Aswath Damodaran
The Strategist
The long view, patient, analytical, playing several moves ahead.
Aswath Damodaran, NYU Stern's Dean of Valuation, is The Strategist because he reduces investing to first principles, price, value, and the discipline that separates them. His classroom opening on faith is no mysticism but a strategic reframe, conviction must be earned through rigorous estimation rather than sentiment. He subordinates market noise to a single governing decision, what you pay upfront, treating valuation as the master variable from which every outcome flows.
“When I start my valuation class, I start with the question: do you have faith? The essence of investing is faith — faith that your estimated value is the right value, and faith that the price will move to value.”
“Warren Buffett has a famous saying that he doesn't buy stocks, he buys shares of businesses. That, to me, in essence, is what you're doing in intrinsic valuation.”
“The more you pay for something upfront, the lower your expected returns are going to be. That's at the basis of intrinsic value — paying the right price upfront is the most critical decision you make.”
Masters in Business: “Team Favorite At the Money: Valuation Is an Exercise in Faith”
LISTEN AT THE SOURCE ↗THE RECORD IS CHECKABLE