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We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

TIP558: How Ackman & Taleb Profited Billions During Market Crashes w/ Scott Patterson

We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

Stig Brodersen

Education, Investing, Business

4.63.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On today’s episode, Clay chats with Scott Patterson about his new book - The Chaos Kings

The Chaos Kings tells the story of the hedge fund that achieved average annual returns of over 105% from 2008 through 2019, and how Bill Ackman had a $27 million dollar bet that turned into over $2.6 billion. 


IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro.

02:35 - Who the Chaos Kings are.

05:38 - The story of Nassim Taleb and Mark Spitznagel setting up a hedge fund that delivered average returns of 105% annually.

06:12 - How these hedge funds profit tremendously during times of calamity.

16:14 - What led Nassim Taleb to get interested in the markets.

24:55 - Why we should be mindful of just how uncertain the world and our global economy is today.

complexity theory - What complexity theory is.

28:51 - How investors can protect themselves from a black swan event.

45:02 - How Taleb and Spitznagel viewed the world differently than conventional wisdom.

53:12 -How predictable Black Swan events are.

57:41 - Looming Black Swans that Taleb sees in today’s world.

60:49 - What the precautionary principle is.

63:23 - Taleb and Spitznagels take on the systemic risks in the financial system today.


Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You're listening to TIP.

0:03.1

On today's episode, I'm joined by Scott Patterson.

0:06.4

Scott has been a reporter for more than two decades, mostly at the Wall Street Journal.

0:10.7

He just published a new book called The Chaos Kings, which showcases a deep dive into

0:15.9

the world of hedge fund managers and traders that profit tremendously during times of calamity.

0:21.5

For example, during the COVID crisis, Bill Ackman had a $27 million bet that turned into

0:27.5

over $2.6 billion.

0:30.9

The Chaos Kings largely highlights a hedge fund run by Mark Spitz-Negel in the same teleb.

0:36.2

These two have profited tremendously from calamity for many decades.

0:40.9

Teleb saw his first big success during the 1987 Black Monday crisis, and these two joined

0:46.2

forces in the hedge fund industry in 1999.

0:49.5

In this episode we cover who the Chaos Kings are, the story of Teleb and Spitz-Negel setting

0:54.6

up a hedge fund that delivered average annual returns of over 105%.

1:00.7

Yes, you heard that right.

1:02.4

Average annual returns of over 105%.

1:06.4

How these hedge funds managed to profit tremendously during times of calamity?

1:10.6

What led Nesim to lead to get interested in the markets in the first place?

1:14.3

Why should we be mindful of just how uncertain the world is and our global economy is today?

1:19.6

How investors can protect themselves from a Black Swan event?

1:23.2

How predictable Black Swan events are for these traders?

1:26.3

Looming Black swans that teleb seize in today's world and so much more.

1:31.2

I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Scott, and I hope you enjoy it as well.

...

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