The Uber Phenomenon

Throughout the years we’ve had taxi companies as well as

independent taxi drivers. Others, often unlicensed, earned
extra money transporting passengers from airports, etc. We’ve
had non-emergency vehicles equipped to carry wheel-chair
patients as well as others.

For the main part, hiring a taxi meant hailing, or calling for a
cab, then watching the meter run up the charge, In many
countries as well as among unlicensed United States drivers,
there is no meter and the best a rider can expect from a driver
is a vaguely guestimated price for the journey.

Uber, a financial skyrocket

Out of this confusion the Uber idea was born and this San
Francisco-based company, starting small, ( one vehicle), has
exploded into a major success due to its many services and
availability. Other similar services have followed, but Uber is
still far and away from the king of this transport niche in the
world marketplace.

Uber Technologies, Inc. presently has a multinational. a

transportation network that offers much more in the way of
services than the average taxi or limousine service. With its
network of drivers and flexibility, Uber has proved its worth by
its very growth to the giant in the transportation industry that it
has become today.

Uber has gone far beyond the customary and varied services
of the past. Services include not only service as a taxi, but
Uber includes peer-to-peer ridesharing, ride service hailing,
food delivery and presently includes bicycle-sharing as well.
And would you believe rickshaws? At the time of this writing,
Uber boasts operations in 485 metropolitan areas throughout
the world.

Uber can be accessed via websites as well as mobile apps.

With an estimated 120 million users, Uber can now boast

69.0% of the market in the United States for the transport of

passengers and a quarter of the market for food delivery. The
very name Uber and the company’s unprecedented rate of
growth has brought a new word into or language. That is
uberisation.

Overview

Many people have asked where and how Uber got its name.
Über is the German word that usually means over or of a
higher order. Nietzsche name for the superman: Der
Übermensch.
The word Uber crept into the English language as upper, or
better, etc. and although it seems unclear just who thought up
the name Uber, the company was originally called UberCab,
with the idea that it offered more than the average taxi
company. Eventually, that as shortened to a simple Uber.

Unlike most taxi services, before requesting an Uber ride, the

rider will be quoted the exact fare. The Uber model for pricing
is based on supply and demand at a given time. Payment is
normally made through the use of a credit card which would be
on file. Other forms of payment are as readily available as well
such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, PayPal, and yes, even cash.

In other countries such as India, Airtel mobile wallet and

Unified Payments interface.

Once the ride has been completed, a gratuity is up to the

passenger. The tip may be cash or it may be billed to the
rider’s credit card. At times, if the driver must wait more than a
few minutes for any reason, the rider may be charged a fee for
wait-time.
Uber offers not one or two, but several different levels of
service to riders

UberX is the basic level. Similar to a traditional taxi service,

UberX will provide a private ride in a standard vehicle that will
carry up to four passengers. Rather than a meter or a
guestimated cost of a trip, the rider(s) know beforehand
exactly how much the trip will cost. For a child safety seat,
there would be additionally charged. Service animals are
acceptable.

Not all rider service levels mentioned here are available in

every city.

The ASSIST level is a very helpful service that provides help

for senior citizens or passengers with a physical disability.
however, this service is unable to transport non-folding
wheelchairs.

Bike is a bicycle-sharing system, growing quickly in

popularity. Users can rent an electric bicycle through the Uber
subsidiary, Jump Bikes. These are available in nine
metropolitan areas in the United States including such cities
as San Francisco and Washington, D. C. Many younger
persons are showing a growing interest in Bike, and today, as
in many countries like the Netherlands, business people in
suits with their briefcase, are seen riding bikes through busy
city streets.

Lime scooters. these are available to rent in forty-six cities via

the Uber mobile app.
BLACK is the department for black luxury vehicles with a
professional driver. This is more like the old limousine
companies. With very competitive pricing combined with
luxury service, this is another guaranteed winner.

chapchap is a low-cost taxi service using a Suzuki Alto.

chapchap is the Swahili word for “faster”.This service is
available in Nairobi, Kenya.

Español. With Spanish being a widely-spoken California it was

only natural that a Spanish version of the UberX should be
available. Español provides Spanish-speaking riders to
communicate.

Comfort offers a newer vehicle with plenty of legroom. This

fills the gap between a traditional sedan and a luxury limousine
service.
Flash, in Hong Kong and Singapore, combines both private
cars and taxis. This service is operated by ComfortDelGro in
Singapore.

Green, in Europe, offers electric or hybrid vehicles at the same

prices as UberX.

Health is yet another branch, this one is for health

professionals in the United States. This service provides a
HIPAA-compliant method for the arrangement of rides for
patients to-and-from appointments. Patience can receive
pickup information via Text or through the medical office.

Hire. This service is located in India. You are able there to rent
a vehicle for local travel.

MOTO. This service can be found in Pakistan, India, Indonesia

as well in the Dominical Republic. This is a transportation
service by motorcycle. This mode of transport is quite popular
in those countries.

POOL. This service, available only for two people per ride, may
be shared with other riders. Early on, this idea came from
carpooling. In this case, the two riders would have to be
traveling in the same general direction. Pickup and drop-off
locations are posted. For door-to-door service, there will be an
additional charge. This can often save riders considerable
money when two riders can share a ride.

In India, Premier is a luxury ride with a professional driver.

This is a preferred way to travel for those who have a little
more money to spend and who prefer not to have to rub
elbows with the crowds in some cities,

Premium, is another luxury version. This service may be had in

the NYC suburbs, while Exec is available in London, Berline
may be had in France and Select is a high-end luxury ride.
These are state-of-the-art luxury rides for those who want a
perfect evening or for business as well.

SUV hasn’t been forgotten in this day when they’re so popular.

This service provides the client to have a sport utility vehicle.
More and more clients prefer to take advantage of useful SUVs.

A program called Taxi permits the traveler to summon a taxi

through the use of the Uber software application. The inclusion
of this program was made to appease disgruntled taxi drivers
who claimed Uber was taking all their business.

In Europe. Van is a service that allows for groups of up to six

riders.

WAV is another name for ACCESS. WAV, however, provides

vehicles that are modified to carry wheelchair passengers in
safety.

In India another subsidiary of Uber is UberAuto. This one, also

available in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, also offers transportation
via rickshaw. The latter is not only popular with locals but with
tourists as well.

Hatchbacks are available in India, Sri Lanka through UberGO.

UberX is another ride. This is the standard vehicle and can
carry up to four passengers.

UberXL is a larger vehicle and can carry up to six passengers.

Currently In Development

UberAIR and UberElevate are in the works and hope to offer

short flights through the use of VTOL aircraft.

Plans have already begun for the showing of these innovate

aircraft and the program should be ready in 2020 in both Dallas
and Los Angeles.

By 2023 Uber expected to expand although there remain many

hurdles yet to encounter, such as regulatory and safety
concerns.

Driving with Uber

For the most part, drivers for Uber use their vehicles. Some
may also lease a vehicle. As an additional incentive to drive for
Uber, the company now offers rental or leasing through
Getaround, Hertz Fair and Uber as well as BYD Auto with
whom Uber has created a partnership for the leasing of electric
vehicles in New York and Chicago. Therefore, anyone with a
clean background and a driver’s license may rent a vehicle
from these companies.

To become an Uber driver, the applicant must meet certain

requirements including age. overall health and also, the
applicant must have an acceptable car, as well as a valid
driver’s license, a smartphone and must pass a background
check.

In some cities, vehicles have to pass an annual safety

inspection. Many also require that the vehicle must have a
Uber emblem on the passenger window. In other cities, it may
be necessary for a Uber driver to have a business license as
well. Since Uber insists drivers are not employees but
independent contractors, several locations have insisted that
the drivers are still employees. This argument goes far beyond
Uber drivers. It has gone on in the fields of real estate,
insurance sales and many other fields for years.

Uber began offering incentives to top-rated drivers in 2018.

The app tells a prospective driver how long the ride will be and
driver can accept or reject the proposed ride.

To create a better overall system, Uber has invested

considerable funding into mapping technology.
The Uber driver app included the ability of hearing-impaired
drivers to operate.

Although very controversial, Uber continues to maintain its

drivers are independent sub-contracts rather than employees.
Because of Uber’s position, there have been several lawsuits
filed in different jurisdictions. As of this past year, the
company has begun offering incentives for top-rated drivers.
This would compensate them for the perks they might expect
as employees.

After each ride, both users and drivers rate each other on a
scale of 1 to 5 stars, Both riders, and drivers with consistently
low ratings can be banned.

In the United States, Uber drivers have the opportunity to open

a checking account at GoBank by Green Dor. They will receive
a debit card that provides cashback for all purchases at Exxon,
Walmart, Sprint, Jiffy Lube, and Advance Auto Parts. And to
prevent the accounts of drivers being compromised, a
mechanism has been installed. Real-Time ID Check requires
the driver to periodically take a selfie on the smartphone at the
time of logging onto Uber.

