TIP790: Wealth Beyond Money w/ Thomas Mueller-Borja - We Study Billionaires Recap

Podcast: We Study Billionaires

Published: 2026-02-08

Duration: 1 hr 20 min

Guests: Thomas Mueller-Borja

Summary

In this episode, Thomas Mueller-Borja, a global leader at BlackRock, discusses strategies for successful investing and personal growth, emphasizing the importance of emotional intelligence, ethical investment, and maintaining high-quality relationships.

What Happened

Thomas Mueller-Borja, Global Co-Head of Real Estate at BlackRock, shares insights into managing $25 billion in real estate assets. He emphasizes the significance of strategic international travel and meetings to maintain robust relationships with a diverse investor base. He recounts his entrepreneurial spirit from childhood, illustrating his innate drive for success.

Mueller-Borja discusses the challenges of raising a first fund at BlackRock, a process requiring persistence and a structured approach to attract a global client base. He highlights the importance of resilience and emotional intelligence in navigating complex investment landscapes.

The conversation delves into macroeconomic trends, where Mueller-Borja identifies countries with lower debt-to-GDP ratios, like Sweden and Germany, as attractive for real estate investments due to fiscal stability. He stresses the need for investors to be optimists while surrounding themselves with realists to provide balanced feedback.

Mueller-Borja shares his daily routine, focusing on achieving a flow state through a balance of sleep, exercise, and mindfulness. He mentions the use of a Sleep 8 device to enhance deep and REM sleep, critical for maintaining peak performance, especially during frequent travel.

Reflecting on his upbringing, Mueller-Borja discusses the balance between honesty and kindness, sharing a story about Jeff Bezos to illustrate the complexity of these values. He describes a 'White Knight complex,' emphasizing the need to choose ethically right decisions or seek alternatives.

Mueller-Borja recommends reading 'Politics on the Edge' by Rory Stewart and 'Margin of Safety' by Seth Klarman, books that influence his investment philosophy and ethical considerations. He values learning from diverse sources to integrate finance with ethical seriousness and community engagement.

Key Insights