"What I tell almost everyone when I first meet them is not where I went to school or where I'm from but how much I love flying: being aloft and unfettered by gravity, feeling both completely focused and completely free at the same time. I think it's the thing that defines me most."
In Lift, Wally Obermeyer looks back at his childhood and formative years in Aspen and abroad, and how those experiences helped him develop a set of principles that informed his personal life and career. From the farm to the ski slopes to the skies, Wally didn't have a specific destination in mind. Instead, he sought joy, and he found it by forging deep connections with people. He describes launching Obermeyer Wealth Partners as taking off, like a plane in flight.
With insight, humor, and wit, Wally shows us what it means to pilot your own life, and that meaningfulness is not about quantifying distance traveled but about taking in-and, even more importantly, sharing-the awe-inspiring views from those great heights.
Autorentext
Wally founded Obermeyer Asset Management, now Obermeyer Wealth Partners, after serving as regional vice president of Heritage Trust and Asset Management from 1994 to 1997. He had a broad range of business and financial experience, including managing his family's ski apparel business and founding a hydroelectric power generation company. Wally earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA, cum laude, from Harvard College. Wally chaired the board of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science Foundation and was on the boards of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies and the Aspen Valley Land Trust. He was an underwriter of Aspen Words and (HS)2 and the Squared Network and a contributor at the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Music Festival. He was most appreciative and proud of his twelve-year term on the board of the Gates Family Foundation, where he also chaired the Investment Advisory Committee.Wally was recognized for more than a decade in leading industry rankings, most recently by Forbes ("Top Wealth Advisors" in 2025 and "Best-in-State Wealth Advisors" in 2025) and Barron's ("Top 100 Independent Advisors" in 2024 and "America's Top Independent Advisors" in 2025). He was also one of Barron's 2019 Hall of Fame advisors in recognition of being ranked on the Top 100 list for over ten years. A visionary, Wally built his firm on the foundation of trust, integrity, and unwavering dedication to clients.