the time to invest in technology today is a tough decision.

[@brianbirnbaum9760]

What a fantastic podcast. One thing I’d say about GPT is that if you evangelize it that much your employees are going to open it just to make you happy. Biased opinion.

[@SamEbby]

ANSWER FOR SNOWFLAKE MR BRAD !!!! $SNOW

[@viaggi3945]

Can I answer for him? Nobody is perfect.

[@johnc3886]

Brad Gerstner is far better, more intelligent/insightful than Kathie Wood of ARKK (total BS-er).

[@Herr2Cents]

I got started late in life investing. Nobody taught us. What a shame. Social Security should be phased out. Pay off those who put in and allow people to invest their money as they want. It's a failing system.

[@gregoryswanepoel6328]

Well spoken...and minus the BS

[@54woodsgirl]

It’s a fantastic idea if something like that had been around. I wouldn’t be struggling to retire at 70 and still working. I just hope that somebody would please at least make some tax advantages or something available for older people especially once that are still working not just siphoning money off.

[@raymondmay2136]

I collected all the GBP birthdays/xmas gifts for my kids. (UK citizens living in the US), kids now 30ish. They have over 50k each in IRAs now.

[@viaggi3945]

What is GBP? You lost me.

[@raymondmay2136]

@@viaggi3945 pound sterling

[@TysonG11]

you related to Marc Faber ?

[@mebfaber1]

No relation!

[@heylex3109]

Ai is going to do airline maintenance 😂😂.. the problem isn't the current technicians.. it's the corporations cutting corners to increase profits

[@George-jm4rn]

Meb asked him about the present and all Brad talked about was how he nailed 2022/23. He desperately wants everyone to know how wonderful he is (and how much smarter). That said, he has a remarkable investing record. I'm just not sure he has much to offer the average retail investor.

[@lawLess-fs1qx]

I paused after 20 minutes of listening to this guy explain why he is the smartest guy in the room. Never heard real legends like Peter Lynch or Charlie Munger behave so boorishly. Judging by the comments it doesn't get any better, so I moved on.

[@davidcook7847]

Both of you are way off base. Just don’t bother investing you knuckles

[@SigFigNewton]

One commenter said that more recently he’s had a huge portion of his portfolio in SNOW, so that could be why he’s unwilling to discuss his 2024 returns

[@drew9496]

it’s an entirely different investment landscape. sticking with the value investing will leave you in the dust. this guy has a lot for retail but most of retail are morons and better off in spy

[@grukoin2789]

the year isn't even over my dude

[@bluemammal]

But is he wearing AI glasses?

[@helenheindel1468]

Every child below 18 should get account

[@johnnyk7480]

Brad echoed the same thoughts I share on AI industry- that it depends on computer power. To get that power needs ai gpu chips - more meaning better AI. Also I agree for growth stock - a long time is needed for capital gain in order of magnitude. He said 5 years I said 4. At a constant rate of annualized n compound growth year 4 n year 3 the difference is x3. Lastly, new industry even for AI will hit a plateau in its growth rate. We hear the chip business is cyclical n AI chip will eventually become seasonal. Can anyone offer an educated guess when the Âi chip industry will plateau ? It was reported nvidia got back orders up to the end of 2025. Comments welcomed

[@midwestcannabis]

🥳🥳✌️✌️

[@lightichigo]

talks about “national security issue”, yet invests in bytedance 🤮🤮🤮

[@astrogumbo]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@astrogumbo]

Dats how most of these cats got rich. Double 🗣️😅

[@bostonfrank6739]

80% of stocks go where the indexes go. I think a bear market will start soon. Most of these companies u talk about will probably go down with the indexes. Cap/gdp ratio is 201% on 10/25/24

[@michaelholmes8848]

The editing is painful.

[@jeffanderson3213]

How about we charge 1 penny per trade on every trade taking place in the markets. Just on penny times, say 1 billion shares a day times 252 trading days and that gets you to 2.5 billion. Done!

[@NorthStarPNW]

He wants every kid to have an AI agent, but do you really want that corporate provider (or a hacker) to learn every intimate detail about your child and how they think and their concerns and fears? Your kids will live to curse the day they were born.

