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Throw Your Billionaire Blueprint Out the Window
Methods of Prosperity newsletter no. 120: David Geffen
Sean Allen Fenn
October 02, 2025
To my Jewish friends: have a meaningful fast and we pray for return of remaining hostages 🎗️
No. I like to be able to change my mind — to access my money when I want.”
Most billionaire entrepreneurs I write about focus on the long-term. The problem is, that doesn’t work for everyone.
What if you find disconfirming evidence and you refuse to reconsider? That’s called confirmation bias.
The wealthiest people are patient with capital allocation.
Carnegie built his steel empire over decades.
Rothschilds established multi-generational banking networks.
Buffett holds investments for the long term.
Koch expanded inherited businesses over time.
Jeff Bezos started selling books on Amazon. But he knew they would end up selling almost every product online. From The Only Josh Gibson Single Signed Baseball priced at $1,603,652 to AWS.
John Arrillaga built his fortune on a singular focus. Buying real estate near Stanford University. In the process, he transformed Silicon Valley.
The fact is, to become a billionaire, you don’t have to think long-term as far as building one thing.
For example, what do most business “gurus” tell you? Focus on one thing for a long time. Never let go of your equity.
Most billionaires built companies with the intention of holding onto equity for decades.
David Geffen proves none of that is necessary. Geffen sold his companies early and converted equity into cash. David Geffen sold his first music publishing company to CBS when he was 26 years old. CBS acquired it for $4.5 million in CBS stock. Geffen received half of that amount, which made him a millionaire early in his career. He formed Asylum Records in 1971. Then he sold it to Warner Communications for $7 million after one year.
In 1990, he formed Geffen Records (a joint venture with Atlantic Records). Then he sold it to MCA for $550 million in stock. He then cashed out when Matsushita (now Panasonic) bought MCA.
His MCA deal exemplifies his contrarian genius. Geffen anticipated that Matsushita would acquire MCA. He bet on his MCA stock. Matsushita acquired MCA eight months later. His $550 million in MCA stock became $670 million in cash.
David Geffen is an American business magnate, producer, and philanthropist who became one of the most powerful figures in entertainment.
“David was simply doing what David does—going for the curves of life.”
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The truth is, you can throw most of The Billionaire Blueprint out the window.
Don’t get me wrong, focus is still a consistent trait. One which Geffen shares with all billionaires. It’s an obsessive form of focus. It’s a ruthless form of focus.
My point is, you can’t get a prescription that’s guaranteed to make you a billionaire.
Most billionaires have a good reputation. David Geffen does not have a “good” reputation. David Senra calls Geffen a sociopath:
“His glibness has superficial charm. He’s manipulative and cunning. They never recognize the rights of others. See their self-serving behaviors as permissible. That’s David Geffen. They have a grandiose sense of self. They pathologically lie. They have a lack of remorse, shallow emotions, incapacity for love. And a need for stimulation.”
Like Joseph Duveen, Geffen left nothing to chance. Espionage isn’t out of the question for David Geffen. He knew every detail about his client. He would get in the room with his target.
For example, Geffen’s target was a guy named Lastfogel. This was when Geffen worked in the mail room at the William Morris Agency in Los Angeles. Abe Lastfogel worked on Saturdays, so Geffen went to work on Saturdays. For weeks, Geffen stalked Lastfogel. Until one Saturday, the two stood together waiting for the elevator. Geffen introduced himself and struck up a conversation. He made an impression on his target. Lastfogel invited Geffen to lunch. Abe Lastfogel was the agency’s president. It was a connection that propelled Geffen from the mail room to a manager and record executive.
Geffen has a reputation for immediate liquidity to reinvest in diverse assets. That is, plenty of cash to fund assets at a moment's notice. Geffen has an art collection worth over $2 billion. He has stock investments including “almost a billion dollars in Apple alone”. He owns extensive holdings of California real estate.
Geffen made strategic investments at peak moments.
“For instance, in 1991 through 1994, I spent $400 million buying the greatest post-World War II paintings in the world. In 1993, I gave $200 million to [hedge fund manager] Eddie Lampert.”
Most entrepreneurs follow the traditional path of building a company. Then they hold equity for decades. Until one day they take their business public or sell late in their careers.
Not David Geffen.
His approach was to build something quick at the right time. Then sell early for cash. Then diversify immediately into liquid assets. After that, he makes strategic reinvestments during market opportunities.
This gave him financial flexibility. That’s the foundation of his “always liquid” reputation.
It’s the ability to mobilize capital for major purchases or investments on short notice.
His $47.5 million estate. One of his $400 million art buying sprees. Strategic investments during market downturns.
“I never had a plan for anything. I was just putting one foot in front of the other and trying not to make a fool of myself.”
Geffen has an instinctive contrarian approach to liquidity over long-term equity building.
That’s how he created one of the most diversified and accessible fortunes.
In conclusion, I’m writing this on Yom Kippur (don’t judge me for ketivah). This impacts the context. I’m studying success with you on the holiest day of the year.
Prosperity is divine. The pursuit of wealth for the sake of it leads to emptiness.
That’s not the purpose of this newsletter.
The purpose is to find evidence of some kind of immutable law akin to physics.
I write this to examine the errors as much as the correct actions.
I don’t know David Geffen. But I know he’s a Jewish soul. By whatever means he’s gained financial freedom, let his example show that there are no rules.
For Jewish souls on Yom Kippur, the reality that we have sinned allows us to receive forgiveness.
I like you,
– Sean Allen Fenn
PS: The purpose of wealth is freedom. You can have financial freedom, but not by yourself. That’s why we’re building our core group of people. It’s a community to help each other achieve financial freedom. One way is by pooling our resources to invest in Multifamily real estate together. Whatever method of prosperity you choose, don’t go at it alone. You can now join our Methods of Prosperity community on Telegram here:
