Murray Stahl

Murray Stahl is the co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Investment Officer of Horizon Kinetics LLC, a New York-based investment management firm with approximately $7-8 billion in assets under management. He holds a BA and MA from Brooklyn College and an MBA from Pace University. Before co-founding Horizon Kinetics in 1994 (with Steven Bregman), Stahl spent 16 years at Bankers Trust Company managing utility and special opportunity funds. He is also the Chairman of FRMO Corporation (OTC: FRMO), a publicly traded holding company that serves as a vehicle for his personal investment ideas and owns a stake in Horizon Kinetics itself. Stahl is known as one of the most original and independent thinkers in the investment world, writing extensively about unconventional topics including royalty business models, cryptocurrency, indexation distortions, and inflation hedging. His investment letters and research are highly regarded among value investors for their intellectual depth and contrarian insights.

Strong over long periods, though volatile and difficult to track precisely because Horizon Kinetics manages multiple strategies. The Kinetics Paradigm Fund (one of their flagship mutual funds) has generally outperformed over long periods, particularly in the 2020-2024 period as inflation, real assets, and crypto themes played out. Texas Pacific Land Corporation, their largest holding, has been an extraordinary long-term winner, rising from around $50/share to over $1,200+ as the royalty model generated massive cash flows from Permian Basin oil production on land TPL owns. Stahl was early and right on Bitcoin, allocating to it before it was institutionally acceptable. However, the concentrated nature of the portfolio means returns are lumpy: years when commodity prices and crypto are out of favor produce underperformance. FRMO Corp has been a mediocre stock performer despite the intellectual quality of the ideas. Overall, the long-term track record is good for those who shared his contrarian views, but it requires patience and tolerance for extended periods of underperformance.

Texas Pacific Land Corporation (TPL) - largest position by far, held 15+ years, royalty company owning 880,000 acres in Permian Basin. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) / Bitcoin exposure through various vehicles. FRMO Corporation (OTC: FRMO) - his personal holding company. Dream Unlimited Corp - Canadian real estate. Winland Holdings - small industrial company. Various cryptocurrency mining companies. The TPL position is the signature holding and demonstrates his thesis about royalty business models perfectly: TPL collects royalties and easements on land it owns without any capital expenditure, generating enormous free cash flow from Permian Basin oil and gas activity.

Moderate-to-high relevance. Stahl's approach aligns with several of our principles: concentrated, long-term, low-turnover, focused on downside protection through asset quality rather than diversification. His emphasis on royalty business models (minimal capex, maximum cash flow) is intellectually compelling. His thinking about inflation protection and monetary debasement is relevant to our framework. However, his heavy crypto allocation and commodity exposure may not align with our AGI-focused thesis. His portfolio is also heavily tilted toward a single position (TPL), which creates concentration risk we might not want to replicate. His investment letters are worth reading for the quality of thinking, even if we don't follow all his positions.