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How “The Most Boring Business on Earth” Made an Ordinary Investor into Billionaire
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Editor’s Note: Today you're getting a sneak peek at one of the Benzinga Research's weekly research reports, in which our analysts break down the most explosive and potentially profitable opportunities on their radar. Today, we cover a “boring” business model that has dramatically outperformed markets over time—and created some of the most unlikely millionaires or even billionaires in the process. To get these reports in your email inbox every Tuesday, upgrade to Benzinga Edge here.
At age 38, Shelby Davis felt like a failure.
He had worked odd jobs as a CBS correspondent in Europe, before giving up his aspirations for a lasting career in journalism.
Then he became a speechwriter for a failed politician, Thomas Dewey, who told voters “the ocean is full of fish,” and “America’s future is still ahead of us,” before losing a presidential election… twice.
After writing speeches for a laughingstock, Davis took a job as First Deputy Superintendent of Insurance in New York, a job that’s as obscure and dead-end as it sounds.
But it came with one privilege. Davis could request balance sheets and statements of one of America’s most arcane businesses. He studied them rigorously.
And in those mounds of filings that would have made almost anyone’s eyes glaze over, Davis saw an opportunity. It seemed so compelling, he borrowed $50,000 from his wife’s family to invest.
There’s a new feature at Benzinga that allows you to get stock picks and new trades straight from our top experts. This includes the two Wall Street veteran traders.