Burton G. Malkiel

Burton G. Malkiel is an American economist, financial executive, and writer, recognized for his contributions to investment management and financial theory. Malkiel is the author of the finance book "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," which introduced the concept of passive investing and advocated for the use of index funds in investment portfolios. The book has sold over 1.5 million copies and is widely referenced in the fields of economics and personal finance.

Malkiel holds the Chemical Bank Chairman's Professorship of Economics at Princeton University, where he has taught generations of students. He received degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Business School, served as a finance officer in the U.S. Army, and worked in investment banking at Smith Barney before earning his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton. His academic work has influenced the adoption of index funds and shaped modern investment strategies.

In addition to his academic career, Malkiel served as chairman of the economics department at Princeton, was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers, president of the American Finance Association, and dean of the Yale School of Management. At Yale, he recruited several future Nobel laureates and expanded the school’s curriculum and public service initiatives.

Malkiel has contributed to regulatory and professional standards, assisting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with disclosure rules and helping the Chartered Financial Analysts Institute develop investor education guidelines. He has served on the boards of Prudential Financial, the American Stock Exchange, and the Vanguard Group, and has lectured on investor education internationally.

Malkiel’s published work includes hundreds of articles and opinion pieces in The Financial Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as books such as "The Random Walk Guide to Investing," "From Wall Street to the Great Wall," and "The Elements of Investing." He was named chief investment officer of Wealthfront, where he applied his expertise to automated, technology-driven investing. Throughout his career, Malkiel has emphasized the importance of low-cost, diversified, and index-based investing, making complex financial concepts accessible to a broad audience and influencing the field of personal finance.