No. of Recommendations: 6
Squeri has forged one of the top growth engines in financial services by luring lovers of luxe as never before, and trending exclusive and young in a big way. The success of Squeri’s highly original, against-the-tide strategy is something of a revelation. Though he heads the eighth largest U.S. player in financial services by market cap ($200 billion), and a fabled institution that ranks as Warren Buffett’s second largest holding at Berkshire Hathaway behind Apple, the Amex chief is little known to the public and keeps a far lower profile than, say, JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon or Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon.
Yet surprisingly, since Squeri took the helm in early 2018, Amex boasts the highest returns among the largest U.S. commercial banks and payment providers. In that eight-year span, its stock has generated total yearly returns of 16.6%, a record that beats all its major peers and the benchmarks (save for Goldman Sachs which barely edges it out over that timeframe).
Over the phone in April of 2020, Squeri told Warren Buffett: “I want to invest in our customers and our colleagues.” According to Squeri, Buffett asked for his reassurance that Amex had plenty of capital to weather the hurricane. “Then Warren said, ‘I’m with you. What’s important is that during these times, you take care of your customers and you take care of your brand. If you lose customers and the aura of your brand, it’s hard to get them back.’”
https://stocks.apple.com/A_goam1WOQCK9mnjMAD1t-w 