With all the experience you brought to Booth, what was it like to be back in the classroom with other students?
I was a lot older than my classmates, and they were very kind. Many of them wanted to know why I wanted to go back to school because I was already where they wanted to be. My answer was simple: I wanted to understand how younger people think. My employees might not argue with me openly but my classmates would. That was very valuable for me.
My classmates taught me a lot as well, especially with things like Excel and other technical tools. At the same time, I learned a great deal from listening to how they approached problems, how they framed questions, and what mattered to them.
Did that learning go both ways?
Definitely. Sometimes they would ask me how I had the instinct to anticipate certain outcomes. I explained that instinct comes from many years of experience. Booth teaches you to build everything from the ground up: calculations, metrics, models. That approach is very good. Instinct plus structure is a powerful combination. I think we learned from each other in that way.
You were balancing the program with a very senior professional role. How did you manage that?
It wasn’t too difficult. I’m an investor, but I’m also the CEO and the chairman. There are strong management teams at many levels who are running the company day to day. That allowed me to focus on learning and then think about how to apply what I learned to my own work.
In fact, it was a good time in my career to return to school. I could immediately connect classroom concepts to real decisions I was making.
Can you give an example of how you applied what you learned at Booth to your work?
I applied many ideas directly, especially from corporate finance and behavioral economics. I brought those frameworks to my senior managers, explaining the approach to decisions. As a result, we started aligning better around logic, structure, and clear reasoning. Over time, I could see the impact on how we discussed strategy and risk.
Of course, the world has changed a lot and continues to change. So far, we’ve been able to adjust our approach and maneuver the company as conditions change. There are still challenges ahead, but Booth helped shape how I approach those challenges by combining academic frameworks with practical experience.
Finally, what advice would you give to someone considering an Executive MBA at Chicago Booth?
I would say go for it. People sometimes say an Executive MBA is not as tough as a traditional MBA. I don’t agree—it’s just different. The discussions are richer because they include many different angles and perspectives.
It’s a great environment for learning, especially if you value debate, structure, and real-world application. I’ve even encouraged my son to consider it. For me, it was absolutely worth it.
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