Mansa Musa Mentality - Building Your Investment Empire

This year I wanted to get back to the basics as I continue on my journey of independently building my investment empire. Back in college, I recall managers coming in from the Toyota car company and telling us how they came up with the concept for the brand, Lexus. Quite simply, they decided to take the best ideas from all the top car companies. I remember it like it was yesterday: German (engineering), Japanese (manufacturing + quality), American (design) produces luxury at a more affordable price. That stuck with me in a major way and I incorporated that into my life.

Mamba Mentality - For the things, I dedicate my life to I try to have a work ethic like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan, that Mamba Mentality that I am here to compete and win. I would argue I've received awards and recognition in athletics, academics, and for my execution in the corporate world. Feel free to ask anyone, I've worked with - they will say I'm tough, very competitive, but fair.

Lexus Mentality - For things that I am passionate about but cannot dedicate myself to that craft, I do spend a considerable amount of time learning about that subject but I also borrow or have on speed dial people that know more than me on those topics.

This duality helps me grow my empire which gets stronger as I build my "Network" of friends, colleagues, subject matter experts, confidants, and even detractors. These are people I can call, email, or text at the drop of a dime to help me make an informed decision. The area I'm most proud of is my network extends to virtual experts and confidants that I've catalogued over time. People I've come to trust after listening, reading, or researching their work. Here are a few:

Real Estate (Diana Olick, Sam Zell*, Jonathan Gray*); 

Economics (Mark Zandi, Jason Furman, Fed Governors); 

Healthcare (Dr. Scott Gottlieb);

Technology / Stock Investments (Kara Swisher, John Fortt) (Katie Stockton, Larry Fink*, Mohamed El-Erian, Bill Miller);  African-American Investors (Jay Z*, John Rogers of Ariel Funds, Robert F. Smith* of Vista Capital, Daymond John, Rick Ross, LeBron James, Dr. Dre, Junior Bridgeman, Shaq O'Neal); 

#A-Billi Squad: Warren Buffett*, Chamath Palihapitiya*, Seth Klarman*, Paul Singer*, Bill Ackman*, Carl Icahn*, Mario Gabelli*, Tilman Fertitti*, David Tepper*, Dan Loeb*, David Einhorn*, Ron Baron*, John Paulson*,

*represents my billionaire buddies

Funny thing is this was off the dome (in my head) and most listed here helped shape my thinking or we've made money together. When I combine all these concepts or mentalities into one you get the Mansa Musa Mentality. Arguably the richest person in history, Mansa Musa, ruled over a large empire and put cities like Timbuktu on the map as they were known for their cities and libraries.

In my upcoming posts, I'll be writing about #MansaMusaMentality and how I use my extended network to invest. Almost like case studies, I'll highlight how these contacts guide me on investments such as buying real estate, stocks, precious metals, cryptocurrencies, etc. And I want to foster a community culture, so I'll show you how I learn from them and maybe in the future we can crowdsource or here we call it #tribesource investment ideas for the future.

"Detail" - A Breakdown of my Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI) Investment

Year: 2007

Throwback Link: 2007 BNI Investment

I first wrote about BNI on August 15, 2007. This stock makes the #MansaHallofFame because I used my network, in particular Warren Buffett, to find this investment. Warren (part of #ABilliSquad) began making large purchases of the railroad company. I did some research on the company, the products they haul, and whether the stock was selling at a discount to it's long-term value. But it was my long-term relationship with Warren that helped me cement my decision. I knew that he often liked to own companies in entirety. So when he bought more, I repeatedly purchased this stock in large blocks. Don't believe me, click the link - in 2007 I called it my Juvenile "Back That Thang Up" trade. It's not uncommon that investors rally around similar stocks or ideas, so on occasions I join them: #HuntinPacks

Outcome: 

Ironically, because I have a 9-5 job I have never paid to much attention to the comments section. Well 13+ years later, I found this comment on the link I provided in above. The reader complimented my depth of knowledge and inquired whether I thought Warren would takeover OR buy the entire company. As mentioned above, I have researched and studied so many books on Mr. Buffett that I did in fact believe he would eventually buy the company out and I'm disappointed I never had a chance to share that with the reader. But he got his answer just two years after that post:

Warren Buffett made biggest purchase of career; buys Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp for $26.3 Billion; Warren's company Berkshire agreed to purchase the railroad for $100 a share

Excerpts from Wall Street Journal (Nov. 4, 2009)

And I made roughly $20-25 for every share I owned:

Block Purchases:

08/15/2007  09:41:05 Bought *** BNI @ 79

08/16/2007  12:08:56 Bought *** BNI @ 76

01/22/2008  08:00:13 Bought *** BNI @ 75.61

Sale (due to Berkshire buying my shares):

02/17/2010  15:40:03 Sold *** BNI @ 100

Guess How I Found Out: 

A reader texted me at work and said "I bet you are having a great day". I responded, what in the world are you talking about...and he shared the great news. And this is not just any reader, this is an amazing friend and my mortgage broker, who I've kept in my network and stayed in touch with since my college days. I've purchased and refinanced all of my properties with him and consider him a confidant. Long Live The Empire

#MansaMusaHOF   - designates this stock pick was retired in my Hall of Fame

#ABilliSquad -  Billionaire investors from the Wall Street community that make up my squad. Ya Dig

#HuntinPacks - designates investments I made alongside someone in my network

#MansaMusaMentality