Alan Waxman - Building Sixth Street

My guest today is Alan Waxman. Alan is the co-founder and CEO of Sixth Street, one of the most unique investment firms with a "go anywhere, do anything" mandate across asset classes, geographies, and time horizons, and over $110 billion in AUM. He describes his journey from CIO of Goldman Sachs’ Special Situations Group and the frameworks he brought with him to lay the foundation for Sixth Street. Alan details their famous investments like Spotify and Airbnb during challenging periods, their innovative sports partnerships with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and their $30 billion "TAO" vehicle that allows them to write billion-dollar checks while keeping individual fund sizes matched to opportunities. We discuss hiring people without egos, enabling a truly multi-strategy approach, and Sixth Street’s "face the tiger" philosophy. Please enjoy this great conversation with Alan Waxman. 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best

(00:04:57) Introducing Alan Waxman and Sixth Street

(00:05:58) The Formative Goldman Sachs Years

(00:10:21) Unitizing Risk and Return

(00:14:23) Facing the Tiger: Sixth Street's Culture and Values

(00:34:51) Spotify and Airbnb: Case Studies in Investment

(00:39:20) Ambitious Investment Strategies

(00:40:40) Strategic Partnerships in Sports

(00:41:23) Navigating COVID with Airbnb

(00:43:36) Risk and Return Analysis

(00:46:56) Investing in Sports and Live Entertainment

(00:52:23) Developing Investment Themes

(00:55:29) Balancing Leadership and Investment

(00:57:30) The Importance of Culture

(01:10:33) Future Self and Long-Term Vision

(01:15:09) The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Alan