Best Books Recommended By Warren Buffett That You Need To Read

Deemed ‘the greatest investment book ever’ by Buffett, American economist and investor Benjamin Graham’s masterpiece is a must-read for all professional investors interested in value investing. With numerous wisdom quotes, the book is sure to guide you towards the path of financial security.

Focusing mostly on varied investment strategies and principles, the book discusses how investors respond to market fluctuations and invest safely without risking much.

Buffett on the book: The billionaire investor has mentioned this book several times. In his 2013 annual shareholder letter, Buffet said, “Of all the investments I ever made, buying Ben’s book was the best (except for my purchase of two marriage licenses). In contrast, Ben’s ideas were explained logically in elegant, easy-to-understand prose (without Greek letters or complicated formulas).”

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Edited by investor-writer Max Olson, the book is a collection of the full, unedited versions of each one of Warren Buffett’s letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway written between 1965 and 2014.

The book is a great read for all the students of investing as they can get a firsthand experience of the groundbreaking case study on Berkshire’s success. Buffett also talks about his techniques here and provides a lesson plan of his opinions on business and investing, as a teacher.

Buffett on the book: In his 2013 shareholder letter, the CEO mentioned this book and said that it “includes an index that I find particularly useful, specifying page numbers for individuals, companies and subject matter.”

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This classic read by American stockbroker and writer Fred Schwed Jr. revolves around a New York visitor whose admiration of the yachts of bankers and brokers soon leads to understanding the true hypocrisy of Wall Street — one where brokers keep getting rich and their customers keep being broke.

As the story moves forward, the visitor wonders where all the customers’ yachts have gone. He soon realises that none of the customers had any yachts as they couldn’t afford them and this happened despite them following the advice of their bankers and brokers.

Buffett on the book: While recommending the book at the 2007 annual shareholder meeting, Buffet said, “This book was first published in 1940. It is the best book ever published on the subject of investment. It wisely explains many insights on the subject of investment.”

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Graham and Dodd’s seminal work, considered the ‘investor’s Bible’, was first published in 1934, and has been in print ever since, through six editions with nearly a million copies sold.

In 2016, Fortune called the book “still the best investment guide” and noted its “extraordinary endurance.”

Based on the theory of value investing, corporate finance and financial analysis, the book’s sixth and most popular edition came out in 2008. It contains 200 additional pages of commentary from the leading money managers of Wall Street including Warren Buffett.

Buffett on the book: In his foreword of the sixth edition, the investor praised the book and wrote, “A road map for investing that I have now been following for 57 years.”

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In this classic guide on investing, author and investor John C. Bogle focuses on low-cost index funds — the pivotal way to get more out of investing. He argues that, unlike other wealth management strategies, low-cost index funds offer stability, safety and steady growth.

The most fruitful investment strategy for building wealth other than low-cost mutual funds is one that tracks a broad stock market index such as the S&P 500.

Buffett on the book: In his 2014 annual shareholder letter, the business tycoon shared his thoughts on the book and wrote, “Rather than listening to their siren songs, investors — large and small — should instead read The Little Book of Common Sense Investing.”

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With its witty talks, lectures and public commentaries, Poor Charlie’s Almanack documents the American billionaire investor and Buffett’s longtime business partner Munger’s growth from his childhood in Omaha to his steady financial success.

The book’s ‘Mungerisms: Charlie Unscripted’ section is a special collection that reveals the writer’s sharp comments made at the Wesco Financial and Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings.

The readers can also catch a section focusing on ‘Ten Talks’ in the book containing Munger’s varied interests — from how one could gauge the world to how his Multiple Mental Models could be useful in business. Additionally, the tenth talk in this section has a different take on another work called The Psychology of Human Misjudgment by the writer.

This biography by Munger is edited by the CEO of Glenair, Peter D Kaufman, and also includes a foreword by Warren Buffett.

Buffett on the book: Just buy a copy and carry it around; it will make you look urbane and erudite, “Buffett had humorously remarked about the book in his 2010 shareholder letter.

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Written by the founder and managing director of Housatonic Partners, William N. Thorndike, Jr., this book explores the importance of reflective capital allocation through the stories of eight successful CEOs.

Thorndike’s years of research and experience have helped him share important lessons for anyone interested in leading a company or investing in one, while also gaining favourable returns.

Buffett on the book: In his 2012 annual shareholder letter, Buffett wrote, “The Outsiders, by William Thorndike, Jr., is an outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation. It has an insightful chapter on our director, Tom Murphy, overall the best business manager I’ve ever met.”

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This New York Times bestseller by journalist Carol J. Loomis gives readers a deeper insight into Warren Buffett’s investment strategies and his thoughts on management, philanthropy, public policy and parenting.

The book is a collection of the best Fortune magazine articles on Buffett published between 1966 and 2012. It includes thirteen cover stories and over twelve pieces authored by Buffett himself.

Some of the standout pieces from the book include the 1966 A. W. Jones story in which Fortune mentioned Buffett for the first time and Andrew Tobias’ 1983 article ‘Letters from Chairman Buffett’.

Buffett on the book: Giving a shoutout to his longtime friend Loomis, Buffett revealed in his 2012 letter that her new book will be available at the Berkshire annual meeting that year, “Carol Loomis, who has been invaluable to me in editing this letter since 1977, has recently authored Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything. She and I have cosigned 500 copies, available exclusively at the meeting.”

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In this book, author and financial strategist L.J. Rittenhouse provides a CEO-based communications framework for assessing the financial integrity of a company. Her ideas and tools are useful to know the true meanings behind corporate jargon.

The book shares Rittenhouse’s time-tested approach to perceiving risky businesses before inconvenience catches on. This was the same tool that was used by her to foresee the failure of Enron as well as the Lehman debacle.

Buffett on the book: Buffett had recommended this brilliant title in his 2012 annual shareholder letter.

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This autobiographical tale revolves around a remarkable man, Phil Beuth, and his equally estimable career. The book chronicles his 40-year experience with one of America’s outstanding communications companies, Capital Cities (ABC-TV).

This story of Beuth, who was born with cerebral palsy, but fought his way with skill and patience to become the head of Good Morning America and a division president of ABC, is undoubtedly an inspiration for all.

Buffett on the book: Sharing about the book in his 2015 shareholder letter, the CEO wrote, “My friend, Phil Beuth, has written Limping on Water, an autobiography that chronicles his life at Capital Cities Communications and tells you a lot about its leaders, Tom Murphy and Dan Burke. These two were the best managerial duo – both in what they accomplished and how they did it – that Charlie and I ever witnessed.”

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