Geoffrey Colvin

Geoffrey Colvin
Born
Alma materHarvard University[1]
New York University (M.B.A.)
OccupationJournalist
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
Period2005-present[2][3]
GenreNonfiction
SubjectsEconomics, finance, business
Websitewww.geoffcolvin.com

Geoffrey Colvin is a Senior Editor-at-Large at Fortune Magazine,[4][2] a position he has held since at least 2005.[3] He is co-author—with Larry Selden (of the Columbia Business School—of Angel Customers and Demon Customers (2003),[5] and sole author of the Penguin-Portfolio books, Talent is Overrated (2008), The Upside of the Downturn (2009), and Humans Are Underrated (2015).

Early life and education

In interview, Geoffrey Colvin has stated that he was "born and raised in Vermillion, South Dakota", leaving there with his parents at age of 14 years.[1] Again, by his own description, he attended and graduated from high school in Carbondale, Illinois, and went to college at Harvard, where he was an economics major.[1] He went on to earn a degree from New York University's Stern School of Business.[3]

Career

As of July 2026, Geoffrey Colvin is serving as a Senior Editor-at-Large for Fortune Magazine,[2] a position he has held at least since 2005.[3]

Colvin co-led a successor to Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street; when that 2002 CNBC launch, again a Rukeyser-hosted program—itself descended from the cancellation of the PBS program, Wall Street Week with Fortune, that same year—ended a two year run for reason's of the host's health. Colvin and Karen Gibbs co-anchored a program with the same "Wall Street Week with Fortune" name, on its return to PBS, until its cancellation in 2005.[6]

Published works

Colvin is co-author with Larry Selden (of the Columbia Business School) of Angel Customers and Demon Customers (2003),[5] as well as sole author of the Penguin-Portfolio books, Talent is Overrated (2008), The Upside of the Downturn (2009), and Humans Are Underrated (2015).

As sole author

  • Colvin, Geoff (2008). Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else (1st ed.). London, England: Penguin. ISBN 9781101079003. Retrieved July 6, 2026. Note, the first edition hardcover edition of this work is otherwise associated with the ISBN 9781591842248.

With co-authors

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lamb, Brian; Sloan, Allan & Colvin, Geoff. Q&A: Allan Sloan and Geoff Colvin (interview). C-SPAN. Retrieved July 6, 2026. Allan Sloan and Geoff Colvin talked about their Fortune Magazine cover story... Geoffrey Colvin: I was born and raised in Vermillion, South Dakota... We moved away... when I was 14 years old and I finished high school in... Carbondale, Illinois... And, then I went off to college... to Harvard. Majored in Economics...{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 3 Fortune Staff (July 5, 2026). "[About Us] Our Mission—Change the World by Making Business Better / Who We Are". Fortune.com. New York, NY: Fortune Media Corporation. Archived from the original on July 5, 2026. Retrieved July 8, 2026. Geoff Colvin, Shawn Tully /Senior Editors-at-Large
  3. 1 2 3 4 Colvin, Geoffrey & Bossidy, Larry (2005). "Larry Bossidy" (interview by Colvin, with brief Stern byline bio). Stern Business Leadership. Stern Chief Executive Series. No. of issue is Spring/Summer. pp. 2–5. Retrieved July 6, 2026. Mr. Bossidy was interviewed by Stern alumnus Geoffrey Colvin, who is Senior Editor-at-Large of Fortune and co-anchor of 'Wall Street Week with Fortune' on PBS.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Note, this article does not state the MBA, only that he is an alumnus, and it contains no other biographical content, but as this is a Stern publication, the opening biographical content is viewed as third party (despite Colvin's authorship role vis-à-vis the interview).
  4. ↑ Statement valid as of July 5, 2026.
  5. 1 2 CBS Staff (July 6, 2026). "Larry Selden / Professor Emeritus of Business / Finance Division" (faculty publication webpage). Columbia Business School (CBS; Business.Columbia.edu). New York, NY: CBC, Columbia University. Retrieved July 6, 2026.
  6. ↑ Taube, Michael (February 13, 2024). "A&E: Remembering Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser". Troy Media (TroyMedia.com). Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Troy Media. Retrieved July 7, 2026.

Further reading