People always have questions about how they can become famous investors. Those who don’t, often have excuses about why they can’t become a successful investor…
Most investors live next door. They are successful, but perhaps not as successful as these people! Some of these investors may have differing or even contradictory philosophies!
13. Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel is perhaps one of the most successful investors to ever live. This is a special achievement on its own, but is even more so, given he is the youngest on this list.
Unlike many other investors on this list, Peter Thiel’s primary concern isn’t price. More like the company itself!
Peter Thiel has helped to found PayPal and Palantir Technologies. In fact for both of them, he provided the primary funds. He was also one of the initial investors in Facebook too!
And this follows his investment philosophy- monopoly.
When you look at the companies that Thiel has invested in, they always have some sort of monopoly.
Facebook had a monopoly on social media and how we connect.
PayPal had a monopoly on how we send money in a digital age.
Palantir Technologies has a monopoly on financial data.
Invest like Peter Thiel:
- Buying a company that is or has a monopoly is key
12. Bill Ackman
Bill Ackman is known for being one of the most aggressive fund managers out there. Ackman is the founder of Pershing Square Capital, a fun that manages $50 billion in assets for some of the world’s richest people.
Ackman is known on Wall Street for his incredibly risky aggressive approach to investing.There are several cases of when he has aggressively invested in a failing business. Sears and K-Mart are perhaps the most famous.
This follows Ackman’s philosophy of investing in a solid company, but just needs a bit of financial assistance.
Ackman is also one of the most outspoken people on Wall Street. There have been several times where he has shorted a company and publicly declared why.
Perhaps the most famous example of this is Herbalife, where Ackman publicly called them a pyramid scheme. He eventually turned that into a massive profit for his fund.
Invest like Bill Ackman:
- Buy a company that needs financial assistance and then sell
- Don’t mind being opinionated
11. George Soros
George Soros is one of the most successful investors of all time, he also happens to be one of the most famous investors too! Because of the former, he is often disliked… Just not for what you might be thinking…
Perhaps one of the most famous stories pertaining to Soros is that of the time he almost destroyed the pound. Essentially, he shorted the pound so much, that peoppe were convinced that the pound was about to plummet.
As such, they sold their pounds. The Bank of England went into crisis mode and bought up as much of the spare pounds as possible.
From this alone, he made almost one billion dollars, and made the US Dollar the de facto currency of the world.
Why did he do this? Because his gut told him it would be good. (He’d done research into the Bank of England and worked out that this is what it’d do!)
Invest like George Soros:
- Don’t be afraid to be aggressive
- Trust your gut ALWAYS
- Do your research
10. Mohnish Pabrai
Mohnish Pabrai is perhaps one of the least famous investors on this list. According Pabrai, he owes much of his success to Warren Buffett (and consequentially Benjamin Graham!)
In fact, Pabrai has borrowed much of his investing philosophies from Grahams two best students- John Templeton and Warren Buffett.
Pabrai’s main philosophy comes from his book The Dhandho Investor: The Low – Risk Value Method to High Returns. As the title suggests, you should buy stocks with the idea of holding on to them for the long term.
According to Pabrai, this is the best way to ensure high returns.
Pabrai has also borrowed one of Warren Buffett’s main tenements- buy what you know. That is to say- if you are familiar with the tech industry, invest in that, or the aviation industry, invest in that.
Perhaps one of Pabrai’s oddest philosophies is that f having a complete portfolio all the time. Pabrai likens your investments portfolio to a mosaic- separately, they are useless, together, they are beautiful!
And by beautiful, we mean amazing investments! So by not having that complete mosaic, you are only cheating yourself from the returns you deserve! Rather ingenious if I may say so myself!
Invest like Mohnish Pabrai:
- Minimize risk
- Always have a complete portfolio
- Know what you are buying
9. Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is perhaps one of the most successful investors on this list. He also happens to be one of the most famous investors too!
Mark Cuban is perhaps one of the most successful businessmen to have ever graced our planet- you name it, he has done it!
After starting up and selling many of his ventures, he bought the Dallas Mavericks. He also invests in businesses that come on Shark Tank.
Unlike many of the other Sharks, Cuban is noted for focusing a large part of the due diligence on the financial aspects of the company.
If the company is sound financially and has competent leadership, he has been known to buy 100% of the company!
Invest like Mark Cuban:
- Always do your due Diligence
- Focus on the leadership
8. John Templeton
We’ve all heard of the philosophy of “Buy low and sell high”. Anyone who knows anything (or even nothing) about investing can point to this philosophy.
Whilst Sir John Templeton didn’t invent it per se, he had a very similar approach. In fact, you could argue he is the living embodiment of an aggressive investor.
When he was 27, he borrowed money and invested in 100 companies, all on the verge of bankruptcy (this was 1939 mind you!) He quickly sold 96 of these companies for a massive profit, losing money on only four!
This investment philosophy stuck with him, combining aspects of investing taught to him by the legendary Benjamin Graham. The result was that Templeton became one of the most successful investors to ever live!
Invest like John Templeton:
- Monitor the markets that no one else is
- Don’t be afraid to be bold
- Always be sensible
7. Charlie Munger
Charlie Munger is Warren Buffett’s partner-in-crime. Together, they head Berkshire Hathaway, and have become some of the most successful and famous investors thanks to it.
Munger follows his friend Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy, having also read The Intelligent Investor. However, he also follows his own investment strategy:
Cards. Charlie Munger was in the military (US Army Air Corps) during WWII. There, he learned how to play cards, something that has stuck with him to this day. He always says:
What you have to learn is to fold early when the odds are against you, or if you have a big edge, back it heavily because you don’t get a big edge often. Opportunity comes, but it doesn’t come often, so seize it when it does come.
