Miriam
Adelson was born in
Israel. She attended the Hebrew Reali School for 12 years in Haifa. She served
mandatory army service as a medical officer at Ness Ziona. After earning a
Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Genetics from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, she earned a medical degree from Tel Aviv University School of
Medicine.
Adelson
became a physician and eventually the chief internist in an emergency room at
Tel Aviv's Rokach (Hadassah) Hospital.
After divorcing her first husband, she joined Rockefeller University in
1986 as an associate physician specializing in drug addiction. While there she
went on a blind date with a businessman -Sheldon Adelson. They later
married in 1991. Her Husband passed in 2021 and Miriam inherited his businesses
and estate. Miriam Adelson is today the majority owner of Las Vegas Sands
casino and in the process of acquiring the Dallas Mavericks franchise from Mark
Cuban. Forbes estimates her as the 42nd richest person in the world.
The point is - it all
started with a blind date.
Looking for another interesting
romantic story? Here we go.
Julia Flesher Koch
met David Koch on a blind date in
January 1991. In 1998, Koch told The New York Times that she didn't immediately
hit it off with him; but that she was glad she met him because she knew she
wouldn't want to go out with him again. However,
the two met again at a party later that year and started dating. Julia Flesher Koch's fortune comes from
inheriting her late husband's 42% stake in Koch Industries, a closely held
industrial conglomerate. As of April 2023, Forbes ranked her second among the
richest women in the world with a fortune of $59 billion. Not bad for a reluctant blind date.
Dude! Financial serendipity is real!
You gotta be willing to
go out and meet the unknown. Nothing is promised to us in life. Nothing is
promised to them who stay home.
# # #
FINANCIAL SERENDIPITY
Financial Serendipity
refers to the occurrence of unexpected beneficial events that lead to financial
gain or improved financial well-being. These are basically random appearing
"happy accidents" in the financial world that benefit us. The element
of surprise and lack of intentional planning are key aspects of financial
serendipity. The fortunate encounters are recognizable through personal sagacity.
So. You have to use your individually endowed sagacity in order to
encounter a serendipitous fortune.
Jerry Selbee of Evart MI had
an undergraduate degree in Math and an MBA. Jerry owned a convenience store - the Corner
Store in Evart. Among other merchandise sold in the store were Michigan lottery
tickets. Some tickets were “winners” - winning tickets. Years later Jerry explained: “People have been conditioned to think it is luck. They don’t look at
the structure of games”.
In 2003 Jerry Selbee saw a brochure of a new Michigan
lottery game. He read the T&C and realized that statistically a $1 lottery
ticket was worth more than $1 on a certain week (known as “roll-down week”). He
decided that if he buys a sufficient number of tickets to play, the law of
probability will work favorably for him.
It wasn’t the first time he purchased a ticket. Odds are odds. Odds are
not a guarantee.
Jerry relied on his knowledge and wisdom – that was his
sagacity.
Before the next lottery cycle he purchased 3,400 Winfall
tickets for $3,400. After counting the winnings
his tickets grossed $6,300. That’s a 46%
profit margin. Next cycle he bought lottery tickets for $8,000 and grossed
$15,700. (49% profit margin).
Is that
good? Yes? Or yes?
The rest is history. The full story was written up and then
scripted and made into the movie Jerry & Marge Go Large,
released by Paramount, 2022. Jerry and
Marge and their off-springs became millionaires. My point is – Jerry had the
sagacity – knowledge in math and stats. With this knowledge he played the odds
– purchased enough tickets (enough winning tickets to win, lol) – and overcame
the lottery odds. In other words was there “luck”? No. It was not coincidence. It was Engineered
Serendipity! That’s what I call it.
Photo of Jerry and Marge on their truck’s tail gate. Courtesy of Paramount.
Engineered Serendipity is the intentional design of environments or
systems to escalate the likelihood
of serendipitous encounters. It involves creating
the conditions that foster unexpected connections and exploration. Brainstorming
sessions are most used for serendipity encounters.
Hold it. I must read this last para again. To live by it!
Good Luck? What good
luck?
Christian Bush says in his book, The
Serendipity Mindset: “Good luck isn’t just chance – it can be learned
and leveraged, and the serendipity mindset explains how you can use serendipity
to make your life better at work and at home - everywhere.”
Invoking serendipity requires sagacity. Sagacity
is the ability to think and act while using prior acquired knowledge and
experience, there is hardly no serendipity without some sagacity.
