About Bartley J. Madden

Bartley J. Madden is currently an independent researcher focused on knowledge building and value creation as opposite sides of the same coin; on promoting research keyed to the firm as the fundamental unit of economic progress; and on restructuring the regulatory process for access to new drugs.

Madden attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo as an engineering student and was a member of Cal Poly’s 1961 collegiate championship boxing team. From 1962 to 1965, he studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering. Madden then spent time in the U.S. Army involved with classified weapons development/testing. After his Army service, he earned an MBA at UC Berkeley.

In 1969, Madden partnered with Charles G. Callard and started Callard Madden & Associates where his early research resulted in the CFROI (cash-flow-return-on-investment) valuation model widely used today by investment management firms. CFROI Valuation: A Total System Approach to Valuing the Firm was published in 1999.

In 1984, he joined Harbor Capital Advisors as a Senior VP and portfolio manager. In 1992, he became a partner at HOLT Value Associates and continued his research on connecting corporate performance to levels and changes in stock prices over time and advancing a global database for investment decision making.

HOLT was acquired by Credit Suisse in 2002 and a year later Madden retired as a managing director at Credit Suisse/HOLT to do independent research. He has had a long-term interest in the deeper issues concerning how we know what we think we know which led to his book, A Foundational Understanding of Human Behavior.

Through a series of journal articles and a book, Free To Choose Medicine: Better Drugs Sooner at Lower Cost, Madden has fine-tuned the details of a practical plan to bring consumer choice and competition to the FDA. His "Free To Choose Medicine" proposal to enable patients, advised by their doctors, to access not-yet-FDA-approved drugs has been implemented in Japan.

His latest book is, Value Creation Principles: The Pragmatic Theory of the Firm Begins with Purpose and Ends with Sustainable Capitalism.

Madden is named inventor on ten patents. See his website for more details on his work.