Ladies' Man Turns $100,000 Into $3 Million

It sounds like a scam: “Ladies' Man Turns $100,000 Into $3 Million.” But this headline is no joke.Matthew Schifrin, the Vice President and Investment Editor of Forbes, has released a new book chronicling the experiences of 10 unlikely investors. One of them is Mike Koza, AKA Ladies' Man.“For most of his life, he couldn't care less about investing,” Schifrin, the author of “The Warren Buffetts Next Door,” told Benzinga during a recent interview. “His passion was whitewater rafting. That's what he liked to do.”That changed when Koza met his wife, Maria. “She noticed that Mike had this portfolio of about $100,000 that he had saved,” Schifrin revealed. “He was about 40 years old, and it [his money] was going nowhere.”Maria urged her husband to start investing on his own. Though he was reluctant at first, Koza eventually decided to take her advice. “He's a really bright guy – he's one of these guys that gets a perfect math SAT,” Schifrin said. “And he's become this amazing value stock investor where he's been really good at calculating intrinsic values of companies – worst-case scenarios – and coming up with his own valuations on companies.”After reading books like Benjamin Graham's “The Intelligent Investor,” Koza was finally able to put his savings to good use. “He turned that $100,000 into more than $3 million in about nine years,” Schifrin said, noting that he calls him Ladies' Man because if it wasn't for his wife's persistence, Koza would have never realized his potential as an investor.To hear more from the Forbes VP and Investment Editor – including his doubts about money managers – don't miss Benzinga's full interview with Matthew Schifrin:When The Average Joe Beats The Street - Matt Schifrin - Zing Talk Part 1When The Average Joe Beats The Street - Matt Schifrin - Zing Talk Part 2