Whitney Tilson is a Harvard-educated American value investor, author, and philanthropist. He ran Kase Capital (formerly T2 Partners and the Tilson Growth Fund) from 1999-2017, wrote three books, and currently runs the financial advisory and research website Empire Financial Research.
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Today, Whitney Tilson remains an active author, philanthropist, and adventure junkie.
Tilson has had a career full of successes, failures, and widespread recognition. CNBC referred to him as “The Prophet” because of his stock prediction skills. The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post also profiled him. He’s also well known for two 60 Minutes segments, one an Emmy-winning prediction of the 2008 housing crisis, the other a 2015 expose of Lumber Liquidators before its stock tumbled 80%. He has also appeared countless times on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Fox Business Network.
Moreover, besides his 3 books and financial research website, Tilson has written for Forbes, the Financial Times, Kiplinger’s, The Motley Fool, and TheStreet.com.
Tilson has also met with former Presidents Clinton and Obama, attended numerous Berkshire Hathaway meetings held by Warren Buffett, and has spoken at Harvard, Columbia, and Wharton business schools.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1966, Mr. Tilson does not have the traditional upbringing of a stock guru. His parents were educators and were among the first couples to meet and marry in the Peace Corps. He spent much of his childhood in Tanzania and Nicaragua.
Tilson then attended Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Government. He then received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School in 1994, where he was elected a Baker Scholar after finishing in the top 5% of his class.
Tilson didn’t jump right into his investment career, however. Before beginning his MBA program, Tilson was a founding member of Teach for America.
In the five years following his MBA, he worked with Harvard professor Michael E. Porter and analyzed the competitiveness of inner cities and inner-city-based companies. Together, they founded the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, of which Tilson served as Executive Director. Tilson also spearheaded the creation of ICV Partners; a private equity fund focused on minority-owned and inner-city businesses. Tilson raised nearly $500 million in funds.
By the time 1999 rolled around, Tilson had finally launched his investment career.
As an ardent disciple of the Graham-Dodd-Buffett-Munger value investing philosophy, Tilson took an old-school fundamental approach in starting Kase Capital. He took a long-term approach to investments, selecting stocks based on solid fundamentals and discounted market value relative to their intrinsic value.
Using this tried and true school of thought that made billionaires out of legends like Warren Buffett, Tilson started three value-oriented hedge funds and two mutual funds.
In the first 11 years of Kase’s operations, Tilson saw considerable success. His funds grew from $1 million to $200 million in assets under management, and his hedge funds saw 184% gains, compared to the broader market’s 3%.
Moreover, calls like Netflix when it was $7.78 a share, Apple at $1.42, and Amazon at $48 earned Tilson the moniker of “The Prophet” from CNBC.
He also accurately predicted the decline of 88 different stocks, including three bankruptcies and the 2008 housing crisis.
Yes, Tilson was hot like lava and the talk of the town. He was one of five investors included in SmartMoney’s 2006 Power 30, was named by Institutional Investor in 2007 as one of 20 Rising Stars, and was on the cover of the July 2007 Kiplinger’s.
Yet when markets began an unprecedented bull run from around 2010 onward, Tilson’s value strategy underperformed. He ultimately decided to shut Kase down in 2017 and dedicate his career to investment research and writing.
Tilson was no stranger to financial writing. While his funds were still operating, he contributed to Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger in 2005, a collection of speeches and talks by Charlie Munger. He also wrote More Mortgage Meltdown: 6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times in 2009 and The Art of Value Investing: How the World’s Best Investors Beat the Market in 2013.
But once he shut down his fund, Tilson decided that writing about financial research was something he wanted to do full time. After briefly spearheading Kase Learning, a company where he taught investing seminars and hosted conferences, he leveraged his friendship with Porter Stansberry of Stansberry Research and launched Empire Financial Research.
Founded in 2019, Empire Financial Research is a website and newsletter service that provides advice, commentary, and in-depth research and analysis for investors worldwide. It draws on Mr. Tilson’s decades of expertise and value investing philosophy in uncovering overlooked investment opportunities.
Under the Empire Financial Research umbrella, Tilson also launched Empire Investment Report and Empire Stock Investor .
Empire Financial Research has quickly become one of the most respected financial newsletter platforms in the entire industry. Some of the biggest sports and entertainment names and Wall Street legends like Bill Ackman, Joel Greenblatt, David Einhorn, Seth Klarman, and Leon Cooperman are all subscribers.
Through Empire Financial Research, Tilson has made similarly bold calls that he made in the first 11 years he ran Kase Capital :
- 268% in 13 months on Smith & Wesson (245% annualized)
- 156% in 10 months on Penn National (189% annualized)
- 49% in four months on Crocs (153% annualized)
- 68% in eight months on Tripadvisor (105% annualized)
- 50% in seven months on AerCap (88% annualized)
- 37% in 15 months on Rosetta Stone (31% annualized)
Moreover, around the day the market bottomed from the coronavirus crash (March 25, 2020), Tilson said : “This is the absolute best time to be an investor in more than a decade.”
