David Rosenberg, an economist and market strategist without peer wrote the following tribute to Dick.
From David Rosenberg:
Dick Strong
We lost not only a legend in the financial industry on Sunday but also one of the finest and most generous people I have ever met on planet Earth. Dick Strong, who passed away far too soon at the age of 84. His annual symposiums every January in Vail, where he invited luminaries from all walks of life (not just Wall Street gurus) to talk and share their wisdom, of tributes like this in the days ahead. He was that impactful. Dick will be sorely missed by all of us who knew him, though we were all fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend meaningful time with him over the years. At the very least, a comforting thought as we mourn the loss of a giant of a man.
From Roger:
I could literally write a book about Dick Strong; his talent, work ethic, love of learning, loyalty to his family and friends, and so much more. With his insatiable desire to learn, he traveled worldwide to the end & built a huge network of world class friends. He hosted 600 guests, and could have invited 2 or 3x that number, for a weekend at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas (where Johnny Mathis and Chubby Checkers sang for us) on his 70th birthday. He told us the event was not to celebrate him, but our collective good fortune to have lived at this time in the greatest country on earth. Born to modest means in mid-America, he especially admired others who also worked their way from “rags to riches”. As a sell-side analyst, I called on Strong Capital Management shortly after he formed it in 1974. He formed the first of the Strong Funds in 1982 in Menominee Falls, Wisconsin, selling its $34 Billion of AUM to Wells Fargo in 2004. In the late 1990s he started hosting his exclusive symposiums at his beautiful slope-side home in Vail. CO, continuing ever since while managing his personal capital.
David Rosenberg, within his eulogy above, referred to the symposiums that Dick ran for almost 30 years at his Vail home. He actually ran two symposiums each year, one in January for investment professionals and another in February for more “artistic” types (authors, artists, musicians, etc.). The January event ran from Wednesday evening through Sunday, and Dick personally paid for everyone’s rooms, meals, ski lift tickets and instructors, entertainment, everything other than transportation to and from Vail. Meals and meetings took place at his home, a short ten minute van-shuttle ride from the lodging. Twenty to twenty five investment professionals were invited each year, most of whom brought their significant others. Though Dick liked to broaden the network, with over 50% new attendees each year, my wife and I were blessed with over fifteen invitations. We were especially grateful that our daughter, about twenty years old at first, was invited as well several times, to her lifetime benefit. Our family had literally some of the best days of our lives, networking, learning & skiing within the Strong orbit. The demanding schedule went like this:
We checked in at the Strong come mid-afternoon on Wednesday, sometimes going to the hotel first, in any event expected to be at their home by about 5:00, to be greeted by our hosts and enjoy cocktails with the other guests. At about 6:30 we gathered in the “finished” garage to hear the first of the many guest speakers. In the course of three days, we heard speakers such as Bill Russel (the legendary basketball player), Wisconsin Senator, Ron Johnson, market strategist, Byron Wein, the forementioned David Rosenberg, Olympic Medal Winner, Billy Kidd (who skied with us, still very fast in his sixties), and so many more. Dinner was then served to the 50-60 guests, including speakers, at tables of eight within the Strong living room and porch, conversations predictably entertaining and stimulating. After dinner, around 8:30, we would gather in the living room for the evening’s entertainment, which could be a country singer, Las Vegas based magician or illusionist, or rock group. Snow would often be falling outdoors as we relaxed before being shuttled back to the hotel at 10:30 or so; The schedule on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, before transitioning toward home on Sunday, would go like this:
Arise by 7am or so. Shuttle to the Strong home for a quick buffet breakfast and read of the morning newspapers, to be completed by 8am. Gather at 8am in the “garage”, with 20-25 investment professionals seated around a U-shaped table. In the course of the three days, everyone would make a 30-45 minute presentation, talking about their background and current views. Dick encouraged and enjoyed “war stories”. While the investment group met, the other wives, etc. could ski (with instructors), go snow-shoeing or sledding, shopping or just relax.
The morning gathering would break up around, noon (with 7 or eight speakers each day), there would be time for a quick buffet lunch, then skiers (including myself, wife & daughter) would gather in the ski room to meet with our instructors and suit up to get on the hill by 1pm or so. We would ski until around 4pm, get out of our ski gear and shuttle back to the hotel to freshen up for the evening’s activities. We were due back for the pre-dinner cocktails at about 5:30, another speaker or two around 6:30, dinner at about 8:00 and more entertainment until 10:30 or so. Back to the hotel, get up early and do it all again on Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning we could sleep a little later, have a leisurely breakfast at the house, say our goodbyes to everybody that was around, and get a ride to the Vail airport. If it sounds exhausting it really was, but the adrenaline kept us going until leaving (sadly) on Sunday morning.
Dick, his wife Donna, son Matt, investing partner, Walter Morris, long time assistants, Kathy, Jan, & Connie became “family” and we made friends with investment luminaries such as John Hathaway, Byron Wien, Stan Weinstein, Barry Kitt, Simon Mikhailovich, Chip Paquelet, Tom Pence, Luke Gromen, Tony Boeckh, Lacy Hunt and far too many to mention. To this day, there are a countless number of relationships that my family can quickly refresh when we reference our meeting at the Strong symposium. Needless to say, interfacing with professionals of this caliber for three days allowed for a unique opportunity to test my own investment inclinations at the time.
Dick Strong was incomparable, as an individual and as an investment professional. His loss will be felt by a great many individuals. He left us sooner than anyone would like, but a countless number of family, friends and professional colleagues will attest to a job done without peer and his contribution to a better life for each of us. Rest in peace, Dick.
Roger Lipton