Successful Entrepreneurs And Investors Are Nonconformists Who Swim Against The Current

The investor Jim Rogers studied history and philosophy at Yale and Oxford before he took a job on Wall Street in 1968. During what proved to be hard times for the U.S. stock market, he succeeded in laying the foundations for his wealth and success.

Rogers met George Soros at the Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder investment bank. Together, they founded the Quantum Fund. They tore up the investment banking rulebook, buying stocks, commodities, currencies and bonds from all over the world. They were also among the first to adopt innovative strategies such as short selling. They made investments nobody else would have dreamt of at the time and discovered new and interesting markets worldwide.

“He Who Laughs Last, Laughs Longest”

Defying received wisdom, Rogers frequently bought shares in companies that were in dire straits. In the mid-seventies, for example, he bought vast amounts of shares in the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed. 

Rogers once told the story of a typical encounter at a fancy dinner with bankers and investors. One of the other guests had got wind of the fact that Rogers had been buying Lockheed shares. At that time, Lockheed was embroiled in a number of scandals that made negative headlines on an almost daily basis and had already seen its share prices plummet.

“Who would invest in a company like that?” wondered the guest aloud—loudly enough to ensure that everybody at the dinner could hear him. The other guests joined in the laughter. Rogers felt humiliated—after all, he was the butt of their joke.­­

But, as the old adage would have it: “He who laughs last, laughs longest.” Rogers had done his homework and his positive analysis of the company’s prospects was to prove completely on the mark. Subsequently, the share price shot up and his fund made a huge profit. 

During a period when the S&P 500 Index only rose by 47%, the Quantum Fund managed by Rogers and Soros gained a staggering 4,200%. “When other people are laughing at you,” Rogers explained, “you know you’re going in the right direction. The more people are laughing at you, the more likely you’ll turn out to be right.”

- Source, Forbes, read more here