Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is Nigerias Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance. From 2007 to 2011 she was Managing Director of the World Bank, overseeing activities in South Asia, Europe, Central Asia, and Africa.

IntroductionThe Most Important Thing Is... 1. Second-Level Thinking2. Understanding Market Efficiency (and Its Limitations)3. Value4. The Relationship Between Price and Value5. Understanding Risk6. Recognizing Risk 7. Controlling Risk8. Being Attentive to Cycles 9. Awareness of the Pendulum 10. Combating Negative Influences 11. Contrarianism12. Finding Bargains13. Patient Opportunism 14. Knowing What You Don't Know15. Having a Sense for Where We Stand16. Appreciating the Role of Luck17. Investing Defensively18. Avoiding Pitfalls19. Adding Value20. Pulling It All Together

In May of 2011, Columbia Business School Publishing published Howard Markss The Most Important Thing. Distilling the wisdom of Markss celebrated client memos into a single volume and, for the first time, making his time-tested investing philosophy available to general readers, the book was widely acclaimed by professional, casual, aspiring, and armchair investorsand became a business bestseller. Columbia Business School Publishing is announcing an innovative digital edition with a print version of Markss volume that allows readers to read the authors words alongside the comments, insights, and counterpoints of four renowned investors and investment educators: Christopher C. Davis (Davis Funds), Joel Greenblatt (Gotham Capital), Paul Johnson (Nicusa Capital), and Seth A. Klarman (Baupost Group). These experts lend insight into such concepts as second-level thinking, the price/value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Marks also adds his own annotations, expanding on the books original themes and issues.