Pau Gasol
NBA Hall of Famer | Two-Time NBA Champion | Chair, IOC Athletes' Commission | President, Gasol Foundation | Founding Partner, Consello Strive
Richard Thaler
2017 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences | Father of Behavioral Economics | Professor, University of Chicago Booth | Author, Nudge & Misbehaving
The man who proved that humans are not rational — and built a Nobel Prize-winning science around that insight. Richard Thaler's behavioral economics has reshaped corporate strategy, government policy, and financial markets globally. His keynotes translate decades of landmark research into practical frameworks that help senior leaders understand why people decide the way they do — and how to design organizations where better decisions happen by default.
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Richard Thaler biography
Richard Thaler is the father of behavioral economics — the field that permanently changed how we understand human decision-making by proving that people are not the rational actors mainstream economics long assumed. He is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a Founding Principal at FullerThaler Asset Management, which applies behavioral finance principles to manage over $30 billion in small-cap U.S. equities.
Nobel economist speaker Richard Thaler is best known for a body of work that built the intellectual foundation of behavioral economics — a discipline now embedded in corporate strategy, public policy, and financial markets worldwide. Collaborating with Daniel Kahneman, Amos Tversky, and Cass Sunstein across decades of research, Thaler identified and named phenomena now central to how organizations make decisions: loss aversion, the endowment effect, mental accounting, and the nudge — the insight that how choices are framed shapes what people choose, independent of the options themselves. In 2017, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded him the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, citing his work as having built a decisive bridge between psychology and economics.
His influence extends far beyond academia. Thaler served as an informal advisor to the Obama administration and David Cameron’s government in the United Kingdom, where his nudge framework directly shaped public policy on savings, health, and taxation. He is the New York Times bestselling co-author of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (with Cass Sunstein) and the author of Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics. He also contributes regularly to the New York Times Economic View column, bringing frontier research to general audiences.
The Winner’s Curse and Behavioral Economics Today
Thaler remains deeply active in advancing the field he helped create. His most recent work, The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies, Then and Now (co-authored with economist Alex Imas, 2025), was named one of the Financial Times Best Books of 2025. The book revisits and updates three decades of landmark behavioral findings — from loss aversion to the endowment effect — showing not only that they hold up under modern scrutiny, but that they manifest everywhere: from retirement savings behavior to professional sports decisions to financial markets.
As a Nobel Prize speaker, Richard Thaler is celebrated for his ability to translate deep behavioral research into insights that are immediately relevant to any senior audience. Whether addressing financial leaders, corporate strategists, or policymakers, he demonstrates how psychological biases systematically distort decision-making — and, critically, what organizations can do about it. His keynotes combine intellectual rigor with wit and memorable storytelling, giving attendees a new lens through which to understand markets, teams, and their own choices.
Richard Thaler Speaking Videos
Richard Thaler - Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics
Richard Thaler on Behavioral Economics: Past, Present, and Future
Richard Thaler Keynote Topics
Drawing from the research behind his global bestseller Nudge, Thaler shows how small, deliberate changes to the way choices are structured — without restricting options — can dramatically improve outcomes for employees, customers, and institutions. From retirement savings design to healthcare decisions to consumer behavior, this keynote gives leaders a practical toolkit for applying behavioral science to their own organizational challenges.
Standard economic models assume people optimize. Behavioral economics shows they don't — and that the patterns of their mistakes are predictable. In this keynote, Thaler unpacks the forces of loss aversion, mental accounting, and the endowment effect to help business leaders understand why their teams, customers, and markets behave in ways that defy conventional analysis — and how to build smarter strategies as a result.
From overconfident auction bidders to fund managers selling the wrong stocks, the same behavioral biases that distort everyday decisions also derail high-stakes professional choices. Thaler draws from his latest book to explore why experts are not immune to decision traps, what the last thirty years of behavioral research tell us about how these biases operate at scale, and what individuals and institutions can do to systematically improve their decision-making.
As a Founding Principal of FullerThaler Asset Management, Thaler has spent decades applying behavioral finance to real-world equity markets. In this session, he explains how psychological biases create systematic mispricings, why even sophisticated investors fall into predictable traps, and how organizations can build investment processes and governance structures that counteract the human tendencies that lead to costly mistakes.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking Richard Thaler
Why Richard Thaler?
Booking Richard Thaler for your event means bringing the founder of behavioral economics to your stage — a Nobel Laureate whose ideas have shaped how governments design policy, how companies build retirement plans, and how financial institutions manage risk. Thaler doesn't just explain how humans make decisions; he shows organizations how to design environments where better decisions happen automatically. His combination of world-class credibility, decades of applied research, and a genuinely engaging speaking style makes him one of the most valuable keynote investments any senior leadership team can make. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to inquire about Richard Thaler's availability for your next event.
What is the "nudge" theory Richard Thaler pioneered?
The nudge theory, developed by Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein, holds that small, carefully designed changes to the way choices are presented — without restricting options or changing incentives — can significantly influence the decisions people make. Classic examples include automatically enrolling employees in retirement savings plans (dramatically increasing participation) or placing healthier foods at eye level in cafeterias. The theory became the basis for behavioral insights units in governments around the world, including the UK's Nudge Unit and similar bodies in the United States, Australia, and the European Union. Thaler and Sunstein detailed the framework in their bestselling book Nudge, now considered one of the most influential policy books of the last two decades.
What is FullerThaler Asset Management?
FullerThaler Asset Management is an investment firm co-founded by Richard Thaler and Russell Fuller that applies behavioral finance principles to equity investing. The firm's approach is built on the observation that markets — run by human beings subject to predictable cognitive biases — systematically misprice certain assets, creating exploitable opportunities for disciplined, evidence-based investors. The firm manages over $30 billion primarily in small-cap U.S. equities and has become one of the leading real-world applications of the behavioral finance research Thaler helped pioneer.
What topics does Nobel economist speaker Richard Thaler cover?
Richard Thaler speaks on the practical applications of behavioral economics across business and public life: how cognitive biases affect financial decision-making, how nudge design can improve organizational outcomes, the psychology of risk and loss aversion, and what the latest behavioral research means for corporate strategy and public policy. His sessions are tailored to executive, financial, and policy audiences and are consistently rated among the most intellectually stimulating keynotes available on the conference circuit. To book Richard Thaler or check his availability, contact Aurum Speakers Bureau.
How to book Richard Thaler as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book Richard Thaler as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about Richard Thaler's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for Richard Thaler or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is Richard Thaler speaking fee?
Richard Thaler speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire Richard Thaler to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book Richard Thaler.
How can I contact Richard Thaler?
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Can I book Richard Thaler for a virtual keynote?
Yes, Richard Thaler is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book Richard Thaler for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