In keeping with the nation’s growing interest in food delivery,

UberEats provides this service for app. $4.
And then there is UberFreight which matches freight shippers
with others shipping freight in the same general direction.

How this Phenomenon Came to Life

In 2009, this company began as UberCab, set up by two
computer gurus, Garrett Camp. and Travis Kalanick who had
just sold his start-up, Red Swoosh operation for $19 million.

On New Year’s Eve of that year, a group including Garrett had

to lay out $800 to hire a limo. After that experience, Garrett
began to wonder if there wasn’t a cheaper way to offer direct
transportation.

He realized of course that sharing the cost with others could

save money. As he pursued this idea, he brought Kalanick
along and Garrett in the development of Uber gives Travis full
credit for the “final idea”. And that was the launch of Uber. The
prototype was built by Camp and his friends, Oscan Salazar
and Conrad Whelan with Kalanick being brought on as “mega
advisor”.

Following the beta launch in May 2010, Uber and its mobile app
were officially launched in San Francisco. At first, users were
only able to hire a black luxury car and the price was 1.5 times
the price of a taxi.
Responding to a tweet, Ryan Graves became the first Uber
employee, and soon became the company’s general manager
and later, CEO.

Following complaints from San Francisco Taxi drivers, the

company changed its name from UberCab to the one word:
Uber.

The company introduced a service that permitted clients to

name their preferred driver.

Next came UberX offering less expensive options allowing for

less expensive vehicles as more and more drivers came on
board.

The company continued to launch other services where they

saw a need, most of those listed above came one after another.

Bu 2016, due to the rising interest in food delivery, Uber

launched UberEats.

Due to difficulties in China, Uber sold its interest to DiDi. This

financial move came with DiDi’s agreement to invest $1 billion
in Uber Global.

One coup followed another in this exploding niche. The CEO of

Expedia, Dara Khosrowshai became Uber’s new CEO.
Following this, Uber was able to unify operations in Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Belarus with Yandex
Taxi. An investment of $225 million that paid off well.

Following this, Uber continued to either install or merge its

services with those of other countries.

By March 2018, Rent, Powered by Getaround. was a car-

sharing service offered in San Francisco.

Uber has continued to experiment, grow and offer new and

innovative services, even self-driving vehicles (in Tempe, AR).

After announcing plans to operate some seventy-five thousand

self-driving vehicles by 2022, the company has invested some
$20 million a month on research into its promised
development. Later, Uber assumed a more realistic promise of
the company’s self-driving vehicle program, quoted as having
said: “Self-driving cars are going to be in our lives. The quest
of when is not clear yet. To have it at scale is going to take a
long time.”

Criticism – Legal and Public

The taxi industry has claimed that TNC’s (Transportation

Network Companies)regulations apply to passenger transport
and are hence illegal operations. In certain areas due to these
complaints, TNCs have been banned. In New York City with so
many taxis, the use of TNCs has made the stories taxi
medallions fall in value as well as other means of vehicles rent.

Since their enormous rise in value after the Great Recession,

New York City taxi medallions were being traded at around

$170,000 each by 2018. Rental rates were $30,000 per annum.

In most areas, drivers are considered independent contractors

rather than employees. Due to this many drivers claim to suffer
from taxes, long work hours, no benefits and some have filed
lawsuits who want the same benefits employees would receive
for similar services.

In one legal caste brought to the courts, Uber agreed to pay

$20 million to settle.

In a case brought by Aslam in 2016 against Uber BV, The

Central London Employment tribunal installed a ruling that
drivers in its jurisdiction are “workers” rather than self-
employed individuals and are therefore entitled according to
the National Minimum Wage Ace of 1998, paid holidays and
other entitlements. Although Uber appealed the case, it was
granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court of the U. K.
The latest round of difficulties came when the Federal
Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research of
Switzerland handed down a legal opinion in March of 2018 that,
considering the conditions that exist between Uber and the
company’s drivers, the latter should be classified as
employees and therefore treated as such with the employer
have the same responsibilities as any other employer.

Peter Thiel : Life and Times

Peter Andreas Thiel is a famous entrepreneur based in

America. He is also a political activist, venture capitalist,
author, and philanthropist. He is also the co-founder of various
companies including Palantir Technologies, PayPal, and the
Founders Fund. He has also received some recognition from
Forbes since he has a net worth of $2.2 billion- that was in
2014. In 2018, his net worth had risen to $2.5 billion.

Peter Thiel hails from Frankfurt. He first moved to the United

States while he was an infant. He spent most of his childhood
years in Southern Africa. Later on, he went back to the U.S.A.
He enrolled for a degree in Stanford University where he
managed to study philosophy. Thiel then graduated in 1989
with a B.A. After that, he went ahead and enrolled at the
Stanford Law School where he graduated in 1992. Thiel went
ahead to join the job market where he began to work as a
judicial clerk. He was working for Judge Larry Edmondson to
be precise. He was also serving at Sullivan & Cromwell where
he was a securities lawyer and Credit Suisse where he was a
derivatives trader. He then went ahead to establish Their
Capital in 1996. Later in 1999, he went ahead to co-found
PayPal, an online wallet. He was serving as the chief executive
officer of the company until 2002 when eBay acquired the firm
for $1.5 billion.

After the PayPal acquisition went as planned, Peter Thiel went

ahead to found Clarium Capital. The company has been
operating as a hedge fund. Thiel also went ahead to create
Palantir Technologies, the company would deal with the
analysis of big data. Since 204, the company has been fully
operational under the leadership of Peter Thiel. He also heads
a venture capital firm known as Founders Fund. He launched it
in 2005 with the help of Ken Howery and Luke Nosek who were
his founding partners when PayPal was being launched. Thiel
was also among the first individuals to invest in Facebook. He
purchased shares worth $500,000 in 2004. In 2012, he sold a
majority of the shares that he acquired. He amassed revenue
worth $1 billion from these shares. At the moment, he is still
serving as a member of the board of directors. Peter Thiel is
also the co-founder of Valar Ventures. The company was
founded in 2010. Other companies where he is the co-founder
include Mithril Capital. He has also been serving as a member
of the investment committee at Y Combinator. He was a part of
the firm since 2015 to 2017.
The Thiel Foundation has also been managing different firms
that are involved in grant-making and they include Thiel
Fellowship and Breakout Labs. The foundation has also been
funding various forms of research including life extension,
artificial intelligence, and seasteading. Thiel is also the co-
founder of The Stanford Review. As a liberal individual, he
mainly focuses on areas such as foreign wars, high
government spending, and accruing many debts as a nation.
Throughout the years, he has also been able to donate
significant amounts of money to various political campaigns.
In 2016, he supported various politicians including Hulk
Hogan. During this period, he had been involved in a law suit.

Thiel’s Childhood

It was earlier mentioned that Thiel was born in Frankfurt,

Germany. Before heading back to the U.S. where he settled in
Foster City, Carolina, and Peter Thiel first spent a significant
part of his life in Southern Africa. Some of the institutions in
Southern Africa valued uniformity and students were
subjected to severe forms of punishment. Thiel began to
dislike uniformity because of such experiences. As an adult,
he has always advocated the importance of libertarianism and
individualism. As a young man, he enjoyed playing games
such as Dungeons & Dragons. Since he was an avid reader, he
enjoyed reading some of the books that were written by Robert
A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov. Since his childhood days, he
has managed to found more than six companies and each one
of them prospered accordingly.

Peter Thiel’s Education

Thiel would do well in subjects such as mathematics. He would

also take part in mathematics competitions when he was a
student at the San Mateo High School. He has always been an
optimistic individual and that is why he admired leaders such
as Ronald Reagan. After completing his studies at the San
Mateo High School, Peter Thiel joined the Stanford University.
As a student, he would engage in debates involving political
correctness and identity politics. There was a “Western
Culture” program that was later criticized by the Rainbow
Agenda since it focused on the achievements of the European
men. The program was later replaced by “Culture, Ideas, and
Values” and the program would advocate for multiculturalism
as well as diversity.

The program replacement brought about some forms of

controversy and that is the period when Peter Thiel went ahead
to create The Stanford Review. The paper would focus on
libertarian and conservative view points. Irving Kristol would
also fund The Stanford Review. Thiel on the other hand would
serve as the editor-in-chief. After graduating, he assigned his
position to David O. Sacks. Thiel would then progress with his
studies at the Stanford Law School.

While at Stanford, Thiel would interact with many people

including Rene Girard and his mimetic theory would influence
Thiel in different ways. The mimetic theory states that the
human behavior is usually based on mimesis and the imitation
can bring about a conflict that is pointless. Girard also went
ahead to talk about the positive influence of competition. The
competition helps to bring about progress in different ways.
Peter Thiel also managed to apply some of these theories to
his personal life as well as business ventures. According to
Peter Thiel, the main issue about competition is that it involves
focusing on the people around us. While focusing on the
competition, we often fail to consider the things that are
important to us.

