Kotaro Tamura on How Billionaires Actually Invest

Former Japanese senator and angel investor in 90+ companies, Kotaro Tamura, shares what he has learned about how billionaires think and invest — drawn from the Milken Global Conference and the invitation-only secret summit known as “D.”

• The Milken Conference draws 4,000 attendees with a combined net worth of roughly $55 trillion; around 100 private jets change hands during the event
• The invitation-only summit “D” costs over $45,000 per session, is held in deserts and mountains, bans deal-making, and runs discussions on 100–1,000 year time horizons
• His early investment in Anthropic and similar deals came from consistently writing small checks — the “entry fee” that built credibility and got him into the information flow
• The core of American billionaire wealth is boring, family-run businesses in logistics and warehousing — low tech disruption risk, high switching costs
• Of Japan’s roughly $3.5 trillion in household financial assets, about $1.6 trillion sits in cash; global wealth managers ask why it is not moving
• The biggest business opportunities come from redefining failures and discarded assets — Post-it Notes being the classic example
• In turbulent times, the highest-return investment is in yourself: health, knowledge, and relationships are the only assets that cannot be taken away

2026-04-27 · Watch on YouTube

Japanese page: 田村耕太郎が語るビリオネアの投資哲学