Fernando Mendoza signed a rookie contract in July worth $57.27 million. Fully guaranteed. He is 22 years old. This week he announced what he is doing with his rookie season. He is starting a series called Finance with Fernando to teach people his age how to handle money. His words in the trailer. "My true passion is fiscal responsibility." He is not bluffing. He graduated from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, and he is finishing a master's in business administration in December. Here is how he got to the point where a 22 year old can say that. All four of his grandparents left Cuba for Miami in 1960. He grew up in Miami and played at Christopher Columbus High School. In two seasons as the starting quarterback he threw for 1,396 yards and 16 touchdowns. Total. Nobody was building a recruiting class around that. He committed to Yale. Then another recruit's decision opened a door at California, and he went to Berkeley instead. He redshirted in 2022. He started eight games in 2023 and eleven in 2024. Then he hit the portal and went to Indiana, a program that had gone 9-27 in the three years before Curt Cignetti showed up. What happened next does not really happen. Indiana went 16-0. Mendoza threw 41 touchdown passes, a school record. They won at Oregon. They beat No. 1 Ohio State for the Big Ten title. Rose Bowl against Alabama, he went 14 of 16 for 192 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-3 win. Peach Bowl against Oregon, five touchdowns. Then the national championship game, against Miami. The school in his own hometown. Indiana won 27-21. He was the offensive MVP. First Heisman Trophy in Indiana history. First national championship in Indiana history. Then the Raiders took him first overall. He wears number 15 for Tom Flores, who gave him his blessing to use it. And right now he is sitting behind Kirk Cousins. So instead of waiting around, he is finishing the MBA and starting a personal finance series for people who have never had money and are about to. One more thing worth knowing about him. His mother Elsa lives with multiple sclerosis. He and his brother worked with restaurants to put items on the menu that raise money for MS research. Turn on any sports broadcast in America right now and count the sportsbook ads. The number one pick in the draft started a show about not losing your money.

Not just the Lehman alum … alums like me who worked for Marty for my first 13 years in this crazy business (1986-1999). My favorite is #8.

“In this game, the market has to keep pitching, but you don’t have to swing. You can stand there with the bat on your shoulder for six months until you get a fat pitch.” Warren Buffett

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Mark Twain

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A mentor once told me, "your biggest breakthroughs come from your most expensive mistakes."