Best Books to Read to Become an Investment Banker

March 07, 2022 Post a Comment

Every now and then, an investment banker should take fourth dimension out to read some of the fantastic literature that exists on the field.

A frustration when looking for good books on investment banking is how many people consider books on trading to be investment banking.

And although there are some great books out there on trading, it'south all a long way from investment banking. With this in mind, nosotros at DealRoom have put together the following list:

1. Barbarians at the Gate past Brian Burlough and John Helyar

This book is found on every listing of recommended books for investment bankers. Now more than xxx years former, information technology says everything about its quality that it is still regarded equally essential reading.

If you're non familiar with the story past now, Borough and Helyar were two investigative journalists that went into some depths on the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. The book provides valuable insights into fraught negotiations, valuations, egos getting in the way of conclusion making, and higher up all, the perils of too much leverage.

2. The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs by Charles D. Ellis

Information technology is difficult to believe now but Goldman Sachs was once the outsider on Wall Street. Author Charles D. Ellis follows its journey from here to the world'south undisputed leader of investment cyberbanking.

Information technology never gets caught in the weeds and is replete with dozens of enlightening stories that emphasize the importance of serving the client, keeping egos in check, and artistic solutions (such as paying the back of England to borrow its gilt, and then that GS could merchandise on it).

3. Buffett: The Making of an American Backer by Roger Lowenstein

No collection of books for investment bankers would be complete without a nod to the Sage of Omaha, Warren Buffett.

Although Lowenstein's account predates Buffett's autobiography by more than a decade, information technology is arguably an even amend account of the Buffett story.

Lowenstein, for instance, focuses far less on Buffett's human relationship with Bno and the Neb and Melinda Gates Foundation, and instead goes into the nitty gritty of how close the Coca-Cola Company came to going under in the 1980s.

4. Principles by Ray Dalio

Dalio is not an investment broker and nor is this a great volume, so you would be forgiven for request what it is doing on this list. It'due south here considering of Dalio'due south ability to learn from every mistake to generate value.

Dalio took a 'win or learn' perspective to his work, which meant that fifty-fifty if he made damaging mistakes, he would at to the lowest degree come up away in the cognition that he would never make them again. His annotation taking process, outlined hither in item, is an instance for anybody, investment bankers or non.

5. The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America

This is essentially a collection of Buffett's writing from Berkshire Hathaway'due south almanac reports.

Some of the pieces of wisdom from the essays of Warren Buffett have been reprinted so many times that they have entered the popular lexicon (accept "it's only when the tide goes out that you learn who was swimming naked" as an example).

This is an enjoyable piece of writing that tin exist dipped into and out of at the reader'southward leisure, every time providing a little piece of wisdom or two.

half dozen. Silvio Berlusconi: Tv set, Ability and Patrimony by Paul Ginsberg

Before disgraced old Italian Prime Government minister Silvio Berlusconi became a figure of mirth, it is no exaggeration to say that the man was a business genius.

This warts and all account of his life looks at Berlusconi from all sides. What emerges is someone that was able to run across obvious trends well before everyone else.

The deals that Berlusconi made in construction, media and sport, evidence what is possible when skillful negotiation meets thinking from a dissimilar perspective.

7. Hidden Champions of the 20-Showtime Century by Hermann Simon

This is not a common book on investment bankers' must-read lists. However, we have included information technology every bit Simon, a German language direction consultant, has looked at the 'hidden champions' of world industry:

Those companies that dominate certain industries, usually making billions of dollars in the process, without attracting any of the fanfare of more than well-known names. Nobody will accept heard of all the companies on his listing, and the book changes how you think about winning companies.

8. The Accidental Investment Broker by Jonathan Human knee

The Accidental Investment Broker is almost an anti-investment broker book (Articulatio genus, incidentally, is nonetheless an investment banker), so may not exist popular with everyone.

That beingness said, anyone that has worked in investment banking is likely to find some of the stories highly entertaining and some will fifty-fifty remember some of the antics that surrounded the TMT side of the industry at the time of the turn of the century, that period beingness the major focus of this volume.

9. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Rober Iger

Ane of the books on this list that isn't about investment banking but does go through the thought process of the boss of Disney during its biggest deals over the by two decades.

I chapter, "Curiosity and massive risks that brand sense" captures the essence of this. Iger goes into some detail almost how he saw the CEOs at the companies he caused and how he approached them almost acquisition. A fascinating insight into a chief of the Chiliad&A craft.

x. The Night Side of Valuation past Aswath Damodaran

Aswath Damodran is considered by many to be the father of modern valuation. In this volume, the Stern School of Business professor of finance talks through approaches to the more challenging ('the dark side') valuations that we tend to come across: young, distressed and complex businesses.

Anyone familiar with Damodaran will know that he isn't just a finance genius, he's also a great communicator and this book is typical of his introducing complex themes to the reader in an like shooting fish in a barrel-to-assimilate fashion.