Peter Thiel’s Career

After graduating, Peter Thiel got his first job as a clerk. He then
went ahead to work as a securities lawyer, a derivatives trader
who focused on currency as well as a speech writer. He never
derived any form of satisfaction from some of the tasks that he
was handling as an employee and that is why Thiel focused on
becoming an entrepreneur.
After returning to California, he got interested in personal
computers and the internet since the economic landscape was
changing rapidly. He got some financial support from his
family and friends and with $1 million he was able to raise start
the Thiel Capital Management. Initially he had come across
some setbacks including losing over $100,000 after investing
in a web-based project that had been started by Luke Nosek.
The project was not successful but Thiel did not give up, he
went ahead to focus on his goals. His misfortunes in the
business world came to an end after he was introduced to
cryptography by Max Levchin.

PayPal

After learning about cryptography, Thiel founded Confinity.

While managing the company, Thiel realized that it was
possible to formulate a software that would allow people to
make online payments. Although credit cards were gaining
prominence during this era, the main focus was on ensuring
that people would gain access to convenient payment options.
Thiel was mainly focusing on the creation of a digital wallet
that would offer security and convenience and PayPal was
eventually formed in 1999.

PayPal focused on bringing about new possibilities when it

came to handling money. The main mission that PayPal had
was to liberate people globally since some of the currencies
were also being devalued as a result of inflation among other
factors.

Clarium Capital

Peter Thiel founded Clarium Capital Management in 2002. The

American-based company offers investment management
services coupled with hedge fund for organizations pursuing
global macrostrategy. Today, Clarium manages over $8 billion
of assets. It has also registered a couple of unprofitable
ventures as well as client redemptions that have resulted in a
decline of assets to about $400 million. The micro-hedge fund
asset manager has continued to focus on liquid instruments,
interest rates, commodities, as well as equities. In many
interviews, Peter Thiel has stated that the idea behind forming
Clarium was based on establishing a big macroeconomic
organization. It was basically to be the controller of the largest
oil theory in the world. Since the universe was running out of
oil, he deemed it as a necessity to establish a brand that would
support a great cause. Also important to note is the fact that
Peter Thiel managed to bet that in 2003, the US dollar would
become weak in many instances. As such, in 2004, he
addressed the issue of the dot.com bubble which affected the
whole industry including real estate and the technological
industry. He, however, had moved into a wrong sector that
affected his entire business. As such, in 2005, his firm
registered a return of approximately 57.1%. Initially, Peter Thiel
had foretold that the dollar would rally successfully.

In 2006, Clarium registered a tragic loss of approximately 7.8

percent. At that moment, the organization also sought a
revenue increment from the petrodollar analysis. The same
predicted a major decline in existing oil supplies as well as the
sustainable bubble which grew in the housing market. The
asset management department at Clarium developed over the
years. It grew to more than $7 billion in 2008. However, the
same plummeted when the financial markets collapsed at the
outset of 2009. In 2011, lead investors left the company. The
firm’s assets dwindled to $300 million. Half of the total
investments were Peter Thiel’s money.

Peter Thiel’s Leadership at Palantir Technologies

Palantir Technologies is a software firm that majors in the

management of big data analytics. The organization is
centrally situated in Palo Alto. Founded by Peter Thiel, Alex
Karp, Joe Lonsdale, as well as Stephen Cohen, the firm’s
brand name is appended to The Lord of the Rings, which is a
Palantir. This is an artefact that’s used in communicating with
foreign world parts. Thiel is the brand’s cheerleader. He is still
the chairman of the company. Thiel founded the brand when
he realized that the methods PayPal used to keep fraudsters
away could be improved in different ways. He also saw that
the September 11 attacks

Peter Thiel on the September 11 Attacks

The September 11 attack is also known as the 9/11 attacks,

during which there were various airline hijackings as well as
suicide attacks committed by 19 militants from Al-Qaeda. They
targeted the US. Over the years, this has been termed as
America’s deadliest attack in the entire history. These were
attacks against Washington, D.C. as well as New York City,
causing the death of up to 2,750 people. Following that attack,
Peter Thiel issued a statement that it was important to enhance
the security of the state since many regions had less privacy. It
was also important for the government to invest in a data-
mining docket that would support the improvement of security
in the state. To spearhead this, Peter Thiel led Palantir towards
the development of a security system. He provided the
government with intelligence systems that were minimally
traceable. At the outset of the project, only specific backers
were used by the CIA’s venture capital affiliate In-Q-Tel.
However, the organization steadily grew to the extent of being
valued at approximately $20 billion. Mr. Thiel was the firm’s
largest stakeholder.
Peter Thiel Invests in Facebook
In 2004, Peter Thiel became a significant Facebook investor. At
that moment, Mark Zuckerberg has just launched the business
and created an investment platform for investors who sought
to be part of the business. Opening his doors to Thiel, he
offered him the opportunity to put his funds into a viable
investment. Thiel held over 44 million stakes of the company.
At that moment, the brand went public. He then sold his shares
of approximately 16.8 million and garnered revenues of up to
$640 million. The lockup rules of the organization needed
some initial stakeholders such as Peter Thiel to retain their
stocks for some time. The period ended. Therefore, more than
200 shares were set free in the long run. In the process, Thiel
saw an opportunity to delve into a new market. He invested his
shares in the sale’s industry where he sold off about 20 million
shares. That was approximately $359.8 million. The report was
issued after a regular filing. Over the years, the stock sales of
the shares were valued at $20.69. Peter Thiel’s Facebook
shares were then valued at more than $1 billion.

Thiel left the company. He has sold all of his stakes as of now.
However, his funds are still holding up to 5.6 million shares
which are worth $112 million. That’s the closing price. During
the whole process, he was not directly involved in the
operations of the company.

How Did Thiel Come to Invest in Facebook?

To explain how he invested in the company, Thiel wrote a book
titled “The Facebook Effect’’. In it, Mr. David Kirkpatrick offers
insight regarding how Mr. Thiel made the investment. Mr. Sean
Parker who is the co-founder of Napster had initially assumed
the leadership of the company. At that time, Mr. Parker served
as the president of the firm. He approached Mr. Reid Hoffman,
who is the CEO of LinkedIn. However, his offer was brushed
off since he requested Hoffman to be the lead investor of the
project. Hoffman would then direct Parker to Mr. Thiel who was
a familiar face from their initial days at PayPal. Thereafter, a
meeting was held to address the way forward in the business.
At that time, Mark Zuckerberg was a student at Harvard. He
had just launched Facebook.

Initially, the investment was presented in a convertible note. It

was therefore meant to be transformed into equity immediately
Facebook amassed about 1.5 million users in immediately the
year ended. Even though the target set was slightly missed,
Peter Thiel gave permission for the loan to be transformed into
equity.

In a statement, he pointed out to the fact that he was

comfortable with the team pursuing their initial version of
investment idea. It was also the main reason behind valuation.
He actually admits that he thought it would be a safe
investment. But, over the years, he realized that it was
important for him to make other decisions based on his
findings. He was pretty skeptical about the possibilities of his
of growth in the internet consumer sector.

Robert Herjavec : Life and Times

Robert Herjavec pronounced her'dja'vets, came to Canada as a

young man. Presently a businessman, an investor and
television personality, Herjavec has come a long way from his
home in Varazdin, Croatia. After working on the farm with his
middle-class family, he was able to gain admission to the
University of Toronto. With two degrees, one in political and
the other in English, Robert's career was set to take off and it
did.

Herjavecdove into a career as a producer as well as director of

films. This was following by his coming on board at Logiquest
where he sold IBM mainframe emulation boards. So successful
at this, Herjavec became a general manager.

Soon after, he decided to form his own company, BRAK

Systems. This Canadian integrator of Internet security
software, developed in his basement became so successful
that Herjavec later sold it to AT&T Canada in 2000. With over
$30 million dollars in his pocket from the sale of this software,
Herjavec kept going and with his connections to television, he
induced producers to feature reality shows in which he made
investments. CBC Television series, Dragons' Den was one
and Shark Tank another.

Through these shows, he dispenses advice on investments as

well as helping start-up companies in which he has
confidence. Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Raymond John, Kevin
O'Leary, and Barbara Corcoran, his co-stars follow this same
pattern.

Robert has written a number of books on the subject of

business. These include Driven: How to Succeed in Business
and Life (2010) and The Will to Win: Leading, Competing,
Succeeding (2013)

Robert Herjavec's Early Life

Born in 1962 in Varazdin, Croatia (the former Yugoslavia). His

formative years began in Zbjeg. When he was eight, Robert's
family seized an opportunity to leave Croatia. The country had
been unkind to Robert's family. His father has been imprisoned
for having been loudly opposed to the Communist Regime.

“He often drank too much and began to speak out loudly
against Communism,” Robert later recounted. For this,
authorities arrested his father and imprisoned him on twenty-
two separate occasions.
Once able to leave the country, the family arrived in Halifax
with a single suitcase with all their belongings and $20 in the
elder Herjavec’s pocket.

