I never intended to become the conduit between employees at Pacific Investment Management Company and the public at large. Yet lately, that seems to be the role I have been playing with the bond giant, especially in commentary and criticism of co-founder Bill Gross — whether it is “Friends of Bill” informing me about his unpublished farewell letter (parodied here), the disgruntled release of the Pimco bonus structure, or even debate on Bill Gross’s track record.
This relationship resulted yesterday in an extensive Q&A with Gross himself for my “Masters in Business” radio show, to be broadcast in two parts on Bloomberg Radio and available as a podcast at Bloomberg View, this weekend and next.
It was the first time I’ve met Gross — I found him intelligent, forthright and unambiguous. Over the course of two hours, we discussed the founding of Pimco, who his early mentors were, what influenced him in the 1970s and 80s to become the investor he is today.
He said quite a few surprising things — about the Federal Reserve and quantitative easing, about what investors can learn from gamblers, and about his exit from Pimco.
A few highlights of our conversation:
Excellent scoop by BR. Obviously BG trusted the moderator and the forum.