Photo: EaglebrookSchool from Deerifeld, CC BY 2.0 via Wikipedia
Whitney Tilson, Editor at Stansberry Research, told Tom Keene and Scarlett Fu on Bloomberg Intelligence that a national wealth tax could work if it is properly constructed. He called California's state-level version a bad idea, because one state acting alone drives wealthy residents out.
Whitney is no blanket opponent of taxing the rich: he backed a minimum tax on the ultra-wealthy 15 years ago, and objects only to a single state acting alone. In a separate segment of the same hour, Stephanie Guild, Chief Investment Officer at Robinhood, described retail customers selling Tesla to buy SpaceX.
"What I supported probably 15 years ago... was the so-called Buffett rule, which was not a wealth tax... I stood next to my secretary and pointed out that as a millionaire hedge fund manager, I was paying a lower tax rate than my secretary."
Whitney ran a hedge fund before turning to research writing, and ran for New York City mayor as a Democrat in 2025. Stephanie sees what Robinhood's customers actually buy and sell, including more than $34 billion held in retirement accounts on the platform.
The full episode is covered here so you can skip it. 44 minutes of audio, 11 minutes of reading.
Here are the 10 insights that matter.
Bloomberg Intelligence · Oct 24, 2026 · 44m · 33m saved
With Whitney Tilson, Editor at Stansberry Research · Stephanie Guild, Chief Investment Officer at Robinhood
Key Takeaways
A short-term market rewards the opposite game: a handful of great companies held for years
Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are up 168%, 449% and 297% since his April 2019 note
Democrats have become the party of regulation, which has constrained housing, Whitney said
A state wealth tax drives people out, while a properly built national one could work
SPY's top 10 stocks are 40% of the index, an all-time high, so Whitney moved family money into RSP and VXUS
Robinhood customers used the AI pullback to sell Tesla and buy SpaceX
Retail investors want AI agents for small decisions but still want advice when the big decisions matter
Margin debt in the AI trade probably still has a little bit of unwinding to do, Stephanie said
1. Own a Few Great Companies
Whitney's investing approach starts from what he sees as the market's main weakness: its short time horizon. He said an active investor can beat it only by doing the reverse.
Whitney's edge is holding quality companies for years in a market that thinks in quarters
"The market is so short-term oriented, I think the only way you can beat it as an active investor is to play an opposite game, long-term buy and hold of quality companies, like what Warren Buffett's been preaching." — Whitney Tilson
Whitney credited the method to Warren Buffett. The practical version, in his words, is narrow: a few names, held for a long time.
Three core holdings from 2019 have beaten the S&P 500 by a wide margin
"Since then, with Whitney Tilson, they're up 168, 449, and 297%." — Tom Keene
Tom read the figures from Whitney's own April 17, 2019 research note, which named Amazon, Alphabet and Meta as core holdings. The three average about 305% since then, against roughly 164% for the S&P 500 over the same six years.