With perseverance, the family eventually arrived in Toronto.

There, they dwelt in the basement of the home of a friend for
some eighteen months.

At this time, Robert knew no English and for him, this was a
difficult time. A poor farm boy who grew up in an environment
of rustic life, he now had to make his way although in an
overall poorer class than the other children of his age.

Robert's father found work in a Mississauga factory. He earned

$76 a week. Adjusted for inflation that would be roughly $465
in 2015 currency.

Herjavec says his father was a “really, really tough guy” who
naturally had a great influence on young Robert.

The importance of his father in Robert's life really came home

to him when one day, he began to complain to his other that
his classmates made fun of him.

His father walked to work in order to save money on bus fare,

heard his son complaining and sat Robert and instructed him
never to complain. Eventually, this became a guiding principle
in Robert's life and always helped him to persevere despite
times when life brought only negative circumstances.

Another episode that had an early bearing on young Robert's

life was once when a salesman persuaded his mother to buy a
vacuum cleaner for $500 (seven weeks;' salary for his father).

From that experience, Robert's father swore his family would

never again allow anyone to take advantage of them.

Despite starting from behind with little English and being poor,
Robert managed to work his way through New College at the
University of Toronto and came away with a degree in English
literature and political s well. Even with the two degrees, life
didn't become any easier. Robert worked at a number of
different minimum wage jobs during the 1990s. He waited
tables, delivered newspapers, tried his hand as a salesman
and even worked as a collection agent.

Robert Herjavec's Career

Early film career

Herjavec’s first real career began at an early age as he became

interested in film. He worked among different producers on a
variety of productions but at the same time, continued to seek
something better. Some of the productions in which he
worked as an assistant director included Cain and Abel and
The Return of Billy Jack. This early career in film reached its
zenith when he became field producer of the XIV Winter
Olympic Games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia for Global TV.

Seeing an opening at Logiquest, he applied for this and began

selling IBM mainframe emulation boards. Despite his being
under qualified for this position co Herjavec convinced the
brass to give him as chance and offered to work for nothing for
six months. During this time he went back to waiting tables in
order to have a little income.

Despite these humble beginnings, Herjavec moved right up

through the ranks to become General Manager of Logiquest in
1990. Eventually however, differences in ideas, Herjavec was
fired from Logiquest and at that time he founded his own
company, BRAK Systems. This was a Canadian integrator of
Internet security software. This was a development that came
from Herjavec’s, basement.

Shortly after this period, Herjavec sold BRAK systems to

AT&T Canada in March of 2000 for $30.2 million dollars.

The Herjavec Group

With enough money available at this time, Mr. Herjavec took

time to become a Mr. Mom to his three children. When he felt
he had all his ideas in place, Robert founded the Herjavec
Group as a security solutions integrator, reseller and managed
service provider. He is presently the CEO.

At this time the Herjavec Group is one of Canada’s fastest-

growing technology companies. It is the largtst IT security
provider - this according to the Branham Group.

Herjavec Group (THG)began with three employees in 2003 and

now boasts a growth rate of 643% and sales that reached
$400,000 in 2003 to over $125 million dollars in 2012.

So far, this company has had over $500 million dollars in sales.

Television Work

Herjavec has been a regular on the Canadian CBC Television

series, Dragons' Den and also in the United States a version
known as Shark Tank. This is a show where aspiring
entrepreneurs come before a panel of potential panel of
investors to pitch their ideas.

Herjavec's investment in this sweater company, Tipsy Elves

included investment of $100,000 for an equity in the company
of 10%.
For the popular reality show in Canada, Dragons' Den has won
three Gemini Awards.

Mr. Herjavec was chosen to present awards at the 2013

Creative Arts Emmy Awards and during the same year he
presented awards for Mr. Olympia.

Later, Herjavec became one of the contestants for Season 20

of the reality series Dancing with the Stars. With partner Kym
Jonson, an Australian dancer, they finished in 6th place.

Writing Career

Mr. Herjavec has presently authored two books, Driven: How to

Succeed in Business and Life and The Will to Win: Leading,
Competing, Succeeding.

Driven has been developed from the work ethic and principles
that have led to Herjavec's personal success.

The Will to Win recalls the life lessons that Herjavec has
learned, lessons that focus on advice to business people,
.These are lessons that Herjavce learned by trial and error.

His third book, You Don't Have to Be a shark : Creating Your

Own Success. was released in 2016.
Personal Life

Mr. Herjavec's first marriage in 1990 to Dian Plese ended in a

separation and eventually a divorce. Together they have two
daughters, Caprice and Skye as well as a son, Branden.

After getting to know Kym Johnson through their shared

experience on Dancing with the Stars, he and Kym were
married in 2016.

The following year, they announced the arrival of their first

child. It turned out that Kym was expecting twins. The boy and
a girl were named Hudson Robert Herjavec and Haven Mae
Herjavec.

In 2017 it became necessary for Herjavec to sue an ex-

girlfriend for extortion attempts and wad counter-sued for
sexual assault. Eventually, both suits were dismissed the
allegations against Herjavec were withdrawn without financial
settlement and the woman even apologized to Herzovic and his
family.

Mr. Herjavec owns a home in the Briodle Path, Toronto area.

The Herjavex mansion has hosted many luminaries such as
Michael Bublé, John Travolta, Mick Jagger and many others.
The mansion's total cost came to seven and a half million
dollars. The mansion has been featured on MTV Cribs and on
Roan Rivers' TV show, How'd You Get So Rich?. It has also
been on the Rolling Stones' tout video.

The Herjavecs have several other vacations homes as well.

Herjavec’s passion in car racing has let him to compete in the

Ferrari Challenge. He competed as a representative of the
Herjavec Group Racing Team in the North American Ferrari
Challenge Series. He won Tookie of the year title in 2011. He
won goth races at the season’s opening in Florida. Herjavec
followed up with wins in goth Laguna Seca and Lime Rock,
Connecticut.

In 2012, Herjavec became Grand Marshal for the 2012 Honda

Indy Toronto.

An avid collector, Herjavec owns several cars that are in the

very rare class.

An avid golf enthusiast as well as a runner, Herjavec has

played in the Canadian Charity Open sponsored by RBC. He
competed the run in the 2011 New York marathon and the year
before, he ran the Miami marathon. a certified SCUBA diver
(PADI), and also as a motorcycle buff, he loves his several
racing Ducatis.
Mr. Herjavec has long been a donor to the Union Gospel
Mission, which maintains a homeless shelter in Seattle,
Washington in the US.

Awards and Honors

The Herjavec Group, Inc. as well as Mr. Herjavec personally

have received a number of achievement awards, among these
are:

The Ernst & Young, Entrepreneur of the year award in

technology (2012)

The Governor General of Canada, presented the company the

Queen Elizabeth II diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) for
“Outstanding Service to Canada”.

Profit Magazine has presented the group with the title of “Hot
Fifty” and placed the group in the top 100 fastest growing
companies for 2013.

The company has the top twenty-five integrators award from

Computer Dealer News.
Canada’s № 1 security company, Granham Ranking, in 2012,
placed the company in the top five fastest-growing technology
companies, and among the top 100 Integrators. Among North
Americ’s Technology Companies, CRN rated the group as “The
fastest growing company and the fastest-growing security
company in North America”.

Profit 500 awarded the company for excellence in

entrepreneurship

Lessons Robert Herjavec has learned

Believe Your Business, and Yourself.

´There will always be those who badmouth your ideas. They’ll

be quick to point out all the flaws in your idea, the reason why
others can do it better, you don’t have the know-how, it’ll never
work and so on.

You just have to remember that while others give you all sorts
of advice, it’s going to be your name on the bottom line.
Remember, talk is cheap. They’re not investing anything in
your idea.”

Before you take unnecessary Risks, Test your Business Model

We often hear of an entrepreneur who risks everything, home,
credit cards and any other funds that can be raised, all to start
a business. The entrepreneur may have a great deal of
confidence and faith in this endeavor.

Sure, sometimes these methods work. Mr. Hefner says that he

invested every penny he could raise to produce the first issue
of Playboy. He had no idea whether there would ever be a
second issue. He was of the lucky stories we hear. But far too
many hopeful businesses fail. That can lead to devastating
results that may take years for recovery.

Keep your job until your business has reached a level of

success that allows you to quit your job and devote yourself to
this growing enterprise.

Know the Numbers

“When I started, numbers were a jigsaw puzzle”, Herjavec

says. “I knew there was revenue, expenses, cost, and all that
but I couldn’t really fit those pieces together in a way that
made sense, a way that I could understand. “

“I see that many businesses try to monitor income and

outcome, but somehow don’t really know how to keep track of
any profit.”
He goes on to say, “Without a firm grip on your company’s
financial standing, you can’t create any changes necessary.
Besides, if you don’t understand the language of finance and
accounting, people are going to take advantage of you, or
you’ll simply fall behind.”

