A private jet, a personal chauffeur and a large entourage…
That’s how most CEOs of billions of companies travel.
But not this founder and CEO.
He was driving a battered Ford F-150 pickup truck with a four-speed transmission.
The truck also had some “aftermarket” dents.
His only entourage was his hunting dog, Roy.
That’s how Walmart store founder Sam Walton used to do it.
At the time of his death in 1992, Sam’s net worth was approximately $25 billion…
And he still drives his trusty red pickup truck.
For Sam, being thrifty wasn’t something he woke up to one morning.
It was part of who he was.
And when people asked him why he still drives a pickup truck despite being one of the richest people in the world, he replied: “What do you carry your dog in a Rolls-Royce?”
your money
Walmart has become the world’s largest retailer because it watches over nickels and dimes.
The company operated from a small office in Bentonville, Arkansas.
When employees traveled around the world, they didn’t ride first class.
Far from it. They flew economy and he slept in a room at a Holiday Inn or another economy brand hotel.
When they purchased their trip to New York City, they either walked or took the subway. Taxis were prohibited.
Traveling Walmart employees were asked to bring back pens and notebooks from hotels where they stayed. Why spend money on office supplies?
This kind of thinking continues today, more than 60 years after Walmart was founded.
That’s the type of CEO I look for when I invest in companies.
A CEO who treats shareholders’ money like his own.
Every dollar matters
After all, all kinds of expenses affect your bottom line.
In 2022, Walmart will generate $570 billion with a net profit of $12 billion.
A $10,000 investment when Walmart went public in 1970 is now worth over $180 million.
It’s no surprise that another major retailer followed Sam’s advice.
His company has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion, but they still watch every cent.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is said to have carried it with him. Sam Walton: Made in Americathe autobiography of the founder of Wal-Mart.
Jeff Bezos working on his “desk” in his garage.
Bezos is also a thrifty CEO. For many years his desk was just a door panel.
In 2013, when he became one of the richest people in the world, he was still driving a Honda Accord.
A $10,000 investment in Amazon just 26 years ago, when Amazon went public on May 15, 1997, is now worth about $15 million.
Alliance with CEO
When researching companies to add to my portfolio, I spend a lot of time learning as much as I can about the CEO.
It always amazes me that investors put thousands of dollars in stocks and have no idea who runs the companies.
I only want to partner with a CEO who treats shareholders like partners, who cares about every penny, and who does his best to keep his customers happy.
I recently had a long talk with the founder and CEO.
Within minutes of our conversation, it was immediately clear what made his company stand out.
In addition to going all in, he put all of his $22 million net worth into the company. He genuinely cares about his shareholders.
I sent this conversation to a small group of subscribers. Please join us.
In this new video, we share evidence of the right decisions being made at the right time by the right CEO.
It can increase the stock price of a company.
Decisions like those made by Sam Walton and Jeff Bezos.
This could be one of the biggest transformational decisions ever made by a CEO…
It’s a move that will allow this tiny $5 energy company to generate up to five times more money than competitors can make with their own energy.
Click here for the full text.
nice to meet you,
Charles Mizrahi
Founder, alpha investor
A few weeks ago, I completely purged my payments, canceling or curtailing monthly payments that were spiraling out of control.
Well, it looks like I’m not the only one hacking costs. Retail sales rose 0.4% in April, only half of Wall Street’s 0.8% gain. And this comes on the heels of significant declines in March and February.
No, an increase is an increase.
The fact that Americans spent more money in April should not be completely ignored.but then 2 months The steep decline continued, and the recovery was far from as strong as we had hoped.
Six of the 13 spending categories saw declines in April.
Interestingly, food and beverage spending increased by a whopping 9.4%. Part of it is thought to be due to inflation. It’s just that the bill is higher than before.
But it also presents the broader theme of Americans cutting back on ‘things’, not to mention home services. Instead, they focus their discretionary spending on experiences.
It’s also the simple reality that with inflation higher than most paychecks, every extra dollar spent eating out leaves less retail dollars.
We see the same thing happening in corporate earnings. Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement store, just reported its biggest revenue loss in 2016. 20 years.
Sales of big-ticket items such as patio furniture and grills were particularly weak. And overall, the company expects a 2% to 5% decline for the full year.
When a company “misses” a profit or earnings figure, it means that its reported performance was lower than Wall Street expected.
And while I don’t like to draw conclusions from just a handful of data points, this suggests the economy may be slowing faster than Wall Street expected…and Wall Street has already been quite bearish recently.
Of course, a recession isn’t the end of the world.
It’s a proverbial pause to refresh.
And after a few years of unusually high spending on “stuff” during the pandemic, it makes perfect sense that Americans should be spending a little less.
But every dollar that isn’t spent doesn’t show up in the company’s bottom line or bottom line.
Does this mean we have another part of the bear market in front of us?
Let’s see. In the near term, the debt ceiling, the banking crisis, and expectations of what the Federal Reserve will do next will all have more impact.
But the overall bull market is unlikely to persist until earnings improve. And that probably won’t happen until spending improves.
But while the overall market outlook is uncertain, there are still benefits to be gained by focusing on top quality companies trading at good prices.
And that’s where Charles Mizrahi does best.
He doesn’t just buy companies. As he said today, he “partners with the CEO” when he invests his own money.
Because having the right leader at the helm can make the difference between a company’s success or its collapse.
If you are interested in this investment approach and would like to learn more about Charles, latest stock selection Make just one more decision today in the energy sector.
Check out Charles’ new video here.
nice to meet you,
Charles Sizemore Editor-in-chief, The Banyan Edge