My guest for this episode is Aswath Damodaran. Aswath is a Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University (Kerschner Family Chair in Finance Education). Calling Aswath a Professor is a bit like calling the Sistine Chapel a church. He is a star in his field and one of the most influential business professors in the world. He has taught on the TRIUM program from its start and is consistently rated as one of its top professors. In this episode we discuss his most recent book, Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business. Aswath argues that, “Stories without numbers are just fairy tales and numbers without stories to back them up are exercises in financial modelling.” To value a business accurately, Aswath argues, you must understand and value a business’s narrative and tie that story to the relevant underlying value drivers. Do this, and you can start to judge whether firm’s value and equity price are realistic or just fairy tales.
Citations:
-- Book discussed: Damodaran, Aswath (2017), Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business. Columbia Business Press.
-- Article mentioned: Cornell, Bradford and Damodaran, Aswath (2020), Valuing ESG: Doing Good or Sounding Good? (March 20, 2020). NYU Stern School of Business, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3557432 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3557432
Host: Matt Mulford | Guest: Aswath Damodaran | Editor: Théophile Letort