Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final post I will be publishing at The Reformed Broker.
After today the site will be inactive, forever. I began this blog in November 2008 without any idea where it would take me. I had a negative net worth, was working at a dead-end brokerage firm job and absolutely no career prospects whatsoever – a washed up stock broker at 31 years old in the middle of a global financial crisis.
So I began to write. Honestly, humorously, fearlessly. And you began to read. First a few dozen visitors. Then a few hundred. Then thousands. A million. Millions of readers have hit these pages over the last fifteen years. If you’re one of those readers who came along, tapped in, subscribed and stayed with me, I owe you everything I have. My career, my firm, my livelihood, my lifestyle.
You watched me grow up on this site. I got things right and got things wrong and did my best to relay the lessons learned from both experiences. I left the brokerage business and dropped my Series 7 right before your eyes, making a career switch that was the ultimate leap of faith – nothing to fall back on if it didn’t work. I met my partner Barry as a result of doing the site. I got a television contract as a result of doing the site. I built a $4 billion registered investment advisory firm with over 60 employees and 4,000 client households as a result of doing the site. You, my fans, made all of that possible. Without you, none of it would have been.
You may have noticed that in the last couple of years I have been writing a lot less here. The main reason for that is all my professional dreams are coming true. I used to dream of working at a firm like the one I am now managing as CEO. Which is an amazing feeling. I forget how lucky I am. But getting us to this point has taken up more and more of my time with each passing year. And so the writing had to take a backseat.
Last December we hired a firm president who could slowly begin to take day-to-day management and leadership responsibilities off of my plate. And now, for the first time in a long time, I am ready to get back to writing. But coming back to writing here just didn’t feel right.
The Reformed Broker is not just a blog. For me, it has also been an entire persona. Not quite a pen name or a pseudonym – I have never published a single word secretly or surreptitiously in my entire life. The Reformed Broker was who I was. Pugnacious, sarcastic, cynical, incensed, offended, vengeful – but, and this is a big but, still optimistic despite all the failings of Wall Street. That was who I was for most of the last fifteen years and the writing I did here reflected that.
I’m not that guy anymore.
I have evolved. I think for the better. I have gotten smarter. I have reached new professional heights and unlocked new levels. I have changed my mind about certain things. I now have the knowledge and experience of someone who has actually accomplished a few things. Fifteen years ago I had the righteous indignation of someone who had survived a few things, but little else.
Things are different now. I want to tell you all about it. And I will. But first, we have to put this particular blog to bed.
And so to all of you who have come here over the years to learn, to laugh, to be inspired, to become better informed, to be entertained and enlightened, I want to tell you how much I appreciate you. If you’ve ever read my stuff, shared it with a friend or a coworker, sent me an email or a letter (there have been thousands of emails and letters!), retweeted me, linked to me, etc, this last post is dedicated to you.
It has been the honor of a lifetime writing for this audience – an audience that has lifted me up, supported me, cheered me on and stuck with me through all the ups and downs. I love you guys. You are the very best.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
– Downtown Josh Brown
New York City, November 29th 2023
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