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The Davis Dynasty: Fifty Years of Successful Investing on Wall Street Paperback – December 22, 2003
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This compelling new narrative from bestselling author John Rothchild tells the story of three generations of the legendary Davis family, who rank among the most successful investors in the history of the Street. With a novelist's wit and eye for telling detail, Rothchild chronicles the financial escapades of this eccentric, pioneering clan, providing a vivid portrait of fifty years of Wall Street history along the way. Rothchild shadows the Davis family's holdings through two lengthy bull markets, two savage and seven mild bear markets, one crash, and twenty-five corrections and, in the process, reveals the strategies behind the family's uncanny ability to consistently beat the markets.
The Davis Dynasty begins in 1947, the year Shelby Davis quit his job as a state bureaucrat and, armed with $50,000 of his wife's money, took the plunge into stock investing. By the time he died in 1994, he had multiplied his wife's original stake 8,000 times! The story continues with his son, Shelby, who established one of the most successful funds of the past thirty years. The final characters in this enthralling family saga are grandsons Chris and Andrew. Both surrendered to the Davis family passion for investing and both went on to earn reputations as investment luminaries in their own right.
John Rothchild (Miami Beach, FL) co-wrote the blockbusters One Up on Wall Street, Beating the Street, and Learn to Earn with Peter Lynch. He is the author of Survive and Profit in Ferocious Markets (Wiley: 0-471-34882-1), A Fool and His Money (Wiley: 0-471-25138-0), and Going for Broke. He has written for Harper's, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and other leading magazines and he has appeared on the Today Show, the Nightly Business Report, and CNBC.
- Print length324 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWiley
- Publication dateDecember 22, 2003
- Dimensions5.59 x 0.89 x 8.78 inches
- ISBN-10047147441X
- ISBN-13978-0471474418
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Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
"Equally relevant to the uninitiated and to those of us who have many years experience with the Davis dynasty, Rothchilds book takes a close look at the familys remarkable success and endurance. I know that many will find it interesting to learn how, even today, Davis endeavors remain focused on the long view, guided by the strong investment philosophy and business principles that Shelby himself lived by in one of the most important periods in commercial history."
M. R. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO, American International Group, Inc.
"This is really two books in one. It is the story of a rarity in the investment business: a family whose money management skills have evolved and been passed on from the patriarch to two succeeding generations. It is also a how-to book on commonsense investing. As the dot-com phase passes into history, this book provides some useful lessons on how fortunes are built and then used for constructive purpose."
Byron R. Wien, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
"This is an unusual biography, a rare gem that captures the history of one of Wall Streets greatest families. The Davis Dynasty offers unparalleled insight into the Davis family investment philosophy."
Barton M. Biggs, Chairman, Morgan Stanley Asset Management, Morgan Stanley
"When John Rothchild combines history and biography with investing in one package, history illuminates the biography and investing, biography illuminates the history and investing, and investing illuminates the history and biography. This is a sparkling book on each level, but even more so as an adroitly mixed cocktail of all three."
Peter L. Bernstein, author of The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession and Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
The story of the Davis dynasty is, in many ways, the story of Wall Street over the last half century. The Davis Dynasty reveals this successful family, their investment discipline, and Wall Street within a historical and literary narrative that is informative, entertaining, and engaging. Take a once-in-a-lifetime journey through Wall Street with one of the most successful investing families in America and watch how a dynasty was built.
From the Back Cover
"Equally relevant to the uninitiated and to those of us who have many years experience with the Davis dynasty, Rothchilds book takes a close look at the familys remarkable success and endurance. I know that many will find it interesting to learn how, even today, Davis endeavors remain focused on the long view, guided by the strong investment philosophy and business principles that Shelby himself lived by in one of the most important periods in commercial history."
M. R. Greenberg, Chairman and CEO, American International Group, Inc.
"This is really two books in one. It is the story of a rarity in the investment business: a family whose money management skills have evolved and been passed on from the patriarch to two succeeding generations. It is also a how-to book on commonsense investing. As the dot-com phase passes into history, this book provides some useful lessons on how fortunes are built and then used for constructive purpose."
Byron R. Wien, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
"This is an unusual biography, a rare gem that captures the history of one of Wall Streets greatest families. The Davis Dynasty offers unparalleled insight into the Davis family investment philosophy."
