James Emanuel: Why Most Investors Are Wrong About Everything

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James Emanuel is a London-based contrarian investor and founder of Rock and Turner who discovers fundamentally misunderstood companies trading at massive discounts while building his reputation through popular Substack newsletter research and his book "Fabric of Success."

EPISODE NOTES

3:00 - Emanuel's intellectual curiosity shaped his contrarian approach: "I take nothing at face value. I question absolutely everything" - discusses how questioning religious beliefs as a child developed critical thinking essential for investing

6:00 - The Rolex story reveals value perception: bought same expensive watch as colleague but paid significantly less, demonstrating "price is what you pay, but value is what you get" - watch now worth 3x original price

9:00 - Law background creates analytical advantage: legal training teaches structured thinking and considering counterarguments, invaluable for examining investment downside risks

12:00 - Convergence theory and "golden threads": successful businesses across different eras/industries evolve similar approaches - like sharks and dolphins reaching similar design through different evolutionary paths

15:00 - People matter most: "The jockey is more important than the horse" - Apple's near-bankruptcy under Scully vs. massive success under Jobs proves same company with different leader becomes entirely different investment

18:00 - Succession planning as golden thread: best companies promote from within (Novo Nordisk had only 5 CEOs in 103 years, Costco leaders worked up from entry-level)

21:00 - Bureaucracy as "corporate virus": processes become more important than results, stifling innovation and driving away top talent

24:00 - Stock screeners are garbage: statutory accounts weren't designed for investors, focus on qualitative analysis over quantitative metrics

27:00 - John Malone created EBITDA metric because Wall Street couldn't understand his tax-minimizing strategy - TCI became 900-bagger despite appearing expensive on earnings multiples



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