You need Confidence and Drive to succeed.

“These are essential qualities that lead to success. As CEO of

a global IT security firm as well as the star of the hit reality
show, Shark Tank, Herjavec has always exhibited extreme
confidence and drive in every endeavor throughout his life. I
insist that without the drive to succeed, he couldn’t have been
a successful businessman.

This confidence and drive even accompanied him to the dance

floor for a segment of Dancing with the Stars.

Bruno Tonioli congratulated Herjavec by saying, “You go the

flash. You got the dash. You do everything with confidence.”

Everyone Lies
“Some intentionally lie to you. Others do just to tell you what
they think you want to hear. In any case, take everything you
hear with a grain of salt. If it sounds plausible, test it before
you get too involved. Whether people are offering to invest, to
place an order or anything else, get a date, a commitment,
preferably in writing. People don’t always mean to lie to you,
but they do. Remember that.”

Become Involved in Smart Marketing

“We constantly see small businesses getting on board at

Snapchat and Instagram in the hope of generating business,
but they often overlook e-mail marketing.” Herjavec goes on to
say, “Email is far easier and less expensive to sell to existing
customers than to acquire new customers. That means
maintaining a robust customer bailing list as a great way to
keep customers involved and increase revenue at low cost.”

Ask for Help

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. “After eight seasons of Shark

Tank,” Herjavec says, “We found that the businesses that
continue to be successful after the show and our help are
businesses that continue to thrive today.”

Balance Your Work with Your Life

A business is a living, berating entity. Like a child, it must

grow to survive.

when your business is in trouble, you have no balance in your

life.
Don’t suffer from the illusion that you can start a business and
run on your schedule. Your business is like a starving puppy
— when it needs to eat, it needs to eat now regardless of what
you have on your plate besides that

Have a Compass

When you start a business, you should be forewarned that it’s

hard, and yes, it gets even harder. Much harder than you
envisioned. You have to prepare yourself to survive in the
worst-case scenario you can imagine. Follow that by assuming
that things are only getting worse. The keyword here is to
follow the Boy Scout motto: “Be prepared.”

That’s why you need a compass to get you out of the forest,
just in case.

Train for a Marathon

Okay, once you’ve found your niche, you need to go slowly

and double-check the entire concept as thoroughly as you can.
Now you have to have the patience of a marathon runner.

Herjavec says, “I knew this is hard, and trust e, I am not a

marathoner. But I’ve run in two just to remind myself of what it
takes to be a successful entrepreneur.”
You have to be “On Stage”

Stepping on stage at a seminar, Mr. Herjavec gave this simple

but intensely important bit of encouragement to those in
attendance: “I congratulate everyone for being here. You’ve
taken the first step because the key to success is you gotta
show up. If you don’t show up, you can’t win.”

He goes on to say that it’s so easy to get caught up in the daily

chaos of trying to run a business. You can easily get so tired
that you begin to slip, make mistakes, even questioning
yourself why you ever started all this. But you have to put
ourselves fully into the task if we hope to make a success of
our enterprise. and the best tools, but until you sell something,
nothing happens. In the end, sales are everything about your
business.

Nothing Happens without Sales

Mr. Herjavec is quick to tell anyone that in the beginning, he

knew nothing at all about selling. He admits that he was, in his
words a “geeky, technical guy”. He thought that as long as he
offered great service, customers would come to him in droves
As 23, he developed a friendship with Ross Marsden. At that
time, Marsden was the global VP of sales. Marsden gave
Herjavec a word of advice that would change his world.

“You’re a great guy and you really know your stuff,” he said,
“but unless you learn sales, you’ll never get anyplace.”

That convinced Herjavec to learn everything he could about

sales and marketing.

Today he says, “You can have the best accounting system, the
best work and the best tools, but until you sell something,
nothing happens. In the end, sales are everything about your
business is all about.

Sales is an extension of you.

Every day, somebody somewhere is going to wake up with the

sole intention of kicking your behind. If you’re not looking

Fellow Shark, Mark Cuban said the foregoing during the first
season of filming Shark Tank, Herjavec had it set in granite on
his desk so he’d never forget for a moment this bit of reality.

Herjavec says “One of the most difficult things about

becoming a success in business, is to become more
successful. When you are no longer that hungry young
hopeful entrepreneur ready to tackle the world. Eventually, you
reach the level where you’re content, successful enough to
maintain a good lifestyle and that’s the point where you begin
to let your business as well as your home life, stagnate.

“The minute you want it to be like it is, you can be sure

somebody out there is going to want to take it away from you.”

According to Herjavec the antidote to this is to keep selling,

keep growing and keep pushing ahead. “If one of your top
three tasks every day isn’t ‘Sell something’, you’re going to
slide. “It’s like a mantra in my mind. You must maintain
constant forward momentum. If your company isn’t growing at
least at the rate of the market, you’re falling behind. customer
service and excellent products are vital of course, but if you
ever for a moment lose sight of the importance of sales, you’re
headed down the path to mediocrity.”

Warren Buffett Story: The Life and Times

Warren Edward Buffet is an entrepreneur who is based in

America. He was born on August 30, 1930. Besides being an
investor, he is also a philanthropist and a speaker. Warren
Buffet is the chief executive officer and chairman of Berkshire
Hathaway. According to Forbes, he is among the most
prominent investors globally. As per the statistics released on
May 4, 2019, he as worth $89.9 billion. His net worth makes him
the third richest man globally.

Warren Buffet hails from Omaha, Nebraska. During his young

age, he gained an interest in the business world. He then
joined the University of Pennsylvania, but he later transferred
to the University of Nebraska where he also graduated with
honors. He is also an alumnus of the Columbia Business
School. While at the institution, he gained some insight into
investment philosophy. With time, he would also learn more
about value investing. Warren Buffet also went ahead to enroll
at the New York Institute of Finance. He mainly focused on
enriching his background in economics. After becoming a
fully-fledged entrepreneur, he went ahead to form different
business partnerships with individuals such as Benjamin
Graham. In 1956, he formed Buffet Partnership, LT. The
company went ahead to acquire Berkshire Hathaway, a textile
manufacturing company. Charlie Munger went ahead to join
the Buffet Partnership, Ltd. He would then serve as the firm’s
chairman.

After acquiring Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet has been

the largest shareholder of the firm. He has also been serving
as the chairman. Various global media outlets have been
amused by the prowess that Warren Buffet possesses as a
business person. Throughout the years, he has been adhering
to the value investing principals, although he has also
managed to acquire a considerable amount of wealth over the
years. He has also managed to carry out different forms of
research, and the University of Oxford has also managed to
publish some of his investment methodologies. He always
talks about the importance of a manager possessing the
mindset of the founder. The wealth that Warren Buffet has
amassed over the years also helps to ensure that the
managers are not affected by short-term pressure that comes
about in the market.

As a philanthropist, he has also been issuing pledges. He has

been working closely with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
and he said that he would donate 99 percent of his wealth. In
2009, he also partnered with Bill Gates, and they formed The
Giving Pledge, a non-profit organization that focuses on
charity. Billionaires have been pledging money through the
foundation, and most of them have promised to give away at
least half of their wealth. Warren Buffet was also glad to offer
his support to Hillary Clinton during the recent U.S. elections.
Although she never won, Warren Buffet said that he would
only judge President Donald Trump depending on the
economic growth, national safety, and economic participation
that will be present during his tenure.

The Business Career of Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet began by working at Buffet-Falk & Co. His
tenure lasted from 1951 to 1954. He was an investment
salesman. Later on, he got an employment opportunity at
Graham-Newman Corp. He was working as a securities
analyst. In 1956, he began to serve at the Buffet Partnership,
Ltd. Initially, he was just a general partner. In 1970, he became
a chairman and chief executive officer at the Berkshire
Hathaway Inc. Ben Graham was serving as a board member at
GEICO insurance. Warren Buffet got this information in April
1952. He went ahead to travel to Washington, D.C. via a train.
After arriving at the headquarters of GEICO insurance, he was
ushered in by a janitor. He was honored to meet the vice
president of the insurance firm- Lorimer Davidson. They were
discussing matters about the insurance sector. Within the first
fifteen minutes, Warren Buffet had been termed as an
“extraordinary man.” He would also become a long-time friend
to Lorimer Davidson. His main goal was to work on Wall Street;
nevertheless, he received a lot of resistance from Ben Graham
and his father. Warren Buffet was then willing to work for Ben
Graham for free, but he rejected his offer.

After returning to Omaha, Buffet began working as a

stockbroker. He would also learn more about public speaking.
By utilizing the knowledge that he had gained, he was able to
offer some insight on investment principles to some of the
interested parties at the University of Nebraska. His lecture
lessons were mainly during the night class. During this period,
he was also able to acquire Sinclair Texaco gas station. The
business was quite promising, but it never progressed as
planned.

Warren Buffet then went ahead to marry Susan Thompson.

