When you look at the cover, it's all about the coffee can. And I'd like to tell the story of the coffee can, because I think it'll help people understand what this is all about.
There was a guy named Robert Kirby, who worked at the Capital Group in Los Angeles. Ronald Reagan had appointed him to the Brady Commission after the '87 stock market crash. So, very, very reputable guy. He managed money for people, and one day he met an heiress and said, 'can I manage your money for you?' She said, 'yes, I like you, and I like what you're about. But I don't really know much about investing, so can you deal with my husband on day-to-day matters? He's a lawyer'.
Kirby said, 'Sure, I'll deal with him'. And so, as time went on, he would call up the husband and say, 'buy this stock for your wife'. The husband would dutifully buy the stock for his wife. But without telling anybody, he would buy the same stock for himself, with his own money. Then over the years, Kirby would call the husband and say, 'sell that stock for your wife'. He would dutifully sell it in his wife's account, but he refused to sell it for himself. And he would keep the stock certificates in a coffee can.
Years go by. The husband dies. The wife finds the coffee can, doesn't know what it is, and gives it to Kirby. In a hot minute, Kirby realizes exactly what's going on. The husband was piggybacking off all the buy recommendations but never selling. His portfolio did far better than his wife's. He would put $5,000 into each one of those stock investments. Some went down to $3,000. A bunch went up to $100,000. And one went to $800,000. That was Xerox.
Matt Ankrum heard that story and decided he wanted to focus on those companies that multiplied 100 times, like Xerox. He started his research on 100-baggers and brought the coffee can concept together with it. Readers will like the metaphor of the coffee can story, and the power of exponential compounding, as well as the power of a relationship of a father with his daughters. I think readers will be very interested in this book for their families. The Coffee Can Investor is less about what to think and more about how to think…how to invest for the long term.
