David Tepper founded the hedge fund Appaloosa Management in 1993. This collection gathers his own words from his 2018 Carnegie Mellon commencement speech and two interviews, on CNBC and Bloomberg TV. — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018.

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On Contrarian Thinking and Seizing Opportunity

  1. On buying bonds at twelve cents: David Tepper: "So we bought bonds at preferred at 12c on the dollar, 15c on the dollar, 20c on the dollar." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  2. On starting Appaloosa: David Tepper: "Because I didn't end up a partner at Goldman Sachs, I started my own company 25 years ago, in 1993, called Appaloosa and ended up doing something that was a lot more fun and made my life better in so many ways." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  3. On something not feeling right: David Tepper: "They said it would be okay after a lot of back and forth, but it still didn't feel right to me." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  4. On being rejected by Goldman: David Tepper: "Well, when I graduated I kind of liked markets and investments, so I tried to get a job with Goldman Sachs, but they rejected me." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  5. On a pay cut at Republic Steel: David Tepper: "About three months after I got to Republic Steel, they gave a 7 percent across-the-board pay cut." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  6. On Republic’s deals: David Tepper: "And in those two years that they were trying to save the company, Republic did more finance deals than it had in its previous 100-year history." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  7. On other animals following: David Tepper: "In past times like that, we could see other animals around, maybe there was a Buffett Tiger around, or some other kind Tiger." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  8. On there being no Buffett tiger: David Tepper: "That time, in March, there was no Buffett Tiger because he had his own problems." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  9. On not fighting it: David Tepper: "I don’t think you want to fight it, but you’ve got to understand what it’s going to mean." — Bloomberg interview with David Tepper on bonds, Buffett, Gross and charity (transcript; his answers).
  10. On a market that is not that bad: David Tepper: "Because we're set up for a situation where the markets not going to be that bad." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).

On Distressed Investing and Value

  1. On experience in distressed companies: David Tepper: "That kind of experience got me a job at a mutual fund specializing in distressed companies, and eventually in the door of Goldman Sachs, where in a short time, because of my previous job experience and cutting-edge things, cutting edge things I learned at CMU, I advanced quickly and became the head trader at Goldman's junk desk." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  2. On owning bankrupt bonds: David Tepper: "So the idea was either--and we owned a lot of bankrupt bonds versus other people who haven't been in that position." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  3. On a fund for bankrupt companies: David Tepper: "The story is this: The partner had started a new fund to invest in bankrupt companies, and I was supposed to make the trades for him." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  4. On preferreds converting into equity: David Tepper: "No, we owned a lot, as I told you, we owned a lot of bonds and preferred, and the preferreds got converted into equities." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  5. On wanting to become a partner: David Tepper: "That gave me more status than I knew at that time, but what I really wanted was to become a partner." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  6. On financial equities: David Tepper: "So, I don't know, in the equities of financials, maybe we were at 20%, or higher." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  7. On buying what you say you will: David Tepper: "You can't put out a paper and say you're going to buy securities and not buy them." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  8. On a restricted list: David Tepper: "He asked me to buy a company that he had just removed from the restricted list that day, that day." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  9. On going to legal: David Tepper: "In fact, I went to our legal department and told them what was going on." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  10. On buying Bank of America equity: David Tepper: "The equity could have been diluted, to a certain extent, but I was buying equity at two and three bucks in Bank of America and they were coming in at six." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).

On Risk Management and Market Dynamics

  1. On selling to get the cash: David Tepper: "We sold the rest of our emerging market, we sold down our junk portfolio, just to get the cash." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  2. On refusing a request: David Tepper: "One of the reasons was I had to refuse a powerful partner's request." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  3. On leverage: David Tepper: "We actually had some leverage back then, we haven't had leverage probably in last 3, 4, 5 years." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  4. On waiting for the call: David Tepper: "And we were waiting for Deutsche Bank and some of these Merrill Lynches, some of these other guys to give us a call and ask for the money back that we owed them." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  5. On being down their list: David Tepper: "But we were so down their list of people with problems, we couldn't get the money back." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  6. On backward data: David Tepper: "And you just have to--look, a lot of times, you've got this data that's backward." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  7. On a changed environment: David Tepper: "So if I worry about every bit of backward data, particularly when I have things that have changed, and a different environment--and maybe people don't even realize the environment's changed." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  8. On increasing equity allocation: David Tepper: "Now I don't own 100% equities in Appaloosa, but we have increased our equity allocation." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  9. On stocks, bonds and gold: David Tepper: "Stocks are better, bonds are worse, gold is probably worse, if you want to talk about those three assets." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  10. On money supply: David Tepper: "The market doesn't necessarily go up when the money supply is moving up, but at some point, it does push it up." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  11. On the near term: David Tepper: "Well, I think that the market will probably go up some way or another in the near term." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).
  12. On the Fed coming in with money: David Tepper: "Now, up to the point the Fed comes in with money, the stock market can go down a little bit." — Squawk Box interview with David Tepper, 2010 (transcript; his answers).

On Mindset, Humility, and Life

  1. On experience versus a paycheck: David Tepper: "While you're young, go for the experience versus a paycheck." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  2. On charity: David Tepper: "First, always think about charity and those less fortunate." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  3. On treating people the same: David Tepper: "But actually, the answer is you treat them both the same." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  4. On equal respect: David Tepper: "All men and women, and women, deserve to be treated equally and with respect." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  5. On a combination of lives: David Tepper: "I think people's lives are really a combination of different lives." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  6. On challenges and triumphs: David Tepper: "All of you have had, and I can promise you'll all have challenges, disappointments and triumphs." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  7. On honesty and personal experience: David Tepper: "But what I can promise, what I can promise you is as much honesty and personal life experiences as I can muster." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  8. On breaking the cycle: David Tepper: "I'm proud to say, in what I view as the greatest accomplishment of my life, I broke that cycle." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  9. On giving back: David Tepper: "Last thing: When all you become successful, remember to give back, give back." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  10. On being shot down for partner: David Tepper: "I didn't get fired, but when I came up for partner, I got shot down." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  11. On the foundation of CMU: David Tepper: "It was also the foundation for everything I've done professionally since then." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  12. On wanting to learn: David Tepper: "That wasn't a great time for steel, but I knew I would be exposed to a lot, and I really wanted to learn." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  13. On negative balance sheets: David Tepper: "Right now, like I did, I think right now, y'all have negative balance sheets." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  14. On the land of opportunity: David Tepper: "You live in what was, is, and always will be, the land of opportunity and the greatest and most generous country in the world." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  15. On the garbage man: David Tepper: "Garbage man, garbage man may be the right answer because somebody's got to take your trash every day, right?" — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  16. On breaking the cycle: David Tepper: "And I'm proud to say, in what I view as the greatest accomplishment of my life, I broke that cycle." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  17. On a kid from Pittsburgh: David Tepper: "A kid from the streets of Pittsburgh who had to work his way through college at Pitt and grad school at CMU just got an honorary doctor and is giving a commencement speech at this university." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).
  18. On sixty-hour weeks: David Tepper: "My dad, like a lot of dads, had to work 60-hour weeks just to make ends meet." — Carnegie Mellon University Commencement Speech, May 20, 2018 (David Tepper).