Our guest on Episode 2 of Compounders was Tom Gayner, the co-CEO of Markel Corporation. Markel is a Fortune 500, $17.5 billion market cap financial holding company that primarily operates in the insurance and re-insurance industry. Though Tom has only been in the co-CEO seat since 2016, he has been with Markel for close to 30 years and he has been an investor longer than that. Markel has been compared to Berkshire Hathaway in both structure and performance and Tom has been a key architect of the company’s diversification away from insurance through the acquisition of operating businesses. In fact, Markel Ventures has gone from $1.2 billion in revenue in 2016 to about $2.8 billion today.
Tom is well-known in the value investing community for his charm and intellect. Also, many people who have made the trek to Omaha for the Berkshire Shareholder Meeting have also attended the Markel Breakfast event. I had the opportunity to listen to Tom speak a number of times in Omaha and that is why I thought he would be a great guest on the podcast.
In this conversation, we covered:
- His thoughts on what makes a compounder
- The value of having a Quaker upbringing
- How to invest more like his grandmother than a Wall Street trader
- Why he is a better investor because he is a CEO—and vice versa
Please enjoy the interview at the following sites:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvUA6FmeY9s
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/30-years-of-investing-as-a-family-with-tom-gayner/id1579124518?i=1000532243664
Podbean: https://compounders.podbean.com/e/30-years-of-investing-as-a-family-with-tom-gayner-co-ceo-of-markel-corporation-nyse-mkl/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3z7SSCLK5xje7DHWnRFD8E
Also, if you have any comments, feedback, or guest recommendations, please contact us at podcast@covestreetcapital.com. You can also follow the podcast on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/CompoundersPod.
You may also enjoy the podcasts on YouTube below:
In case you missed it, please enjoy the last episode of Compounders featuring Weston Hicks, the CEO of Alleghany Corporation.