Their wedding took place in 1952. In 1954, Warren Buffet was
offered a job opportunity by Benjamin Graham. He was being
paid $12,000 a year. He would then work closely with
individuals such as Walter Schloss. According to Warren
Buffet, Benjamin Graham was a tough boss. Benjamin Graham
went ahead to retire in 1956, and he closed the Benjamin
partnership after that. Luckily, Warren Buffet had saved
$174,000, which he used to found the Buffet Partnership Ltd.

Warren Buffet was operating three partnerships as from 1957.

In the following year, 1958, he was operating five partnerships.
The company was growing rapidly, and in 1959, the firm was
operating six partnerships and Buffet was lucky to meet
Charlie Munger in the process. By 1960, he was managing
seven partnerships. Since one of his partners was a doctor, he
went ahead to ask him to invite about ten doctors who would
be willing to part with $10,000. The other doctors agreed to the
deal, and they were willing to invest in his partnership.

In 1961, Warren Buffet went ahead to disclose that some of the

assets within the partnership were invested in Sanborn Map
Company. The firm was selling its shares at $45 each share;
nevertheless, each share was supposed to cost $65. As an
investor, Warren Buffet went ahead to acquire 23% of the
firm’s shares. Eventually, he became a part of the board of
directors. The company’s board then repurchased the shares
at a good price so that they could control a larger part of the
firm while also avoiding a proxy fight. Within two years,
Warren Buffet had gotten a 50% return on his initial
investment.

About Berkshire
Warren Buffet became a millionaire in 1962. His wealth came
about from the partnerships that he had formed. He then
merged the partnerships into one common entity. He would
then purchase the Berkshire Hathaway, a company that dealt
with textile manufacturing. He would buy shares at the firm
form, Seabury Stanton since he was the owner of the firm
during that period. He was buying each share at $7.60. In 1965,
the partnership that Warren Buffet had formed managed to
purchase Berkshire at $14.86 per share. The working capital at
the firm was also worth $19 per share. There was some factory
equipment, and the value of the assets was also not
highlighted. After taking over the firm, Warren Buffet appointed
Ken Chace to serve as the president of the corporation. The
partnership then came to an end in 1985. The Buffet
partnership was then liquidated in 1969. He then transferred
the assets to the other partners. As from 1970, Warren Buffet
developed a habit of sending an annual letter to all the
shareholders. In 1979, the shares at Berkshire were worth $775
per share. After some time, the shares appreciated, and they
were worth $1,310. The net worth of Warren Buffet then rose to
$620 million.

Berkshire then went ahead to acquire stocks in other

companies including the Washington Post Company. Warren
Buffet also became close friends with Katharine Graham since
she was in charge of the firm. Buffet also went ahead to
acquire Wesco Financial. Berkshire was also acquiring some
shares at ABC in 1979. Throughout his investment career,
Warren Buffet has mainly focused on purchasing stocks in
different firms that possess the potential to grow rapidly within
a specific period. Buffet has been acquiring these stocks
through Berkshire Hathaway. He is the largest shareholder and
director of the corporation. In 1988, Warren Buffet also bought
some shares at the Coca-Cola Company. He then went ahead
to acquire at least 7% of the firm at $1.02 billion. The
investment was somewhat lucrative, and it was among the best
opportunities that Berkshire has seized over the years.

Warren Buffet Becomes a Billionaire

Warren Buffet’s entrepreneurial success as a youthful man

didn’t translate into a need to attend college. His dad pressed
him into continuing with his education. He reluctantly agreed
to join the Nebraska University in Pennsylvania. Having
studied business administration, he was in a position to run
his businesses successfully.

Warren Buffet has since became a successful business

professional with a knack for business. He first became a
billionaire after closing the Berkshire Hathaway deal and
started selling all his class A shares in 1990. The market
closed at approximately $7,175 stake. As such, in 1998, he
purchased Gen Re, an affiliate that presented difficulties
during acquisition. The insurance company is a multinational
property that offers reinsurance products as well as services.
Currently, the firm is a direct reinsurer. It’s also represented in
various major reinsurance markets across the world via a
network of over 40 offices. It has employed more than 3,000
employees.

Gen Re is also a contributing member of Berkshire Hathaway

Inc. Warren Buffet then became involved with Maurice R.
Grrenberg while serving at AIG. A few years later, AIG was
investigated for fraud in a case that involved Gen Re
executives. In 2005, the board of AIG asked Greenberg to
resign because it was concluded that AIG had engaged in
unscrupulous transactions that remained questionable in the
eyes of many. The allegations were true since it was declared
that there was improper accounting as well as questionable
transactions. In 2006, AIG had an agreement with the legal
system to part ways with a fine of approximately $1.6 billion.
As such, in 2010, Gen Re agreed with the government in
paying a settlement of $92 million. This allowed the Berkshire
Hathaway to evade any form of legal action being taken
against them. The AIG case didn’t affect the operations of
Berkshire Hathaway in any way. In fact, Gen Re would later
commit to implementing a corporate governance concession
that needed Berkshire Hathaway’s head cheerleader to attend
a conclusive audit at the general auditing committee meetings.
A new director was then appointed to take over the leadership
realms of the department of general operations. In 2002,
Warren Buffet joined the list of $11 billion worth of contracts in
order to deliver US dollars against the other forms of
currencies. In 2006, he owned contracts worth approximately
$2 billion.

He then announced to the public that he would sell three

quarters of Berkshire Hathaway’s holdings to about five
foundations in yearly profits of gifts of stocks beginning in
July 2006. Mr. Buffet added that the most significant
contribution would be channelled to Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation. As such, in 2007, he wrote a shareholder letter to
his stakeholders where he announced that he was ready to
recruit a younger successor who would take over his
business. He also wanted to train the individual to run most of
his investments and businesses. Warren Buffet had initially
selected Lou Simpson to run his Geico business. That was the
first role the individual was tasked with.

Warren Buffet Recalls the 2008 Financial Crisis

The 2007-2008 financial crisis is also identified as the

international financial crisis and is largely considered by
various economists to have taken a toll on the financial
situation of many families across the world. It’s usually
considered to be the worst since the 1930s Great Depression.
It started in 2007 with a major crisis in the mortgage sector. It
then developed into a full-blown financial crisis that affected
banking institutions which collapsed instantly. The Lehman
Brothers assisted in magnifying the huge impact of the
financial crisis on the banking sector. Massive bail-outs were
registered as well. Warren Buffet was criticised at that
moment. He was blamed by people who said that he had
contributed to the downfall of the economy by channelling
funds into businesses that resulted in suboptimal deals.

Buy American By Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet published an article titled “Buy American. I am’’

which was based on his opinion regarding the turnout of
events that led to the 2008 financial crisis. The article was
published in the New York Times. Warren Buffet termed the
economic crisis a poetic justice. His company, Berkshire
Hathaway, suffered a loss of 77 percent in revenues. He also
lost major business deals that highly relied on the stability of
the economic sector. Around the same time, Warren Buffet
acquired approximately 10 percent of the preferred stocks of
Goldman Sachs. Some of his options were such as European
exercise that he also published and sold. Their market price
was about $6.73 billion.

As such, the possibilities of registering some loss prompted

the Securities Exchange Commission to demand that Warren
Buffet, being the head cheerleader of Berkshire, should
produce a firm and clearly stated disclosure regarding some of
the factors that were used to value their contracts. Mr. Buffet
assisted Dow Chemical to pay for the acquisition of Rohm and
Haas which was worth $18.8 billion. He became the main
shareholder of the company which was conjoined with
Berkshire Hathaway. The organization provided about $3
billion that underlined his useful role in debt as well as equity
markets around the same year.

In 2008, Warren Buffet was declared the wealthiest person in

the entire world. His net worth was approximately $62 billion
according to Forbes. Yahoo ranked him the richest man with a
net worth of $58 billion. He overtook Bill Gates who held the
first position at that moment. In a report by Forbes, Warren
Buffet quickly shifted to second place and was overtaken by
Bill Gates. Both individuals registered some drop in their
financial dockets. Their values dropped to $40 billion as well
as $37 billion in that order. Buffet lost approximately $25
billion in that period.

The media reported that Buffet was acquiring General Electric

in 2008. Major operations of the business would include
special incentives such as receiving the option to purchase
controlling stakes of the business at about $22.25 followed by
an agreement to become the head cheerleader of the
organization. In 2009, Warren Buffet traded some stocks of
Proctor and Gamble as well as Johnson and Johnson from his
portfolio.

Warren Buffet on When to Sell a Company

Warren Buffet has always encountered challenges when it

comes to deciding whether he should sell certain stocks or
not. Amidst these challenges, he still became a huge
contributor to the Coca-Cola Company. In 1998, some
questions were raised regarding his involvement with the
organization. He talked about some of the challenges he
encounters when it comes to selling a company. Warren Buffet
admits that it will always seem easy to sell shares at some
point in life. However, you have to be keen and open minded in
order to make the right decision based on the amount of
profits an individual would like to accumulate in the long run.
In 2009, Mr. Buffet stated in a television interview that the
world’s economy had intensely fallen off a certain cliff. The
economy had also slowed down. However, people had taken
up new habits in a strange way. He was also afraid that
inflation would impact the economy in the long run.