There’s Engineered Serendipity in any Financial
Serendipity.
# # #
SERENDIPITY
IS SMART
Ethan Zuckerman, a director of the Center for Civic Media at MIT, defines
engineered serendipity as the idea
“…that
we can help people come across unexpected but helpful connections at a better
than random rate. And in some ways, it’s based on trying to reassess this
notion of serendipitous as lucky — to think of serendipitous as smart.”
# # #
FINANCIAL
SERENDIPITY BY THE LAW OF THE LAND
THE MAKING OF THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD
At its height, in 1911, Standard Oil Co. was the largest
petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-founder and
chairman - John D. Rockefeller - among the wealthiest Americans of all time. Rockefeller
ran the company as chairman, until his retirement in 1897. Then he remained the
major shareholder.
On May 15, 1911, the US Supreme Court upheld the lower
court judgment and declared the Standard Oil group to be an
"unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act, Section II.
It ordered Standard Oil to break up into 34 independent companies with
different boards of directors. The biggest two of the companies were Standard
Oil of New Jersey (which became Exxon) and Standard Oil of New York (which
became Mobil).
Standard's president, John D. Rockefeller, owned a quarter
of the shares of the resultant companies, and those shares’ values soon doubled in value. Standard Oil, before
its breakup due to anti-monopolistic legal reasons was worth at least $1
trillion. Rockefeller emerged from the dissolution as the richest man in the world.
The dissolution of Standard had
propelled Rockefeller's personal wealth.
By the time of his death in 1937, Rockefeller's remaining
fortune, largely tied up in permanent family trusts, - was estimated at $1.4
billion, while the total national GDP was $92 billion (1.5% of GDP). According
to some methods of wealth calculation, Rockefeller's net worth over the last
decades of his life would easily place him as the wealthiest known person in recent history. As a percentage of the United States' GDP, no other
American fortune—including those of Bill Gates or Elon Musk —would even come
close.
Get this – Rockefeller
was serendipitously enriched in 1911, by political and legal actions outside
himself, outside of his company, and against his choice.
Before I leave Rockefeller, answer this question: is
Financial Serendipity the reason that causes the rich to get richer?
# # #
There are many other, unrelated historical examples that
illustrate different ways financial serendipity played out:
Windfalls and Discoveries:
- The California Gold
Rush (1848-1855): James Marshall’s accidental
discovery of gold while building a sawmill sparked a massive migration and
economic boom in California. James Wilson Marshall (1810 – 1885) was an American carpenter and a sawmill
operator, who on January 24, 1848, reported the finding of gold at Coloma,
California, a small settlement on the American River, about 36 miles
northeast of Sacramento. His discovery was the impetus for the California
Gold Rush. The mill property was owned by John Sutter who employed
Marshall to build his mill. The wave of gold seekers turned everyone's
attention away from the mill which eventually fell into disrepair and was
never used as intended. Neither Marshall nor Sutter ever profited from the
gold find.
This discovery
sparked the California Gold Rush, transforming the state's economy and creating
immense wealth for miners, merchants, and even those who sold shovels and
picks.
Unforeseen Market Shifts:
- The Dot-com Bubble
(1995-2001): While many businesses during the
dot-com boom went bust, early investors in internet companies like Google
and Amazon reaped immense returns on their initial investments due to the
unexpected and rapid growth of the internet.
- The COVID-19 Pandemic
(2020-2023): While the pandemic caused
widespread economic hardship, some industries like the big pharma
industry, the online streaming services, e-commerce as Amazon, and software companies like Zoom experienced
unexpected growth due to changes in consumer behavior during lockdowns.
Early investors in these sectors benefited financially.
# # #
A Saga in Omaha
The Warren Buffett's "Mistake" (1962). Warren
Buffett is known as the “Sage of Omaha”.
Buffett's purchase of
Berkshire Hathaway (BH), initially intended to acquire an another undervalued company.
It turned out to be one of his most successful investments as Berkshire
diversified and grew beyond expectations.
Imagine buying a beat-up old car, thinking you could flip
it for a quick buck. Turns out, the engine's busted, and the whole thing's
barely hanging on. That's kinda what happened to Warren Buffett with Berkshire
Hathaway back in the day.
But here's the twist:
instead of ditching the junker, the ever-sagacious Buffett saw potential. He
realized the car (or in this case, the BH company) had a cool frame and some
decent parts. So, instead of selling it off, he started tinkering.