[@Wibb14]

I disagree with the thought that doing it in one state to start would be bad. If this doesn't go quickly nationally, nothing would work faster than seeing every kid in Montana having an account and watching them grow. Every other state would lose their minds watching other kids getting ahead.

[@NorthStarPNW]

Brad is smart and successful, but just plain wrong on some basics. He says nuclear is a 'regulatory barrier' to be 'overcome,' then solve the radioactive waste disposal problem and they'll lift the regulations. Big investors like Brad and Elon see the world and society as barriers to their next billion dollars, safety be damned. Normal people should be very skeptical of these guys, they are NOT on our side.

[@fahernandezp1]

I disagree with him in a couple of things. I don't think that "electrification" or forcing everyone to drive electric cars is a good idea at all. He didn't mention the risk of explosion and fires, and also the damage caused to the environment in the mining of rare earths and lithium for building electric cars. I do agree that AI will bring significant change and opportunity, but he should try to be a little bit more humble. Looking for "disruption" all the time could be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Look at ARK Investments, a money burning machine I think they are the worst investment ever. But it's just my opinion. Also, underperforming the S&P 500 consistently since 2001 is not such a good résumé.

[@stoor79]

Capitalism has collapsed every 10 years in my lifetime. And yea, the rich are in a much better advantage than the average person. I do love this idea about government giving them money in an account at birth.

[@bdek68]

Completely disagree! We are at the end of the business cycle and AI is a huge bubble! What are the use cases?

[@stevewood1090]

This guy's earnings gets on Nvidia preassumes that competition will not errode margins. Pie in the sky that this tech buy cycle extends for ever. If not, when does NVDA stop growing?

[@lawrencesmith9059]

My core problem is that finance guys all think that finance is the way to riches. It is, but it shouldnt be. It all becomes a big Ponzi scheme. We need more entrepreneurs, not just investors. If we build a whole generation of investors, we create a whole bunch of people who think they can make money for no work. We need to put the value back into work product.

[@n1west]

This guy seems pretty full of himself. “That’s what a pandemic does”, like he’s been through a couple😂

[@toddliveringhouse5808]

He has to to justify his fees. 😂

[@Austin6403]

He was 44% in $SNOW until last quarter

[@samuelfox8126]

I'm guessing you didn't make it to the Invest America part at the end?

[@suleimanpeshawari1032]

He is a very experienced and seasoned pandemic investor

[@samuelfox8126]

@@suleimanpeshawari1032 his record returns goes back decades.

[@davidwilson9976]

Sunglasses on your neck in the office is a flag

[@LeveragedFinance]

They are reading glasses

[@motap001]

@@LeveragedFinanceare you sure about the dark glasses

[@jeffossola668]

He wears the same glasses in a another video, they are his everyday glasses, not dark😢

[@scottywatts-bc5lr]

Readers

[@ericR1999]

guy wasted his money on a Havard master degree in business…lmao. Bad investment.

[@ericR1999]

Bs. My wife is the best COO in the business, period. She knows psychology, economics, IT, sociology, the business acumen, and trains several executives at once to be better.

[@ericR1999]

guy has a shit track record. just a cnbc talking head so he gets attention. good at BS . like most funds he underperforms.

[@cornflowertoile3026]

Yes, what strategies did he reveal. Likes to talk a lot.

[@shermarynlebay3636]

Well, his firm has achieved an average annual return of over 29 percent since 2011. That seems pretty good to me.

[@davidcook7847]

Dumb post. Please apologize

[@davidcook7847]

@@cornflowertoile3026moron post of the day

[@dakalabanka9214]

Invest America-great idea…getting legislators on board is a tough row to hoe….hate to say that but a few seriously intellectually underwhelming folks have been elected

[@stevenmacri3425]

These two dopes never hear of a huge federal deficit. Fix that first then do this. These are two IYI

[@thomasthetankengin7722]

Err it's unfixable... They will print and inflate ad infinitum

[@joesmith8462]

he's got Michael J Fox back to the future anxiety and voice pitch vibe.