Nassim Nicholas Taleb,  (Mandatory) Speaker Bio and High Resolution Photos

Official Bio

Nassim Nicholas Taleb spent 21 years as a risk taker (quantitative  trader) before becoming a researcher in philosophical, mathematical and (mostly) practical problems with probability. 


Taleb is the author of a multivolume essay, the Incerto (The Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, Antifragile, and Skin in the Game) covering broad facets of uncertainty. His work has been published  into 49 languages.

In addition to his trader life, Taleb has also written, as a backup of the Incerto, more than 70 technical and scholarly papers in mathematical statistics, genetics, quantitative finance, statistical physics, medicine, philosophy, ethics, economics, & international affairs, around the notion of risk and probability  (grouped in the Technical Incerto).

Taleb is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at NYU's Tandon School of Engineering (retired) [and, finance related bio only: scientific advisor for Universa Investments]. His current focus is on the properties of systems that can handle disorder ("antifragile").

Taleb refuses all honors and anything that "turns knowledge into a spectator sport".

Can be added: Taleb traveled the conventional route of education to real-life and  theory to practice in inverse sequence from the common one, moving from the practical to the philosophical to the mathematical. He started as a trader, then got a doctorate in mid-trading career; he wrote literary books before writing technical papers, and his work became progressively more technical and formal with time.

(Please note that the author does not allow fluffy and longer bios with information from the web. Only the official biography is authorized)