New book revives coffee can investing for generational wealth

Neeraj Khemlani’s new book makes a blunt case for patience in a market culture built on speed. The Coffee Can Investor: A Stock-Picker’s Journey to Build Generational Wealth revisits an old investing idea and recasts it as a family wealth strategy, one aimed at long holding periods, low turnover and the power of compounding.

The concept reaches back to Robert G. Kirby’s 1984 article, The Coffee Can portfolio, in The Journal of Portfolio Management. Published in Fall 1984 in volume 11, issue 1, pages 76 to 80, Kirby’s argument was straightforward: buy high-quality stocks and leave them alone long enough for compounding to work. Khemlani’s 2026 book, published by Columbia University Press and Columbia Business School Publishing, updates that framework for families trying to build wealth across generations.

The book uses portfolio manager Matt Ankrum as a guide through the search for so-called 100-baggers, stocks that can rise 100 times over long periods. The publisher says the book examines both the qualitative and quantitative traits that set those winners apart and notes that many of them are business-to-business companies rather than the consumer names that usually dominate investing conversation. That detail matters because it pushes back against the short-term trading culture that often rewards attention over fundamentals.

Khemlani also brings his own family into the story. The publisher says he recounts his decision to make a coffee can of investments for his children, turning a market theory into a personal plan for generational wealth. His background stretches across media and finance, including leadership roles as former president and cohead of CBS News and Stations, along with earlier work at Hearst, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance and as a 60 Minutes producer.

CBS News journalist Jessica Moore presented the segment on the book, underscoring how the idea lands at a moment when families continue to worry about long-term investing and financial literacy. Khemlani’s argument is not that every stock should be forgotten, but that the best businesses can reward discipline over activity. In a market defined by constant motion, his book says the real edge may still belong to investors willing to wait.