WSO Conference 2014 Announcement - Aswath Damodaran to be Keynote Speaker

We are VERY pleased to announce that the legendary Professor / Author / Blogger Aswath Damodaran will be the keynote speaker at the 2014 WSO Conference (Sat June 28th in NYC) along with speakers Josh Rosenbaum and Gene Rubio.

The topic: "corporate finance and Valuation at Banks: Practice or Malpractice?" - "General advice on what I see as the state of corporate finance/valuation as practiced by bankers".

Bio: My name is Aswath Damodaran. I am a Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. I teach the corporate finance and valuation courses in the MBA program as well as occasional short-term classes around the world on both topics. I received my MBA and Ph.D degrees from the University of California at Los Angeles. My research interests lie in valuation, portfolio management and applied corporate finance. My papers have been published in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics and the Review of Financial Studies, though I am sure that the list of people who have read these articles is a short one. (bio continues below the break)

His Blog: aswathdamodaran.blogspot.com | his syndicated blog on WSO

We are super excited about this year, so hope you can join the community in New York on Saturday June 28th! More BIG announcements to come soon.... keep an eye out! See additional conference updates here.

The Discounted Level only has a certain # of tickets available before we bump the price again.

Planning is really ramping up! It will take place Saturday June 28th at Hotel Penn (401 7th Ave) in their fancier Penn Top Ballroom.

Tickets are expected to sell out even earlier this year, so don't wait.

Is your student club or organization interested in attending? Group discounts are available, email [email protected] to arrange.

Visit our facebook page to see photos from the 2012 conference | 2013 conference.

Bio continued:
I do like to write. I have written four books on equity valuation (Damodaran on Valuation, Investment Valuation, The Dark Side of Valuation, The Little Book of Valuation) and two on corporate finance (corporate finance: Theory and Practice, Applied corporate finance: A User’s Manual). I also co-edited a book on investment management with Peter Bernstein (Investment Management) and I have two books on portfolio management - one on investment philosophies (Investment Philosophies).and one titled Investment Fables. I also have a book, titled Strategic Risk Taking, which is an exploration of how we think about risk and the implications for risk management.

If you asked me to describe what I do, I am first and foremost a teacher - not an academic, a professor or an authority on any topic. I learned to teach when I was a visiting lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1984 to 1986, where I received the Earl Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award in 1985. I have been at NYU since 1986, received the Stern School of Business Excellence in Teaching Award (awarded by the graduating class) in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2007 and 2008, and was the youngest winner of the University-wide Distinguished Teaching Award (in 1990). I was profiled in Business Week as one of the top twelve business school professors in the United States in 1994, a testimonial to weak competition. Not recognizing the error of their ways, Business Week did a poll of MBAs in 2011 that named me the most popular business school professor in the country (globe, universe.. who knows?). Needless to say, I love teaching and I hope it shows.

Mission:
I am lucky enough to be in a field where a little knowledge and a dose of common sense goes a long way, and achieving guru status seems relatively simple. What I do know is neither profound nor earth shattering, but I would like to share it on this site. In that pursuit, I have attempted to keep almost the entire site open and accessible, with the only shut-off portions representing powerpoint slides used by instructors (who use my books). Everything that I learn, do or write in the field of finance will be on this site sooner or later. I hope that you find the content useful and that you will share it with others. Good luck!