First, he ditched the
busted engine (the failing textile business). Then, he used the car's frame (BH)
to build something new and awesome. He added all sorts of shiny upgrades:
insurance companies, railroads, even candy companies!
Buffett figured out a
neat trick with the insurance business. It basically generates a steady stream
of cash, like having a built-in gas station for the car. This freed him up to
focus on finding even more cool parts (businesses) to add to his collection.
By surrounding himself
with smart people and letting them handle the day-to-day stuff, Buffett could
focus on the big picture. He held onto his "upgraded" car for
decades, letting it grow and compound like crazy.
In short, while buying
Berkshire Hathaway was a bit of a stumble at first, Buffett's willingness to
adapt, his sagacious mind and eye saw an opportunity and turned HB into the
ultimate investment success story. Who knew a "mistake" could become
such a legendary ride?
Generational Shifts and Trends:
·
The Rise of Social Media. The explosive growth of social media platforms
like Facebook and Twitter created new avenues for advertising and marketing,
spawning entire industries and generating considerable wealth for individuals
involved in their early development.
We need to differentiate
between expected yet random financial events and completely unexpected - Black
Swan occurrences.
# # #
Financial Serendipity
Requires Sagacity
Remember Warren Buffett
the Sage of Omaha?
What is this sagacity?
Think of sagacity as being
like your mental superpower. It's that
combo of sharp thinking, seeing things clearly, and making solid choices. You
know, like the friend who always gives the best advice or the chess player who
can predict your next move (but way cooler).
Serendipity Begets Serendipity.
Sagacity is about
understanding stuff on a deeper level, not just the surface. You can sniff out
good ideas from bad ones and spot trouble coming from a mile away, all while
keeping your head cool and making smart decisions.
Basically, sagacity is
what makes you a wise owl, not just a hoot. Carefully planned investments,
sound financial management, and risk mitigation are crucial for long-term
financial success. The key skill is to
recognize the role of unexpected events and being prepared for them can
sometimes help us take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
# # #
Bond.
James Bond. & The Broccolis
Forget martinis for a sec
drink, let’s talk about how the Broccolis got their hands on James Bond! It wasn't just about throwing money around; it
was a tale of smarts, guts, and a serious case of Bond-mania.
Picture this: 1959, Albert
Cubby Broccoli stumbles upon Ian Fleming's "Casino Royale" and
thinks, "Whoa, this would be one heck of a movie!" He convinces his
buddy Harry Saltzman to team up, but studios weren't exactly lining up to fund
a secret agent flick.
Here's where the
Broccolis get clever: They offer Saltzman a half-share of the film rights in
exchange for scoring a studio deal.
Talk about a win-win!
They land Sean Connery to
play Bond, seal a million-dollar deal with United Artists, and Baam – "Dr.
No" is born, paving the way for future 007 adventures.
Fast forward to today:
The Broccolis (no relation to the veggie, by the way) are still very much in
the Bond business, with Cubby's daughter Barbara and stepson Michael G. Wilson
keeping the franchise going strong.
And let's talk moolah:
the Bond films have raked in an estimated revenue of over $7 BILLION worldwide! Not bad for a gamble on a secret agent with a taste for fast cars and shaken, not
stirred, martinis.
So, there you have it!
The Broccolis didn't just buy the Bond rights. Cubby Broccoli stumbled
unexpectedly upon the novel Casino Royale.
Some will call this stumble - coincidence or
luck but you and I know better that there is a reason behind the stumble.
Broccoli was interested in Ian Fleming’s novels.
Cubby
Broccoli gambled.
Sometime in life you’ve got to gamble.
If you
don’t gamble you can’t win.
Now, if you'll excuse me,
I have a sudden urge to re-watch "Goldfinger"...
Photo
# # #
Financial Serendipity: A Black Swan Spawns
Financial Opportunities
Financial Serendipity
refers to the occurrence of unexpected positive events that significantly
impact one's financial situation. It's the happy accident of the financial
world, where a “random” stroke of “luck” leads to windfalls, opportunities, or
breakthroughs. While not a dependable strategy, it's a fascinating concept with
real-life examples throughout history.
Dr. Morton Meyers wrote the book that reviewed serendipity in medical
innovations up to 2011. Happy Accidents.
Viagra was developed during experiments on medications designed to treat
angina. Meyers has dozens of stories like this, in the areas of antibiotics,
cancer treatments, cardiovascular therapy and antidepressants.
So what’s a Black Swan?
The black swan theory or
theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as
a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after
the fact with the benefit of hindsight. The term is based on an ancient saying
that presumed black swans did not exist, until they were discovered in
Australia in 1697, and it then became reinterpreted to mean an unforeseen and
consequential event.
The year 2020 was the Black
Swan year of a sweeping global pandemic.
# # #
Pfizer and Moderna – Post-Modern Example
of Financial Serendipity
The COVID-19 pandemic has
had a significant impact on the financial performance of big pharma, Pfizer and
Moderna. Both companies have seen their stock prices rise significantly since
the beginning of the pandemic, and they have generated billions of dollars in
revenue from the sale of their mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
There are a number of
factors that have contributed to the financial success of Pfizer and Moderna
during the pandemic. One important factor is the high demand for COVID-19
vaccines. Governments around the world were willing to pay high prices for
vaccines in order to protect their populations, and this has led to significant
revenue for Pfizer and Moderna.
Another factor is the
fact that Pfizer and Moderna were able to develop and manufacture their
vaccines relatively quickly. This was due in part to the fact that they were
able to leverage existing research on mRNA technology. As a result, they were
able to get their vaccines to market ahead of many of their competitors, which
gave them a first-mover advantage.
The government helps
again. Just like in the case of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. Pfizer
and Moderna have been able to benefit from generous government funding for
vaccine development and manufacturing. This funding has helped to reduce their
costs and has also helped to mitigate the risks associated with developing new
vaccines.
Overall, the COVID-19
pandemic has had a major impact on the financial performance of Pfizer and
Moderna. Both companies have seen their stock prices rise significantly because
of the generated billions of dollars in revenue from the sales of their
COVID-19 vaccines.
Pfizer alone generated $35
billion net profits on its COVID-19 related products during 2021 and 2022.
BioNTech and Moderna made $20 billion each, while Sinovac pocketed $15 billion.
Dr. Albert Bourla,
the CEO of Pfizer net worth went up by $24 million in 2022.
Well, Albert Bourla is a
sagacious man.
The financial success of
Pfizer and Moderna during the pandemic has also been controversial, with many
people arguing that the companies have been charging too much for their
vaccines and have not done enough to make them available to people in low- and
middle-income countries.
The Invention of Post-it
Notes (1968). A classic story. Spencer Silver, a chemist at 3M Company,
developed a weak adhesive that wouldn't damage paper. Despite its initial lack
of commercial success, Arthur Fry, a colleague, discovered its usefulness for
marking pages in his hymnal. This "happy accident" led to the
creation of Post-it Notes, a multi-billion-dollar product that continues to
bring revenue to 3M.
The Rise of Google (1998). While
searching for information on the web, Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed a
new algorithm that ranked websites based on their relevance. This algorithm,
originally called BackRub, became the foundation for Google search engine. It transformed the way we access information
and is still generating immense wealth for its founders and early sagacious
investors.
The GameStop Short
Squeeze (2021). A group of retail investors on Reddit, spurred
by online discussions, bought shares of GameStop, a struggling video game
retailer, heavily shorted by hedge funds. This unexpected buying pressure
caused the stock price to skyrocket, leading to massive losses for hedge funds
and windfalls for some retail investors.
This was another case of gambling – financial gambling – some won,
others lost.
There are more examples
of how unexpected events can have a profound impact on the financial world.
While financial serendipity can be a powerful force, it's important to remember
that it's not a reliable strategy for everyone. Building wealth through sound financial
planning, hard work, and sagacious investment decisions is the most sustainable
path to success.
# # #
JAMES
MICHENER – THE SERENDIPITOUS AUTHOR
Financial Serendipity
involves a combination of education, “chance” recognition, preparation, and sagacious
appreciation when stumbling upon opportunity. Let’s look for a change in how
wealth was made in the realms of authorship, book publishing, Broadway musicals
and Hollywood production.
James Michener was an
American author and historian. He wrote
more than 40 books, many of which were long, fictional family sagas covering
the lives of many generations, set geographic locales and incorporating
detailed history.
Michener was born in 1907
in Pennsylvania. He later wrote that he did not know who his biological parents
were, or exactly when or where he was born. He was raised as a Quaker by an adoptive
mother, Mabel Michener.
