RICH SHAREOWNER, POOR SHAREOWNER:
Rich Shareowner, Poor Shareowner
By Will Marshall
"(One of the) Year’s Top Investment Books ... A charming business novel ..." - Stock Trader’s Almanac: 2003
“ …one of the best business books I have read in the last 25 years. This book is on a par with Kenichi Ohmae’s book ‘The Mind of the Strategist’, a seminal book on strategic planning in business.” - CEO, European, High-tech, Multinational
In an easily absorbed style Rich Shareowner, Poor Shareowner explains the five things that managers can do to create value for Shareowners, and the two things that investors must do to create value for themselves. Presented as a business novel set at a Colorado dude ranch, this book makes readers better investors, better managers and more informed citizens…
On a beautiful summer afternoon, Wendy Stevens, a bright, young, confused and tired New York investment banker, drove her silver BMW convertible the final few miles to a much-needed vacation at the ST Bar Ranch in Colorado's San Juan Mountains. Her fatigue was from hard work. Her confusion was over how she could become a successful investor—a 'Rich Shareowner'. As the week unfolds, Wendy meets fascinating guests and sagacious ranch hands who help in her search…The most memorable are Sean Lone Eagle—a Lakota Sioux scout, Gina and Marianne—expert horsewomen who share insights into ranch values with Wendy, and the tantalizingly Socratic Sam McAllen, who has a question for every answer…From discussions over early morning coffee, while riding on a cattle drive and around campfires in the high San Juan Mountains, Wendy learns more about how value is created for Shareowners than she learned in 16 years as an investment banker. She learns the three factors that cause stock prices to change. She learns who controls each of the three factors, and she learns how to judge if the CEO and CFO are creating Shareowner Value…She even learns what Shareowner Value is…While listening to ideas that will make her a better investor and manager, she also learns that if these same ideas were applied by the majority of companies, they would cause a surge in productivity and economic value which would rival the impact of the personal computer, the Internet and the Quality Process combined.
At the end of the week, as Wendy drove away from the ranch, she felt refreshed and energized with new ideas to help her and others to become richer Shareowners…But, she also left the ranch with new friends and with a new perspective on the important things in life.