Michael Larson (businessman)

Michael Larson
Born	October 1959 Sacramento, California
Alma mater	Claremont McKenna College (BA) University of Chicago (MBA)

Michael Larson is an American money manager. He is the chief investment officer for The Gates Foundation and Bill Gates' fortune, through the Cascade Investment fund. He assumed the role in 1994.

Larson was born in Sacramento, California in October, 1959. He was raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico and spent his summers in North Dakota. Larson attended Valley High School in Albuquerque.

Larson graduated from high school in two years and was recruited to West Point, the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine Academy. He was also accepted at the University of Washington and Claremont McKenna College. Larson was only 16 when he graduated high school and could not attend the Coast Guard Academy until he was 18. He decided to attend Claremont McKenna and graduated in three years with a degree in economics. Larson subsequently earned an MBA from the University of Chicago at the age of 21.

After receiving his MBA from the University of Chicago, Larson went to work for ARCO doing mergers and acquisitions. After a few years, Larson moved to Boston to work for Putnam Investments managing bond funds. After two years, Larson left Putnam to run his own fund.

While trying to buy a Chicago-based money management firm, Larson received a call from a head hunter to work for Bill Gates. The head hunter had heard of Larson from a few investors in Tacoma, Washington. In 1994, Larson and his wife moved to Seattle. Larson called the investment shop Cascade Investment because the generic name would allow him to operate in the market without drawing attention. Larson has and continues to operate under the radar with the exception of a rare interview with Fortune in 1999.

...
Wikipedia