RWH058: Winning Ways w/ Bill Nygren

We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

Stig Brodersen

Education, Investing, Business

4.6 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2025

⏱️ 134 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, William Green chats with investing legend Bill Nygren, who oversees about $25 billion at Harris Associates. Bill is the firm’s Chief Investment Officer for US Equities & co-manages two flagship mutual funds: Oakmark Select & Oakmark Fund. Here, he discusses the processes, principles, habits & mindset that have enabled him to beat the market over three decades. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 05:32 - How Bill Nygren became a contrarian bargain hunter. 18:05 - Why sports gambling companies often refuse to take his bets. 47:56 - What three qualities he seeks in any company. 01:00:05 - How he scored big on Amazon, Google, Apple & Netflix. 01:11:11 - Why he never relaxes his disciplined focus on valuation. 01:16:04 - What he learned from hedge fund star Michael Steinhardt. 01:24:47 - How Bill’s team performs “Devil’s Advocate Reviews” for each stock. 01:33:55 - Why he developed his “Mistake Management Protocol.” 01:46:51 - How to succeed without ruining your health or your family. 01:46:51 - Why he discourages people from entering the investing business. 01:50:46 - What you must sacrifice to achieve greatness. 01:59:08 - How to succeed by aligning yourself with top-decile people. 02:07:13 - Why value investing isn’t dead. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Join Clay and a select group of passionate value investors for a retreat in Big Sky, Montana. Learn more ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Join the exclusive ⁠⁠TIP Mastermind Community⁠⁠ to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Bill Nygren’s investment firm, Harris Associates. Bill Nygren’s funds, Oakmark Select & Oakmark Fund. William Green’s book, “The Great Minds of Investing.” William Green’s podcast interview with Christopher Begg. William Green’s podcast interview with Ray Dalio. William Green’s book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – read the reviews of this book. Follow William Green on ⁠⁠X⁠⁠. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our ⁠⁠Premium Feed⁠⁠. NEW TO THE SHOW? Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, ⁠⁠The Intrinsic Value Newsletter⁠⁠. Check out our ⁠⁠We Study Billionaires Starter Packs⁠⁠. Follow our official social media accounts: ⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: ⁠⁠TIP Finance Tool⁠⁠. Enjoy exclusive perks from our ⁠⁠favorite Apps and Services⁠⁠. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the ⁠⁠best business podcasts⁠⁠. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠SimpleMining⁠ ⁠Hardblock⁠ ⁠AnchorWatch⁠ ⁠Unchained⁠ ⁠Human Rights Foundation⁠ ⁠Vanta⁠ ⁠Indeed⁠ ⁠Fundrise⁠ ⁠Onramp⁠ ⁠Netsuite⁠ ⁠reMarkable⁠ ⁠Shopify HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a ⁠⁠rating and review⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Support our show by becoming a premium member! ⁠https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to TIP.
0:02.7	Hi there, it's wonderful to be back with you again on the richer, wiser, happier podcast.
0:08.0	Our guest today is one of the great long-term investors, Bill Nygren.
0:12.9	Bill is the chief investment officer at a firm called Harris Associates, where he oversees about $25 billion.
0:19.7	He's generated a superb investment record over more than 30 years.
0:25.0	Today's long, in-depth conversation with him will give you a clear and thorough sense,
0:30.8	I think, of what it takes to sustain that level of investment success over such a long period.
0:36.8	As I see it, Bill perfectly embodies a lot of what it
0:40.5	takes to beat the market over the course of a long and distinguished career. For a start, there's
0:46.3	his raw intellect and his idiosyncratic wiring and an intensely competitive spirit. You'll also
0:53.3	see that he has these very robust investing principles
0:56.5	and a willingness to keep evolving and changing the way he operates and invests.
1:02.4	There's also an exceptionally disciplined and rigorous investment process that he's developed
1:07.8	over many years and a really unusual openness to dissenting opinions
1:13.6	from other highly intelligent investors who work alongside him in his team at Harris Associates.
1:20.8	In short, I think if you want to succeed as an investor over the long term, there's a huge amount
1:26.1	to learn from Bill Nygren.
1:28.3	But before we get started with our conversation, I also wanted to mention a new venture
1:32.8	that I'm really excited about and that I hope might interest you too.
1:37.5	Later this year, I'm going to be launching a richer, wiser, happier master class for a very
1:43.1	small select group of people who like to study with
1:46.1	me over the course of a year. We're going to meet once a month over Zoom, typically for about
	...

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