Michener graduated from
Doylestown High School. He attended Swarthmore
College, where he played basketball and was a member of the Phi Delta Theta
fraternity. After graduating in 1929, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English
and history, he traveled and studied at the University
of St Andrews in the medieval town of St. Andrews, Scotland, on the coast
of the North Sea, for two years. He traveled in Italy, Spain, Belgium, France,
and Holland. According to the back dust
cover of his first book !947 edition), For the first time he held papers as an
able-bodied seaman in the British merchant navy and sailed in the Mediterranean
touching the North Coast of Africa, Sicily and the Balearic Islands. He has lived
in sixteen of the forty-eight States and traveled all the forty-nine States.
Michener talked about
hoboing (riding freight trains for free) during the Great Depression, (mentioned
in the 1998 Great Depression documentary on the History Channel).
Michener became a high
school English teacher. Next, he
attended the University of Northern Colorado, where he earned a Master of Arts
degree in education. After graduation, he taught at the university.
Michener accepted a Guest
Lecturer position at Harvard University,
during 1939 to 1940. He left Harvard to work for Macmillan Company Publishers as their social studies education
editor.
Michener enlisted in the
United States Navy during World War II. He
was fortunate to have opportunities travelling throughout the South Pacific
Ocean on various Navy assignments which he gained because his base commanders
mistakenly thought his father was an Admiral (Marc Mitscher – an odd phonetic similarity in names). His experiences during these travels inspired
the stories published in his breakout work Tales of the South Pacific.
Let’s recap. Michener
acquired a wide education. As a world traveler and hobo in America and Europe he
sure gained unusual life experiences. He
made his way to Harvard (not as a student). Michener began his writing career
during WW II, when as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy he was assigned to the
South Pacific as a naval historian. By the end of WW II, he thoroughly lived
and saw the South Pacific and its innumerable islands, the peoples, and their cultures.
He later turned his notes
and impressions into Tales
of the South Pacific (1947).
Cover photo of first
edition 1947, owned by author.
The “Tales” was his first
book, published when he was age 40. The
book won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1948.
Rodgers and Hammerstein
adapted the Pulitzer winning book into the hit musical South Pacific, which
premiered on Broadway, in New York City, in 1949. The musical was next adapted into a feature
films in 1958 and 2001.
Get this – Michener led a
life of consecutive events of imaginative inspiring serendipitous encounters.
He was curious to acquire
an education. In between and subsequently his life was a series of adventures! One of his later books was titled The World is My Home.
He was a Sagacious man
par excellence, all along. He seized life opportunities! Brilliant enough to be invited to teach at
Harvard. Brilliant enough to ditch Harvard. No wonder that he saw in the Publishing House
of McMillan Co a better opportunity than Harvard… So, when he wrote his
fictional, a bit romantic, yet historical WW II memoir he had an established
publisher in waiting.
Dude. When you have a ready powerful publisher, you end up awarded a Pulitzer
Prize and get movie contracts from Hollywood studios.
Serendipity
Begets Serendipity!
Not sure yet?
James Michener was riding
the post-war wave. Fresh out of the
Navy, Michener penned "Tales" while his memories were still vivid.
This timeliness captured a realness that hooked readers. Think of it like
catching a story wave just as it's about to crest.
Right publisher, right
time. Like finding the perfect board for
the wave, Michener had the publisher who was hungry for war stories. Macmillan
pushed the book hard, and Michener actively promoted it, making sure everyone
knew about his ride.
From a book to Broadway. "Tales" wasn't just a bestseller; it
became a smash musical and movie. This wasn't just catching a wave, it was like
riding it all the way to Hawaii and back, first class! The success brought
Michener even more recognition and moolah.
Formula for fortune. Michener learned from his first success. He
went on to research diverse locations, wove history and fiction together, and
kept the quality high. This consistency kept his readers hooked and the money
flowing.
Michener created a new genre of sound history combined with storytelling. He was a writing machine, churning out
quality novels that often got adapted for the screens. He wrote 40 novels. Some of them are almost a thousand pages
long.
While specific events
like the war and the musical were big boosts, his success was like a perfect
storm: talent, hard work, smart choices, and a dash of serendipity. He wasn't
just catching waves; he was creating them! Sure, James Michener struck gold,
but it wasn't all blind luck. Imagine Michener as a surfer, catching the
perfect wave of opportunity.
