Andy Kessler (born 1958) is an American businessman, investor, and author. He writes the "Inside View" column for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' opinion page. Kessler has worked for about 20 years as a research analyst, investment banker, venture capitalist, and hedge fund manager. He has written for ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', ''

The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "re ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', ''

The American Spectator ''The American Spectator'' is a conservative American magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation. It was founded in 1967 by Tyrrell, who remains its editor- ...

'', and Thestreet.com.

Early life

Raised in

Bridgewater Township, New Jersey Bridgewater Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is both a regional commercial hub for Central New Jersey (home to Bridgewater Commons and different corporate headquarters) and is a bedroom suburb ...

, Kessler attended Bridgewater-Raritan High School East. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

(1980) and an MSEE from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

(1981).

Career

Finance

From 1980 to 1985, Kessler worked for

AT&T Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

as a chip designer and programmer. In 1985, he joined

Paine Webber PaineWebber & Co. was an American investment bank and stock brokerage firm that was acquired by the Swiss bank UBS in 2000. The company was founded in 1880 in Boston, Massachusetts, by William Alfred Paine and Wallace G. Webber. Operating with t ...

in New York as an analyst of the

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

and

semiconductor A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical conductivity value falling between that of a conductor, such as copper, and an insulator, such as glass. Its resistivity falls as its temperature rises; metals behave in the opposite way. ...

industry. In 1989, Kessler joined

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

as a semiconductor analyst before moving to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 1993. There he worked for

Unterberg Harris C.E. Unterberg, Towbin, was a United States investment bank. Founded as C.E. Unterberg & Co. in 1932 by Clarence E. Unterberg, the firm changed its name to C.E Unterberg, Towbin & Co., in 1953. History The firm began as a niche over-the-counter t ...

as an investor, until starting Velocity Capital with Fred Kittler.

Writer

From January to March 2003, Kessler wrote and successfully

self-publish Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

ed a book, ''Wall Street Meat: My Narrow Escape From the Stock Market Grinder'', about working with

Jack Grubman Jack Benjamin Grubman is an American former managing director of Salomon Smith Barney and the lead research analyst for the telecommunications sector. Personal life He was born in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Isador and Mildred Grubman ...

Frank Quattrone Frank Quattrone (born 1955) is an American technology investment banker who started technology sector franchises at Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, and Credit Suisse First Boston. He helped bring dozens of technology companies public during the 19 ...

, and

Mary Meeker use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , nationality = American , citizenship = , education ...

, after hearing that traditional publishing houses would take over a year to publish it.Kessler, Andy
"Self-Publish And Be Damned? Not Always."
''

Online'', January 20, 2004. Retrieved March 17, 2008. Kessler's 2010 novel ''Grumby'' takes him into the world of super-hackers. The book is notable among books by well-known authors for being released first on Kindle and then in hardcover. This allowed Kessler to include a fictional cause for the flash-crash, which occurred just prior to publication, in the plot. Among his many other writings, in an April 26, 2007 guest column in ''

'', entitled "Trust Me", Kessler wrote in part: "There are plenty of things I don’t trust – like Wikipedia. I’ve watched my 15-year-old son and his friends take turns editing the page for the animated film ' Land Before Time,' flipping the gender of the character

Littlefoot This is a list of characters in ''The Land Before Time'', a series of animated feature films. The main characters include Littlefoot (''Apatosaurus''), Cera (''Triceratops''), Ducky ('' Saurolophus''), Petrie ('' Pteranodon''), Spike (''Stegosaur ...

from he to she and back." In March 2023, he suggested in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' that the

Silicon Valley Bank Silicon Valley Bank is an American commercial bank. SVB is on the list of largest banks in the United States, and is the biggest bank in Silicon Valley based on local deposits. It is a subsidiary of SVB Financial Group. History Silicon Valley Ba ...

“may have been distracted by diversity demands” in the lead up to its collapse.

Awards

* 2019 Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary for his "Inside View" columns in The Wall Street Journal.

Selected works

*''Eat People and Other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing Entrepreneurs'' (2011) *''Grumby: A Novel'' (2010) *''The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (And Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor'' ( ''The New York Times'' Business Best Seller) (2006) *''How We Got Here: A Silicon Valley and Wall Street Primer (A History of Technology and Markets)'' (2004) *''Running Money: Hedge Fund Honchos, Monster Markets and My Hunt for the Big Score'' ( ''The New York Times'' Best Seller) (2004) *''Wall Street Meat: My Narrow Escape from the Stock Market Grinder (

Henry Blodget Henry McKelvey Blodget (born 1966) is an American businessman, investor and journalist. He is notable for his former career as an equity research analyst who was senior Internet analyst for CIBC Oppenheimer and the head of the global Internet ...

and Me)'' (2003)

Personal

Kessler lives in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

with his wife, Nancy, and four children.

References

External links

*
"Inside View"
column at ''

''
@AndyKessler on Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessler, Andy 1958 births Living people American business writers American computer programmers American financial analysts American financiers American investment bankers American investors American money managers American stock traders Bridgewater-Raritan High School alumni People from Bridgewater Township, New Jersey Cornell University College of Engineering alumni University of Illinois alumni Gerald Loeb Award winners for Columns, Commentary, and Editorials