Michael Larson (businessman)

Michael Larson is an American money manager. He is presently the chief investment officer of Cascade Investment llc., the investment vehicle for The Gates Foundation and the Gates personal fortune. He assumed the role in 1994.^[1]

Early life and education

Michael Larson was born in Sacramento, California in October, 1959. Larson was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico and spent his summers in North Dakota. Larson attended Valley High School in Albuquerque.^[1]

Larson graduated from high school in two years and was recruited to West Point, The Coast Guard Academy and The Merchant Marine Academy. He was also accepted at the University of Washington and Claremont McKenna College. Larson was only 16 when he graduated high school and could not attend The Coast Guard Academy until he was 18. He decided to attend Claremont Mckenna for one year. After a year, he would transfer to The Academy.^[1]

While at CMC, Larson realized he had a passion for economics and finance and decided to stay. Larson majored in economics at CMC and was accepted to the joint BA-MBA program with The Booth School of Business at University of Chicago. In 1979, Larson left for the University of Chicago. He received his MBA at the age of 21.^[1]

Career

After graduating from the Booth School of Business, Larson went to work for ARCO doing M&A. After a few years, Larson moved to Boston to worked for Putnam Investments managing bond funds. After two years, Larson left Putnam to run his own fund.^[1]

Cascade Investments

While trying to buy a Chicago based money-management firm, Larson received a call from a head hunter, Bert Early. Early represented Bill Gates, who was looking for a money-manager at the time. Early had heard of Larson from a few investors in Tacoma, WA. The hiring process was extensive, given the amount of money Larson would be running for Gates. Larson was hired after a successful interview with Gates in Seattle. In 1994, Larson and his wife moved to Seattle.^[1] Larson called the investment shop Cascade Investments because the generic name would allow him to operate in the market without drawing attention. Larson has and continues to operate under the radar with the exception of a rare interview with Fortune in 1999.^[2]

When Larson started at Cascade, informally known as BGI (Bill Gates Investments), he was the only employee. He quickly hired Alan Heuberger, a fellow graduate of Claremont McKenna College. Heuberger is now number two at the firm. Larson originally ran 11.5 billion of the Gates fortune and foundation but that has swelled tremendously over the years as Gates sells his Microsoft stock. Although an actual statement isn't released, it's believed that Larson manages well over 80 billion year to date. This number includes The Gates Foundation as well as Gates's personal wealth.^[3]

Cascade is a diversified investment shop although there is an emphasis on real estate private equity managed by the subsidiary, Los Arboles Management.

Larson was a pupil of Professor Jerry St. Dennis while at CMC. Larson convinced St. Dennis to come out of retirement in order to act as an advisor to Larson. Before teaching at CMC, St. Dennis was Assistant Secretary to the Treasury under Ronald Reagan and was Chairman and CEO of California Federal Bank.^[4]

Other ventures

Larson is a regular attendant of The Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors at Western Asset and is a member of the Board of Directors at Pan American Silver, Ecolab, Hamilton Lane, FoodTrader.com, Grupo Televisa, Republic Services and AutoNation. Larson serves on the Board of Trustees at Claremont McKenna College, Lakeside School and the United Negro College Fund. He is also the Chair of the Investment Committee at The University of Washington.^[5]

References