Barton M. Biggs, Chairman, Morgan Stanley Asset Management, Morgan Stanley
"When John Rothchild combines history and biography with investing in one package, history illuminates the biography and investing, biography illuminates the history and investing, and investing illuminates the history and biography. This is a sparkling book on each level, but even more so as an adroitly mixed cocktail of all three."
Peter L. Bernstein, author of The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession and Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
The story of the Davis dynasty is, in many ways, the story of Wall Street over the last half century. The Davis Dynasty reveals this successful family, their investment discipline, and Wall Street within a historical and literary narrative that is informative, entertaining, and engaging. Take a once-in-a-lifetime journey through Wall Street with one of the most successful investing families in America and watch how a dynasty was built.
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Wiley; 1st edition (December 22, 2003)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 324 pages
- ISBN-10 : 047147441X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0471474418
- Item Weight : 13.2 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.59 x 0.89 x 8.78 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #441,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,222 in Business Professional's Biographies
- #1,658 in Finance (Books)
- #3,079 in Investing (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States
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Thank you very much for writing it and for sharing so much wisdom.
Strongly recommended for any serious long term investor.
The book traces the investment history of Shelby Davis to his son to his grandsons. Shelby had family money through his wife and starts investing shortly after the crash in '29. Like many people, I assumed the market has been a somewhat continual climb with some setbacks. This books traces the history showing the many periods of lackluster stock value growth and how most Americans shunned the stock market for bonds. Quite a difference from today.
The original Shelby was a miserly value investor who never spent an extra dime. His investment hits were insurance stocks when no one liked that industry and some prudent investments in Japan, also mainly in the insurance industry. By leaving these investments to compound for years, Shelby built a great fortune. But the hidden engine behind this vast growth was the use of margin to leverage his returns. The original Shelby eventually grew his fortune to over a billion dollars in value.
Shelby's son Shelby did not work with his father until late in his life but eventually became a money manager of some renown also. His philosophy was similar but different and his large money winners tended to be from other industries. The book ends with the sons of Shelby Jr. taking over their father's money management firm and establishing their own identity.
Along this 70 year history, you will learn about the markets and the different stages of development over the years. A significant amount of time is spent in the 60s and 70s as both of the Shelby's were investing at that time. I strongly recommend this book if you have interest in the market and its history.
"The Davis Dynasty" is a fascinating read for anyone interested in investing. It's not just a story about one man's life and career; it is also a story of the business climate and stock market in the second half of the twentieth century, from the lows of the late '40s to the computer-boom of the '60s, the volatile market of the '70s to the dot-com mania of the late '90s. Throughout, the author takes care to explain Davis' methods and results and in doing so makes the case for several investing principles, such as specialization, value-investing and holding for long periods of time, through up markets and down.
This book is both a biography and the analytical work devoted to the stock market. If you like such a blend, I would recommend the books by Roger Lowenstein: "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist", "When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management" and "While America Aged: How Pension Debts Ruined General Motors, Stopped the NYC Subways, Bankrupted San Diego, and Loom as the Next Financial Crisis". The books by Roger Lowenstein are much better than "The Davis Dynasty" in terms of the depths of the analysis, as well as when it comes to liveliness and variety.
In addition to this book, I can also recommend my favorite title on investing "The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't" by Kenneth L. Fisher.
If that's your interest it's not up to the Buffett biographies by
Lowenstein, Schroeder and Hagstrom or the books by Peter
Lynch.
Instead the only things you really learn about investing are:
1. The original Davis loved insurance businesses and worked
out how to value them accurately. There were a couple of
not overly memorable examples of him finding hidden value.
2. He stuck to just insurance for his whole lifetime.
3. He was a poineer in international investing, finding the best
insurance companies selling at good prices in all kinds of
countries.
In some ways, more an inspiring biography without much
depth - few dates, amounts, pricing ratios, etc.
Also, text is pretty big, big margins, quite thin.
Breezy read you could absorb in the 24th hour of
flying from Sydney to Dallas. Not much meat to
require brain functioning at normal levels.
Top reviews from other countries
Good book on great investor. Inspiring. Educational. Useful if you understand and then apply the principles. I highly recommend this book to any serious investor.