Charlie Munger in 2000
Alongside his friend Warren Buffett, he has been able to use what he knows to nvest in Costco and other similar businesses, some of which have become Berkshire prime holdings!
Munger is currently worth $2 billion!
Invest like Charlie Munger:
- Don’t be greedy
- Invest in what you know
6. Carl Icahn
Carl Icahn is one of those investors that are either a godsend to startups, or a massive panic.
Carl Icahn is perhaps one of the most famous investors, party because of the fact he is one of the most successful investors to have ever lived, but also because he attracts lots of press.
He attracts a lot of press (and is so successful) thanks to his approach to his investments. He will stop at nothing to increase the share price and his own wealth.
In the past, he has separated one company into two, and floated them as separate companies. For both of these companies, he is the largest shareholder in total, or is at least a major stakeholder.
From this, he is able to extract as much profit from this as possible.
Icahn is also well known for being extremely aggressive in terms of his investments. He will often invest a huge amount in the company, in order to increase their share price.
He will then maneuver his way to forcing the company to change.
Invest like Carl Icahn:
- Do whatever is needed to increase the share price
- Be aggressive
5. Ray Dalio
Ray Dalio is perhaps the most successful (and loved) fund manager to have ever lived. Ray Dalio founded Brigewater Associates in 1975, and since then has gone on to become one of the most famous investors ever!
He is known for his very “unique” management style. Where many hedge funds aim to just keep on doing the same thing they’ve been doing for a while, Ray Dalio demands 100% openness and honesty.
In fact, Bridgewater is described as a meritocracy.
Ray Dalio is at the helm of a firm that manages $160 billion, for some of the world’s richest and noblest families. As a result, he has to invest wisely and do his research.
Often he will invest in completely different industries, with seemingly no relation to one another. All mitigating the risk that he’ll lose all of his money.
By doing this, he has been able to comfortably beat the S&P 500 consistently since 1991. In fact, he averages 14% ROI for his investors, compared to the average 7.25% of the S&P 500.
Invest like Ray Dalio:
- 100% honesty
- Teamwork makes the dream work
- Diversification equals less loss
4. Jack Bogle
Jack Bogle is an investor like no other. Whilst he didn’t amass the riches that many of the other investors on this list did (although $180 million is certainly a lot!) he did become one of the most famous investors ever!
What did he do? He invented the modern mutual fund. In 1974, he realized that investing for the average Joe was a daunting and almost impossible task.
As such, he decided to invest for other people. He gathered a collection of 500 companies that he saw as as a great investment. He then marketed them to the public as a low cost, low risk way to invest.
In the long term, he helped his clients, oridinary men and women to invest billions of dollars. And unltimately, they made millions (if not billions!) in returns!
This made Jack Bogle one of the most revered men on Wall Street, especially so to the general public! As such, he is one of the most famous investors to have ever lived!
Invest like Jack Bogle:
- Diversification is key
- Always be low-cost
- Patience is key
3. Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch is perhaps one of the most successful investors ever… but he didn’t do it to amass himself so much wealth. He did it for his clients, yet he operated as though the money was his.
For 13 years, Lynch was the manager of Fidelity Magellan Fund. There, he turned a fund handling $20 million into a fund handling over $16 billion!
Unlike other fund investors, Lynch would only invest in what he knew. Due diligence was Lynch’s best friend, and it made him one of the most successful investors ever!
Lynch was also known for his very erratic investing strategy. He would divest himself entirely from one company one day, and buy five separate companies the next!
Invest like Peter Lynch:
- Invest in what you know
- Do your due diligence
- Don’t be afraid to divest completely!
2. Benjamin Graham
Benjamin Graham is arguably the greatest investor of all time. Not only did he invent value investing, but he arguably invented rule one investing too! (Sorry Phil…)
Benjamin Graham began by publishing his first book in 1934, Securities Analysis, with David Dodd. His second book, The Intelligent Investor, became his best selling book.
In fact, these books helped him to become a lecturer at Columbia University. This enticed a young Warren Buffett to go to Columbia University, something that would go on to make history!
Benjamin Graham also helped to teach a young Sir John Templeton- someone who also went on to become one of the most successful investors!
Partly due to his books, and partly due to his students, Ben Graham has gone on to become one of the most famous investors!
Invest like Benjamin Graham:
- Buy low, sell high
- Know that the market is and always will be fluctuating
1. Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is perhaps the most successful investor to have ever lived. Warren Buffett first invested at 14, and at 88, he is worth $70.5 billion (as of the time of writing).
Warren Buffett began investing at only 14. His father was a stockbroker and had a library full of investment-related books, including Securities Analysis and The Intelligent Investor, generally considered to be two of the greatest investment books ever!
As he got older, he was sure he wanted to become a stockbroker. One day, he found that Benjamin Graham and David Dodd were both teaching at Columbia University. As such, he decided to apply to go there.
When he arrived, he soon became a top student, and upon graduation went to work for Benjamin Graham at his investment firm.
Eventually, Benjamin Graham retired and closed his firm. This forced Warren to find another place to work, which he did… for himself.
He first set up his own company- Buffett Partnership, Ltd. This company would buy a stake in companies that Buffett thought were good, including Sanborn Map Co. and later Berkshire Hathaway.
Eventually, Buffett took the reigns of Berkshire and used it to buy several insurance companies. Today, Berkshire Hathaway is one of the most successful insurance companies in the world!
Invest like Warren Buffett:
- Buy what you know
- Never lose money
Who’s your favorite investor? Tell me in the comments!
This post was co-written by Thibault Kuten and Alexander Pask