The serendipitous key
moments that got him the ride all the way to the financial shore:
Joining the Navy. Not exactly winning the lottery, but this
wasn't random event in a life of a young man. Michener already craved
adventure, and the Pacific during WWII gave him a front-row seat to unique
cultures and experiences. This became the source of raw material for his first
hit, like "Tales of the South Pacific."
It is reported that
Michener had a noteworthy net-worth of $80 to 120 million. Depends on the
sources I looked at.
Michener passed in 1997 and is
remembered as a great philanthropist.
The New York Times Book
Review described him as: “Literary legend James A. Michener was a Renaissance
man, adventurous, inquisitive, unpretentious and unassuming, with an encyclopedic
mind and a generous heart”. When a man
is that towering, then his net worth is towering too.
# # #
Glauco L Ortolano was born in Americana, Brazil (1959). He is a poet, a philosopher, and author in
Portuguese an English. He taught in
several universities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He considers himself an
explorer of the human soul, and travels to seek understanding and enlightenment
from other cultures.
Ortolano’s most famous quote is: "Serendipity is the faculty of finding things we did not know we
were looking for." He says that when we die, we will eventually
understand the true meaning of this quote.
Financial Serendipity refers to the occurrence of
unexpected profitable financial events or outcomes, often through unforeseen
circumstances. It's the so-called lucky break in the world of finance - the
windfall that catches our sail and propels us forward.
Here are other historical examples, showcasing the diverse
ways serendipity can play out:
Market Crashes Trigger Unexpected Fortunes:
- The 1929 Stock Market
Crash: While devastating for many, the
crash also presented opportunities. Bernard Baruch, a prominent financier,
famously advised, "It's time to start buying." He used the panic
to acquire undervalued stocks, laying the foundation for his immense wealth.
- The 2008 Financial
Crisis: The crisis triggered a wave of
bankruptcies, but also birthed companies like Uber and Airbnb, and pushed
up Walmart, Home Depot and Amazon, which filled gaps left by struggling
incumbents. Their founders, seizing the moment of disruption, built
empires on the ashes of the financial meltdown.
Unexpected Discoveries and Innovation:
- Edwin Drake's Oil
Strike: In 1859, Drake was not searching
for oil, he was searching for salt! His unsuccessful well, however, struck a
much more valuable treasure – the first commercially viable oil well in
the United States, sparking a boom and transforming industries.
# # #
Accidental Investments in Technology and Unexpected Windfalls.
NVIDIA
Imagine NVIDIA back in the 90s, just trying to sell fancy
graphics cards for your game playing pc. Fast forward three decades later, and
everyone's going crazy about this new tech called Artificial Intelligence.
Turns out, those fancy graphics cards were perfect for crunching the symbols
and numbers most useful for this AI stuff.
That is thanks to their special way of parallel processing - handling
multiple tasks at once.
NVIDIA was founded on April 5, 1993, by Jensen Huang, Chris
Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, with a vision to bring 3D graphics to the gaming
and multimedia markets.
The guys at NVIDIA saw an opportunity and said, "hold
my beer" while they started making GPUs specifically designed for AI. They
even created tools to make it easier for programmers to use these powerful
cards for their AI projects. Partnering with big tech companies and researchers
just boosted and scaled their success.
So, how'd this play out for NVIDIA financially?
Let's just say their sales and stock price went up.
In simple terms, NVIDIA has been on a major roll.
Since going public in 1999, the company value has
skyrocketed from just over half a billion dollars to a whopping $1.97 trillion
as of today, February 26th, 2024. That's a mind-blowing growth of over
345,000%!
Think about it this way: if you invested $1,000 in NVIDIA
back in 1999, it would be worth roughly $3.5 million today. Now, that's past
performance, and future results are never guaranteed, but it sure gives you a
sense of their journey.
They became the big name in the AI game, with their GPUs
powering everything from self-driving cars to chatbots.
Now that we understand
how NVIDIA is about to become the largest market capitalized company in America,
let’s look at the potential of its contributions to AI and AI’s contributions
to engineered financial serendipity.
Imagine finding a hidden gem of a stock or stumbling upon the perfect
investment opportunity – that's the kind of financial serendipity we're talking
about. And guess what? AI is like our secret financial wingman, helping us discover
these happy surprises.