William “Bill” Ackman : Life and Times

William Albert Ackman was born May 11th, 1966. Today, he is

known as an American investor, philanthropist, and hedge
fund manager. He is best known as the founder and CEO of a
hedge fund management company called Pershing Square
Capital Management. While most other hedge fund investors
would consider Ackman to be a “contrarian” investor, he
considers himself to be a “activist” investor.

Research backs up Ackman’s assertion that he is an activist

investor, as evidenced by his work with the Canadian Pacific
Railway, which has been categorized by the University of
Oxford as “engaged activism” investing. Engaged activism in
investing has been shown to have a long term, positive effect
on the economy versus the traditional “financial activism”.
Despite his success, he has also been criticized by the United
States government, other hedge fund operators, the public,
and other retail investors. Criticism has come towards certain
investment moves he’s made e.g. shorting MBIA bonds during
the US financial crisis in 2008, the battle with Canadian Pacific
Railway, and the stakes he has with various corporations
(Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Target, and Chipotle). Also, for six
years (since 2012), Ackman has held a short against Herbalife
(a nutrition company), worth $1 billion, as he contends that
Herbalife is a multi-level marketing pyramid scheme. His
thoughts and efforts at battling Herbalife can be seen in the
documentary Betting on Zero.

Childhood and Education

Ackman was born to a Jewish family; Lawrence David Ackman

and Ronnie (nee Posner) in Chappaqua, New York. His father
was the chairman of the Ackman Ziff Real Estate Group, a
financing firm based in New York.

He went to Harvard College and graduated in 1988 with a

bachelor of arts degree in History. He called his thesis,
“Scaling the Ivy Wall: the Jewish and Asian American
Experience in Harvard Admissions. He received his MBA from
Harvard Business School in 1992.
His Career

After his graduation in 1992, he and another Harvard Graduate

named David P Berkowitz founded an investment firm called
Gotham Partners. Their object was to make smaller
investments in public companies. In 1995, Ackman partnered
with Leucadia National (a real estate and insurance firm) to
make a bid to acquire Rockefeller Center. They did not make
the largest bid, but their bidding caused some interest in
Gotham Partners, which helped them acquire $500 million in
assets within three years of the bid. By 2002, Gotham had
become known for constantly being in litigation with their
outside shareholders who also had shares in companies that
Gotham had invested in.

These actions led to the constant probing of his activities by

the state of New York and the federal government, and Ackman
decided to start researching the MBIA’s AAA rating. He copied
725,000 pages of statements that spoke the financial services
company that his firm employed, with a subpoena. He wanted
a divide between the municipal bond insurance and the
insurers’ structured finance business of MBIA.

His argument was that MBIA was actually legally restricted

from trading credit default swap (CDS) protection (of which the
MBIA traded billions of dollars worth) against mortgage
backed CDOS, by using another corporation. MBIA had called
this other corporation, LaCrosse Financial Products, an
“orphaned transformer”. When the housing bubble collapsed
in 2008, Ackman sold the credit default swaps he’d bought
against MBIA’s debt for a large profit. He covered his short
position on the MBIA deal on January 16, 2009--this
information coming from the SEC with the 13D he filed.
Going back to 2003, he and Carl Icahn began a feud over the
acquirement of Hallwood Realty. They created a deal together,
generally called “smuck insurance”, where if Icahn sold the
shares he owned in 3 years and made a profit of at least 10%
off of it, then he would split the proceeds with Ackman. The
property was acquired in 2004 and Icahn paid $80 a share,
while HRPT Property Trust paid $136.16 a share. Basically,
with this deal, Icahn owed Ackman $4.5 million, but he would
not pay until Ackman brought him to court. It took eight years,
but eventually the court forced Icahn to not only pay what he
owed, but also interest that had been built since he sold the
property (9%).

Pershing Square Capital Management

In 2004, Ackman teamed up with Leucadia National to start

Pershing Square Capital Management. They had only their own
money, with Ackman having in the real of $54 million in
personal funds. In 2005, they bought several shares in the
Wendy’s International fast food chain, and then convinced it to
sell its donut chain, Tim Hortons. They got rid of Tim Hortons
through an IPO in 2006 and Wendy’s investors received $670
million. Ackman then sold his shares to a very large profit due
to disagreements over executive succession, which led to the
stock market prices falling, which caused criticism over the
sale of Tim Hortons, which had been a fast growing selection
of Wendy’s repertoire. Ackman said that Wendy’s current
situation was down to its CEO’s poor performance.

Ackman’s funds owned 10% of Target, a retail value of $4.2

billion (due to stocks and derivatives), in December 2007.

Ackman’s funds owned 38% of the Borders Group, and on

December 2010 Ackman stated he would buyout Barnes and
Noble’s for $900 million.

In April 2009, Ackman’s friend, Ezra Merkin had been charged

with civil fraud by New York, alleging he had secretly placed
$2.4 billion in client money into the Bernard Madoff ponzi
scheme without client permission. He agreed, in a June 2012
settlement to pay $405 million to the victims of the theft, as
well as donate to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.
Ackman defended his friend, saying he was honest, brilliant,
interesting, and a great investor and had not actually
committed a crime.

In December 2012, Pershing decided to launch a closed end

fund that they called Pershing Square holdings. In October
2014, it raised $3 billion in an IPO on the Euronext stock
market in Amsterdam. It was valued at $6.7 billion, decent for a
closed end fund, and it was apparently built to be a permanent
capital vehicle that initial investors would not be able to easily
or quickly withdraw their money from.
Jesse Livermore : Life and Times

Jesse Lauriston Livermore was born into humble

circumstances on July 26, 1877 in Shrewbury, Massachusetts.
His father, Hiram Brooks Livermore, and his mother, Laura
Esther Livermore, were farmers, and as the youngest of three
children, Hiram expected Jesse to work hard on the farm and
one day care for it with his older brother. But Jesse's mother
had bigger plans for him. She made sure Jesse attended
school and helped him learn to read, write, and do math.
When Jesse was 14 his father decided he had enough
schooling and pulled him out to work at the farm full-time.
Jesse's dreams, however, were elsewhere. So with his
mother's blessing he ran away from home and went to Boston.
There he found a job as a board boy, posting stock quotes for
the Paine Webber brokerage. The numbers and their meaning
intrigued him, so Jesse kept a notebook of all the prices and
realized they formed patterns over time. He began predicting
the rise and fall of stocks, keeping his calculations in his
notebook, and compared them with the quotes he posted later
to hone his skills increase his consistency and accuracy.

Friends noticed what Jesse was doing, and in 1892, at 15 years

old, they convinced Jesse to use his skill of prediction for
monetary gain. They went to a bucket shop, where people bet
on what future stock prices will be rather than trading the
actual stocks, and Jesse put in his bet. His first time he won $3
profit. It wasn't much, but it was enough to encourage him to
go back again and again. Within a matter of months he earned
far more at the bucket shops than he did at Paine Webber's, so
he quit his job. He won so often at the bucket shops that
eventually he was banned from all the local ones. He wouldn't
let that hinder him, so he wore disguises and went to bucket
shops farther from home. He was caught several times. Finally
he took his winnings, over $10,000 worth, and moved to New
York to try his luck on Wall Street.

In October of 1900, Jesse married his first wife, Nettie Jordan

from Indianapolis. Less than six months after the marriage he
went bankrupt, but he learned from the mishap that bucket
shop tactics did not work in the fast-paced world of Wall
Street. Determined to try again and do better, Jesse urged
Nettie to sell the jewelry he had bought her to start his new
stake. She refused. Jesse did not take the refusal well and it
created a rift in their relationship that strained it to the
breaking point.

Jesse had to adjust his trading strategies, but in 1901 he

began to see the pay off. By purchasing shares of the Northern
Pacific Railroad in a bull market ( stock prices on upward
trend), he was able to turn $10,000 into $50,000.
His success continued for the next six years, with Jesse
thriving where others could not. The San Francisco
Earthquake of April 18, 1906 caused horrific destruction not
only to the city of San Francisco, but to the stock market as
well. While the earthquake wreaked havoc on most investors'
bank accounts, Jesse's wealth was hardly affected. The day
before the earthquake he shorted off (sold) $250,000 of Union
Pacific stock, ensureing his financial stability through the
hardship.

The next year the stock market crashed. Many investors

scrambled to stay afloat in the turbulent times, but Jesse was
well enough off. His short positions (shares he could sell)
could have made him millions and fed into the frenzy, but JP
Morgan, who bailed out the New York Stock Exchange during
the crash, pleaded with him not to short, but instead to take
the long position and buy into the market rebound. Jesse
agreed and made $3 million on the rebounding stock. Seeing
his success, some of his peers followed his example. This not
only gained them thousands or millions of dollars, but helped
to stabalize the economy and pull out of the depression faster.

