What’s on Tom’s Bookshelf this year?
A guest browses Tom's selections at last year's Reunion.
Do you ever find yourself in someone's house perusing their bookshelf? Studying the spine of each book, and looking for the story those books tell about what inspires their owner?
Each year at the Markel Group Reunion, Tom Gayner gives you that opportunity. He shares the books that moved him over the past year, available for purchase alongside his own notes on why he chose each one. For investors who want to understand not just what Markel Group does, but how its leader thinks and what he values, here's another window.
Tom's Bookshelf at the 2025 Reunion, operated by the University of Richmond Bookstore.
Tom has selected three books for 2026, but we're saving the titles for Richmond.
One explores the full income statement of ambition: what fuels it, what it costs, and what's left when the winning stops.
One was recommended to Tom by one of this year's Forum guest speakers, a championship coach who knows something about adapting, surviving, and thriving in an uncertain world.
And one is a book about time, how character compounds quietly while the noise of the world swirls around it, and why those who ask the least from history seem to find its greatest share of contentment.
All three, in their own way, are books about the Spirit of Teamwork.
The Forum at Modlin Center for the Arts — one of two locations where Tom's Bookshelf will be set up in 2026.
Tom's Bookshelf will be set up at The Forum at Modlin Center for the Arts and again at The Reception — operated by the University of Richmond Bookstore. Tom's personal notes on why a book earned its place on the shelf this year are part of the Reunion experience. Come find out what he picked.
Scenes from Tom's Bookshelf at the 2025 Reunion.