As an author, he published his most recent book, The Art of Playing Defense , in 2021. It’s different from his previous works as it’s deeply personal and goes beyond investing. He shows shocking vulnerability and transparency in discussing his mistakes and life lessons learned.
As a philanthropist, his love of giving back did not end with Teach for America or his work with inner-city businesses. He received the 2008 John C. Whitehead Social Enterprise Award from the Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York. He remains involved with several charities focused on education reform and Africa. He is also a member and past Chairman of the Manhattan chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
As an adventure junkie, Mr. Tilson is a Tough Mudder enthusiast and mountaineer. He climbed the Nose of El Capitan in June 2020 and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Blanc, the Matterhorn, and the Eiger. He also regularly competes in obstacle course races and is the record holder in the 50+ age group at the 24-hour World’s Toughest Mudder.
Mr. Tilson lives in Manhattan with his wife and three daughters.
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Education
- B.A. Government, magna cum laude, Harvard College (1989)
- MBA, Baker Scholar (finished in the top 5% of his class) Harvard Business School (1994)
Career
Investment Career
1999 – 2017
- Owner Kase Capital (formerly T2 Partners and the Tilson Growth Fund)
- Took an old school, buy and hold, value investing approach in starting three value-oriented hedge funds and two mutual funds.
- In the first 11 years of Kase’s operations, Tilson’s funds grew from $1 million to $200 million in assets under management.
- Hedge funds saw 184% gains, compared to the broader market’s 3%.
- Calls like Netflix when it was $7.78 a share, Apple at $1.42, and Amazon at $48 earned Tilson the moniker of “The Prophet” from CNBC.
- Accurately predicted the decline of 88 different stocks, including three bankruptcies and the 2008 housing crisis.
- One of five investors included in SmartMoney’s 2006 Power 30, named by Institutional Investor in 2007 as one of 20 Rising Stars, and featured on the cover of the July 2007 Kiplinger’s.
- Profiled by the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.
- He made countless appearances on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and Fox Business Network.
- He is well-known for two 60 Minutes segments. One was a 2008 Emmy-winning prediction on the housing crisis; the other was a 2015 revelation of scandals at Lumber Liquidators before its stock price tumbled 80%.
- He met with former Presidents Clinton and Obama.
- He attended numerous Berkshire Hathaway meetings held by Warren Buffett in Omaha.
- He spoke at Harvard, Columbia, and Wharton business schools.
- Fund shut down in 2017.
2019:
- He leveraged his friendship with Porter Stansberry of Stansberry Research and launched Empire Financial Research.
- Empire Financial Research is a financial advisory website that provides advice, commentary, and in-depth research and analysis for all types of investors worldwide.
- Uses Mr. Tilson’s decades of professional investment expertise and value investing philosophy in uncovering overlooked investment opportunities.
- Under the Empire Financial Research umbrella, Tilson also launched Empire Investment Report and Empire Stock Investor .
- Some of the biggest sports and entertainment names and Wall Street figures like Bill Ackman, Joel Greenblatt, David Einhorn, Seth Klarman, and Leon Cooperman are subscribers.
- Through Empire Financial Research, Tilson called the exact market bottom of the coronavirus crash and made several bold calls on stocks :
- 268% in 13 months on Smith & Wesson (245% annualized)
- 156% in 10 months on Penn National (189% annualized)
- 49% in four months on Crocs (153% annualized)
- 68% in eight months on Tripadvisor (105% annualized)
- 50% in seven months on AerCap (88% annualized)
- 37% in 15 months on Rosetta Stone (31% annualized)
Author
- 2005
He contributed to Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger , a collection of speeches and talks by Charlie Munger. - 2009
Published More Mortgage Meltdown: 6 Ways to Profit in These Bad Times - 2013
Published The Art of Value Investing: How the World’s Best Investors Beat the Market - 2019
Launched financial advisory website Empire Financial Research and launched newsletters like Empire Investment Report and Empire Stock Investor under its umbrella. - 2021
Wrote The Art of Playing Defense , a book that goes far beyond investing and talks about his mistakes and life lessons. - Misc
He has also contributed articles for Forbes, the Financial Times, Kiplinger’s, The Motley Fool, and TheStreet.com.
Philanthropy
- He was a founding member of Teach for America before beginning his MBA program at Harvard.
- Immediately following his MBA, he worked with Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter to analyze the competitiveness of inner cities and inner-city-based companies nationwide.
- He founded the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, and served as Executive Director.
- Spearheaded the creation of ICV Partners, a national for-profit private equity fund focused on minority-owned and inner-city businesses. Tilson raised nearly $500 million in funds.
- He remains involved with several charities focused on education reform and Africa.
- He received the 2008 John C. Whitehead Social Enterprise Award from the Harvard Business School Club of Greater New York.
- He is a member and past Chairman of the Manhattan chapter of the Young Presidents’ Organization.
Other
- He is an adventure junkie, mountaineer, and Tough Mudder record-holder for his age group.
Publications
- “The Prophet.”- CNBC