Leon Cooperman reflects on success, generosity, and what it means to live a meaningful life. In this Intelligent Money feature, he shares how discipline, integrity, and gratitude shaped his career and personal philosophy. Quoting Picasso and Einstein, Cooperman reminds us that purpose comes from using your gifts to help others, a message that defines both his life and the Intelligent Money mission. Learn more from Leon Cooperman: theintelligentmoney.com/cooperman Transcript: You're going to have a setback in life, but if you want to be successful, you got to know how to handle the setbacks. That's it. No magic formula. It's three yards and a cloud of dust. No magic formula. If you're looking for somebody to lay it in your lap, you better marry rich or inherit a lot of money. And I didn't inherit any kind of money, but inherited a strong sense of right from wrong. And that stayed with me. And I hung out with people at Goldman and in Wall Street that were generous and successful people, and they rubbed off on you. I drive Hyundai’s. I'm a member of a country club in Florida where people drive Tesla’s, Rolls Royce’s, and Bentleys. They don't hold any fascination for me. I don't collect art. I don't collect sports teams. I'm not saying they're negative, nothing wrong with that. But they don't do anything for me. I get a lot of enjoyment of helping people less fortunate than myself. Pablo Picasso, as a tribute to him, he said, "The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away. I found my gift by extracting profits in the market, and now I'm giving it away. So, that's a life. Albert Einstein said, "A life worth living is a life lived for others." There are a lot of varied quotes from famous people. I'm not famous, but I like to listen to what they have to say and learn from others. And then it hits me; then it makes sense.

Part of Whitney Tilson’s feature with Intelligent Money, this conversation explores the importance of resilience, or what Tilson calls having the “mind of a goldfish.” Whether on the tennis court or in the markets, success requires the ability to reset quickly after setbacks, avoid emotional decisions, and learn from mistakes. It is a core idea behind Intelligent Money’s approach to mindset and behavior: financial growth begins with how you respond when things do not go as planned. Learn more about Whitney Tilson at theintelligentmoney.com/tilson. Transcript: That's having sort of the resilience, what I sort of call mind of a goldfish. You lose money, something goes against you. And both on the tennis court and in the investing world, what you can't do is you can't let one thing going against you cause you to become so upset and change your thinking in a way that causes it to snowball on you and get worse. And you might think, well, who would do that? But it happens all the time. Just witness tennis players having a meltdown. One point goes against them, they lose their mind and then they lose multiple points. And the match, you see it happen in investing where somebody, you invest in a stock, bad things happen. The three pillars of your investment thesis have been blown to smithereens. The stock is down 50% and you should get out if the three pillars of your investment thesis have all been blown to smithereens, get out. Now, I'm not saying if a stock is down, you should sell. That depends. Sometimes it's an even better opportunity. If your investment thesis is still intact, you just have the opportunity to buy it cheaper, great, buy more. But if your investment thesis is gone, get out. But what do most people do? They don't want to acknowledge that they made a mistake that their investment thesis is in tatters and they want to at least get back to even before they exit. And so they either don't sell or worse yet double down as things. So they turn a modest loss, a loss on one stock in your portfolio into something that can wipe you out.

In this Intelligent Money feature, Leon Cooperman shares a timeless reminder: “No matter how successful or rich you are, the one luxury you cannot afford is arrogance.” He emphasizes the importance of humility, kindness, and respect for everyone, regardless of status or position. It’s a principle that aligns with Intelligent Money’s focus on character, ethics, and the human side of financial success. Learn more from Leon Cooperman: theintelligentmoney.com/cooperman Transcript: One thing I tell the kids, I say, "No matter how successful or rich you are, the one luxury you cannot afford is arrogance. Just be nice to people. Be nice to people." I have found over the years; I see people that play well to people above them and treat poorly people below them. And I say, "No, you treat everybody properly." Very important. First sign of a gentleman is respect for those people that can be no possible value to him.

A brief view into the experience at our Rutgers University Boot Camp in the Fall of 2023. See the program in action and hear reflections on the experience in this +CLUB program trailer. The +CLUB is powered by Intelligent Money, a financial literacy and life skills platform. Learn More about Intelligent Money at theintelligentmoney.com