# # #
Here's how AI gives our
finances a serendipity boost:
Spotting hidden
connections in the financial markets. AI is
a data whiz, crunching processing through mountains of information to find
hidden links between things. This means AI
can unearth unexpected connections between financial products, market trends,
and our own situation. Based on this, it can recommend personalized options
we might have missed, opening doors to serendipitous finds.
AI may nudge us in the
right direction. Think
of AI as a friendly financial advisor,
learning our habits and goals. It can then give us personalized nudges,
suggesting things we might have overlooked that could lead to happy financial
surprises. Recommending financial moves we may consider.
AI can keep us safe from
pitfalls. AI acts like a watchful eye on your finances,
analyzing data in real-time to sniff out potential risks. By avoiding bad
decisions, AI indirectly creates space for unexpected financial opportunities
to blossom.
AI gives us market hints. While it’s not a flat-out
fortune teller… AI can analyze past data
to predict future trends, giving insights that might lead to serendipitous
investment decisions or uncovering hidden gems in the market.
In short, AI
is a tool, and its effectiveness depends on the data it has and how it's used.
But one thing's for sure, AI is now shaking things up in the financial world,
making it more fertile ground for those happy financial surprises we all wish.
Financial Serendipity is
a concept. It’s no way a guaranteed strategy.
It highlights the importance of staying
open to the avalanche of ever incoming new opportunities towards us. Being open-minded
and adaptable is a must. Accepting with
open arms the random occurrences play a role in our financial journey down Wall
Street.
Financial Serendipity is
a catalyst, it still crucially requires having
a solid
financial foundation, making informed decisions, and managing risks
wisely. Chance encounters are useful for the prepared mind to capitalize on
unexpected opportunities when they are encountered.
Engineered Guerrilla Financial
Serendipity is a ubiquitous opportunity.
Because serendipity begets serendipity. Because serendipity is in the perceptive
mind.
# # #
Notes and Books:
Why do burglars rob the
bank? Because that’s where the money is. A case of Main Street sagacity.
I know. I repeated many positions and statements more than once. That’s because you’re are reading my
personal notes as I like them and you didn’t pay me royalties…
A Random Walk Down Wall Street.
Deloitte Touche is a world-renowned
audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and legal services
with approximately 457,000 employees globally.
At Deloitte, John Hagel
III was the founder and chairman of the Silicon Valley-based Deloitte Center
for the Edge, focusing on identifying emerging business opportunities that are
not yet on the CEO’s agenda.
The book Power of Pull shows how to apply its
principles to unlock the hidden potential of individuals and organizations, and
how to use it as a force for innovative social change and the development of
creative talent.
John Hagel et al.
explore how to use the power of “Pull” to enhance productivity of attention and
thus enhance serendipity encounters. Access
new sources of information; attract likeminded individuals from around the world;
shape serendipity to increase the likelihood of positive chance encounters and
form creative environments to drive you and your colleagues to new heights of achievement.
Transforming our organizations to adapt to the incoming flow of knowledge.
The Serendipity Mindset by Christian Bush.
Happy Accidents. Serendipity in Modern
Medical Breakthroughs. Morton A. Meyers M.D. Arcade Publishing, N.Y. 2011.
Jason Fagone: Jerry and Marge Go Large. Huffington Post. March 18, 2018
Inventology. How We Dream up Things That Change the World by Pagan Kennedy.
Sanda Erdelz researched and wrote about information explorations using the internet.
Mandy Lender, MD, MBA is the author
of The Master Attractor and owner of
the ATTRACTOME™ .
Mandy Lender and Minna Rozen own the rights to Lender Combinations: Baruch Lender and His Chess Problems.
Before I leave, here is an autographed photo dedicated to me, by the actor Richard Kiel (Jaws) as he was struggling and fighting 007 - Roger Moore. I met
Richard Kiel serendipitously.
I ran into
Richard Kiel serendipitously.
www.mandylender.com www.mandylender.net www.lendercombinations.com www.attractome.com
© Mandy Lender
2024.
Tags:
#engineeredfinancialserendipity #financialserendipity #NVIDIA #DeloitteTouche
#WarrenBuffett #JamesMichener #AlbertBourla #Pfizer #Moderna #BerkshireHathaway
#MiriamAdelson #JuliaKoch #JerrySelbee #JohnDRockefeller #StandardOil
#DallasMaverick #MarkCuban #BlackSwan #JamesBond #AlbertBroccoli #SeanConnery #RichardKiel #RogerMoore #MichiganStateLottery
