guess you can lose yourself in a Ramones song, but a Ramones song is like doing a shot... A Tool song is like smoking a cigar and drinking a fine wine or some absinthe for a whole evening.” YIN JOINS YANG Last year, fellow investor Whitney Tilson reached out to him with a new business opportunity. Whitney and Enrique are “kindred souls” who’ve been friends for the past decade. At first glance, the two finance gurus appear quite different. Tilson, with zero tattoos and a fondness for easy-listening radio stations, had a much more conservative and traditional upbringing. Yet these two different paths led them both to the same place, and they share an intensity and passion for life and all things investing. Enrique is the yin to Tilson’s yang... Tilson started an investment-research business called Empire Financial Research, and the chance to write a trading newsletter was a perfect fit for Enrique. Whitney enthusiastically introduced Enrique to his readers... “Enrique is neither a value nor growth investor... He’s a stone-cold moneymaker. He’ll buy beaten-down, old economy big caps or high-growth tech small caps – he doesn’t care. He just has a nose for stocks that will go up.” The investment-research industry was a natural pairing for Enrique. In addition to running a digital media company, he was the editor-in-chief of the second-largest
newspaper at Wharton. Even in his hedge funds, he’d write informative and entertaining investor letters. “I actually love education. I love media. I like engaging with people. I like entertaining and educating and informing and I like, you know, making people money. Those are all things that give me great pleasure and enjoyment.” And now, he’s bringing that approach to Main Street, rather than simply keeping it on Wall Street. “I like winning... I’m very mathematical. Also, it’s nice to make money, too. But it’s the chance to take all the stuff I’ve learned and all that experience and all those connections, with my very unique insight... and offer that to my readers.” He is quite philosophical when it comes to success. “It excites me that I can share my knowledge and unique perspective with readers. I legitimately enjoy it.” Looking to the future, Enrique’s goals are fairly simple, perhaps because he’s in such a good place in his life right now. Professionally, he wants to continue to build the Empire business, focusing on new products and making subscribers money... He sees this as something he’ll want to do for a long time. Personally, his five- and 10-year plans are fairly simple: “Raise happy kids, keep my wife happy, stay healthy, and enjoy life.” He tells me, “Life isn’t just about making money. It’s ‘EVERYTHING ELSE IS GRAVY...’
36
March 2020
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker