The idea was first introduced by Robert G. Kirby, an investment manager and author. He wrote an article in the 1984 edition of The Journal of Portfolio Management, describing a client who secretly mirrored all his stock buy recommendations in his personal account but never followed his sell recommendations or sold anything.

The result was that the client's portfolio far outpaced Kirby’s professionally managed portfolio. Upon analyzing the performance, it was clear that some stocks completely tanked, a good chunk kept pace with the market, and a small subset significantly outperformed, driving most of the gains.