The wealth he gained did not last long. Later in 1907, after
listening to bad advice from a so-called friend and making
poor deals in the cotton market, Jesse lost his fortune again.
But again he was able to claw his way up from the bottom and
paid all of his debts as he regained his fortune.
In October 1917 he divorced his first wife, Nettie. He enjoyed
life as a young, wealthy bachelor in New York. He had many
mistresses at the time and soon found himself another bride.
He married Dorothy Fox Wendt, a dancer in Ziegfeld Follies, on
December 2, 1918. Together they had two sons, Paul and Jesse
Jr.

In 1919 Jesse made a very bold move. He cornered the cotton

market and bought almost every single bale. He would've
bought them all, if the President of the United States of
America hadn't stepped in. President Woodrow Wilson and the
Secretary of Agriculture, David F. Houston, summoned Jesse
to the White House and asked him to sell the cotton shares
back. He agreed to sell it back break even (for the same price
he bought it), though he could've devestated the cotton market
by selling back shares at a much higher price. Later, when
asked why he had decided to corner the cotton market, his
reply was "To see if I could".

By the stock market crash of 1929 that started the Great

Depression, Jesse had amassed a great deal of stock. This
catastrophe for the nation turned into the high point of his
career when he made over $100 million from short positions.
His fame for such stunts as surviving previous market crashes
and having the President stop his plans for the cotton market
spread far and wide in the world of stock trade, so Jesse had
to use over 100 stockbrokers to hide his new fortune. News got
out though, and people were furious that he had made so
much money from the crash. He recieved threatening phone
calls and letters with death threats from people who were
negatively affected and blamed the entire downfall of the stock
market on Jesse.

Two years later, in 1931, Jesse's second wife, Dorothy, took

their two boys and left. Jesse had many affairs during their
marriage, some of them with other girls from Ziegfeld Follies,
women Dorothy had once called friends and coworkers. She
was not in a good state when she left; she was humiliated by
Jesse's betrayal and trying to drown her sorrows with alcohol.
She moved to Reno, Nevada and lived with her lover there,
until she and Jesse were divorced on September 16, 1932. She
then married the man she was living with, James Walter
Longcope, who was her second husband. Meanwhile, Jesse
moved on to his third marriage. Harriet Metz Noble, a 38 year
old singer and socialite, was from a prominent Omaha family
that had made a fortune from their breweries. Besides her
family's fortune, she had had four husbands previous to Jesse,
all of which had commited suicide and left all their money to
her. Jesse and Harriet were married March 28, 1933. Jesse was
55 years old at the time of their marriage.

Shortly after the marriage, Jesse again went bankrupt. The

strain of his second marriage and divorce caused mental
health issues that affected his ability to make sound business
decisions, and he had many debts to pay, though it was never
released to the public what they specifically were. Because of
his financial difficulties he was suspended from the Chicago
Board of Trade on March 7, 1934. Harriet's money kept them
comfortable, so Jesse had no real need to go back to Wall
Street to support his family, but this sense of uselessness only
caused him to spiral deeper into his personal problems.

In 1939, in an attempt to bring purpose back to his father's life,

Jesse Jr, suggested that his father write a book about trade.
Jesse found this idea exciting and set to work outlining his
strategies, rules, and opinions. His book "How to Trade in
Stocks" was published by the comapny Duell, Sloan, and
Pearce in March of 1940. Unfortunately his book didn't do well.
It was put out on the market during WWII when interest in
stock market trading was low and those who were considered
experts at the time disagreed with many of his ideas and
philosophies.

On November 28, 1940, Jesse Livermore fatally shot himself in

the cloakroom of the Sherry Neverland Hotel in Manhattan.
Police found a suicide note addressed to Nina, a nickname
Jesse had affectionately given Harriet. The six-page note,
handwritten on pages of the small notebook he always carried
with him, read "My dear Nina: Can't help it. Things have been
bad with me. I am tired of fighting. Can't carry on any longer.
This is the only way out. I am unworthy of your love. I am a
failure. I am truly sorry, but this is the only way out for me.
Love Laurie."

The stock market was surprisingly different back when Jesse

Livermore traded. There were few investors, compared to
today, so moves by major players such as Jesse could be
volatile. Jesse wrote of sliding major stocks multiple points
simply by purchasing or selling only 1,000 shares. And yet,
despite the differences in the presence of the markets, Jesse
Lauriston Livermore's legacy lives on today. He has often been
considered one of the best and most succesful stock market
traders in the United States. Although his trade techniques
were considered radical or outlandish in his own day, many
investors today study them to become better in the business.

One of the books considered a must-read for anyone

interested in investing is "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator"
by Edwin Lefervre. This book, published in 1923, followed the
ups and downs of Jesse Livermore throughout his career,
though the name Laurie Livingston is used within the book
instead of Jesse Livermore. Edwin Lefevre and Jesse were
friends in life, and Edwin recognized Jesse's story as an
inspiration for many who would come after.

Why is Jesse Livermore still revered today, and why do so

many people study his life and his trading to improve their own
trading? The number of people opperating in the stock
markets may be vastly different than it was back then, but the
principles remain the same today. The test of time proves that
this trader's fundamental rules are still applicable, and the
price patterns he observed in his day continue and are still
relevant today.

Jesse had many rules he used in his trading that can benefit
new and experienced traders alike. These principles are simple
and fairly intuitive, but they still take practice and skill to
master. The lessons we can learn from him today include:

1) Trade with the trend. Take a long position in a bull market,

and a short position in a bear market. In other words, buy
stock if the market is rising, or on an upward trend. Sell shares
if prices are on a downward trend. Jesse only liked trading in
stocks that were moving in a trend because they were easily
predictable, and he avoided ranging markets.

2) Don't trade when there are no clear opportunities. Try to

trade in stocks that are predictable and moving in a trend,
rather than ranging markets. If you don't know where you're
going you won't get anywhere, especially when you trade.

3) Trade using pivotal points. Pivotal points are the average

highs and lows in the price range of stock. Jesse would use
these points to help him determine whether it was worth
investing in a stock or not. When prices approached either the
high or low pivotal point, he waited to see what wouls happen
rather than jumping in at once. If prices fall below the lower
pivotal point the stock should be avoided because it will most
likely lead to loss of profit. If prices stay between the pivotal
points, the stock is steady and reliable. If it exceeds the higher
pivotal point, it is on the rise, but use your good judgement
because some things that rise quickly tend to fail quickly as
well.

4) Make observations and predictions, but wait for the market

to confirm your hypothesis before entering. Patience is key.
Any informed trader knows that being right a little too early, or
too late, can be as detrimental to their career as being wrong
all together. Timing is absolutely crucial in the business of
financial trading and the stock markets, and nothing provides
a better indication of correct timing than price itself. Let stock
prices confirm the solidity of the trade before entering large
positions. Jesse Livermore believed that there is an emotional
side to trading, but simply trusting the "feeling" that we know
what is going to happen can yeild disasterous results. Study
the market and test your theories before you enter the market.

5) Let profits run. If you are making money, allow that stock to
keep making you money. Alternatively, if you are losing money
on stocks, close those deals. There is no reason to keep open
positions that hurt you financially.
6) Trade the leading stocks in each sector. Trade your strong
stocks in a bull, or rising, market, and your weak stocks in a
bear, or declining, market. Jesse believed prices were never
too high to buy or too low to sell; you have to trade to your
best advantage.

7) Don't accept the margin call; rather, close the position.

Those in the short, or selling, position may ask for extra
payment when they feel the market is unstable, or sometimes
because they can. Though the deal may be tempting at the
time, Jesse believed it was better to exit the deal than to
accept it. Do not let other investors or companies try to take
advantage of you. Look for better deals instead.

8) Don't follow too many stocks at once. This becomes

complicated and cumbersome; more of a burden than an aid.
When you have too many things to look after and care for at
once, small problems can get lost in the shuffle and become
big problems later on. Instead of trying to take on too many
stocks at once, decide to trade what you have for what you
want. Make sure your finances are manageable. Jesse did not
have the technological convenience that we do today. Instead
of computer graphs that track price patterns, he tracked the
prices and patterns of his stock by maually recording
everything in his ledger.
Jesse Livermore's strategies was highly successful, though he
lost his considerable wealth several times. The theories he
employed were not necessarily flawed, but it was human error
and poor judgment whcich led to the devestating losses. He
was always first to admit his mistakes, and when he lost large
amounts of money he knew it came down to these two
potential culprits: the rules for certain trades were not fully
developed, or the rules he and other master investors had
developed were not followed.

These are the mistakes that often plague investors today.

Anyone who trades must learn to take responsibility for their
losses and learn the rules and principles of trading so they can
follow them. Jesse's list of rules is a good starting base for
most investors. He learned many of the secrets of the trade
and was an example of a great investor. People today can learn
from his succeses and his mistakes.