Lawrence A. Cunningham

Lawrence A. Cunningham (born February 11, 2001) is the founder and managing general partner of the Quality Shareholders Group, a corporate director, advisor and author.

Significance

Cunningham's research and advocacy on behalf of quality shareholders is based on his expertise in studying Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett. He is also widely regarded as a significant expert in the fields of corporate culture and governance, having authored some 50 scholarly articles in major journals (including Columbia, Cornell, Michigan, Minnesota, UCLA and Vanderbilt Law Reviews) and published a dozen books. His articles are widely cited in the literature. His textbooks on accounting are the standard teaching books in US law schools.

Cunningham is best known an expert on corporate governance, doing work for the Council of Institutional Investors, the Securities Investor Protection Corp. (SIPC), and PCAOB, as well as writing popular accounts of AIG and Berkshire Hathaway. He also wrote several influential books on investing, including quality investing, which include insights into governance as stewardship for shareholders. Cunningham writes a regular column at MarketWatch, Cunningham's Quality Investing.

Selected books

• Buffett, and Cunningham (1998–2022). The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America]. Cunningham Group. ISBN 978-1531017507.
• The AIG Story (with Hank Greenberg). Wiley. 2013. ISBN 978-1-1183-4587-0.
• Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values. Columbia University Press. 2014.
• Quality Investing. Harriman House. 2015.
• The Warren Buffett Shareholder. Harriman House. 2018.
• Margin of Trust: The Berkshire Business Model. Columbia University Press. 2020.
• Dear Shareholder: The Best Executive Letters. Harriman House. 2020.
• Quality Shareholders. Columbia University Press. 2020.

Early life

Cunningham's father died when Cunningham was 13, whereupon he enrolled in Girard College, the boarding school for poor orphans in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After graduation, he worked full-time to put himself through his home-state school, University of Delaware. He graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law magna cum laude in 1988.

Career

From 1988 to 1994, Cunningham practiced corporate law with Cravath, Swaine & Moore, specializing in corporate governance, corporate finance and M&A.

From 1994 to 2002, he taught at the Cardozo School of Law, where he directed The Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center on Corporate Governance, and wrote several books on value investing.

From 2002 to 2007, he was professor of law & business and vice dean at Boston College.

From 2007 to 2022, he was the Tucker Professor of Corporate Governance at George Washington University where he founded and for many years ran GW in New York, the training program for Wall Street lawyers, and the Quality Shareholders Initiative.

Since 2022, he has been the Managing Partner of the Quality Shareholders Group and continues to direct GW's Quality Shareholders Initiative.

Since 2017, Cunningham has been a director of Constellation Software Inc. and since 2019 its vice chairman.

In 2018, he received the B. Kenneth West Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), in recognition of his board service, board advice, and research on corporate governance.

Throughout his career, Cunningham has consulted for corporate boards and managers, and also served as a director on many.

External links

• Lawrence A. Cunningham professor of law and business and libby scholar at Boston College
• Lawrence A. Cunningham, professor of law at George Washington University