Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World’s Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life

by William Green

From January 1997 to March 2000, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index rose 290 percent, fueled by a mania for internet and telecom stocks. To appreciate the thrilling absurdity of those times, consider the rise and fall of theGlobe.com: the social media site went public in 1998, saw its stock price surge 606 percent on its first day of trading, and was delisted by Nasdaq in 2001 when the stock was languishing below $1. Or consider the fate of eToys: the online retailer went public in May 1999 at $20 per share, peaked at $84 that October, and went bankrupt eighteen months later. Or consider Cisco Systems: the networking firm’s market value rocketed from $100 billion to $500 billion in less than five hundred days, making it (briefly) the world’s biggest company; then the bubble burst and the stock plunged 86 percent.