Warren Buffett: 11 Books That Made Me MILLIONS (Must READ)

I just read and read and read. I probably read five and six hours a day. I don't read as fast now as when I was younger, but I've read every book in the Omaha Public Library by the time I was 11 years old. As soon as I got back here and my dad was in Congress, I said, get everything in this Library of Congress. I will say this, I know no wise person who doesn't read a lot. Today, we are going to talk about 11 books that Warren Buffett recommends every investor must read. First quick side note, did you guys know Buffett's full name is Warren Edward Buffett? I've been following him for a while and I just learned his middle name. Comment down below if you actually knew his middle name. Anyways, back to the video. You might ask, how do we know that Buffett actually recommended all the books in this list? Well, as most of you might already know, Buffett is an avid reader himself. He spends 80% of his day reading, so whenever he finds an exceptional book, he usually shares it through his shareholders' letters or at his annual meetings. So, let's jump right into what these books are. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher. Widely respected and admired, Philip Fisher is among the most influential investors of all time. His investment philosophies, introduced almost 40 years ago, are not only studied and applied by today's financiers and investors, but are also regarded by many as gospel. His book, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, published in 1958, devotes careful attention to this concept of networking and gathering information via business contacts. He was famous for the depth of his research on companies with which he would invest. He relied on personal connections, what he called the business grapevine, and conversation to learn about businesses before buying stock. Warren Buffett said, A thorough understanding of the business, obtained by using Phil's techniques, enables one to make intelligent investment commitments. Business Adventures, Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks. Not long after Microsoft Corporation co-founder Bill Gates first met Mr. Buffett back in 1991, Mr. Gates asked the Oracle of Omaha to recommend his favorite book about business. As Mr. Gates recounted, Mr. Buffett didn't miss a beat before naming this, a collection of New Yorker articles from the 1960s. The book contains notable and fascinating accounts of some of the largest companies of the mid-1900s that are as relevant today to understanding the intricacies of corporate life as they were when the events happened. Stories about Wall Street are infused with drama and adventure, and reveal the machinations and volatile nature of the world of finance. Another decades-old classic, this book uses humor to pierce some of the pretensions of Wall Street. The title comes from the story of a visitor to New York who was admiring all the nice boats in the harbor and was told that they belonged to Wall Street bankers. He naively asked where the bankers' clients kept their boats. The answer? They couldn't afford them. Mr. Buffett once called it the funniest book ever written about investing, and said it lightly delivers many truly important messages on the subject. Full of wise contrarian advice and offering a true look at the world of investing, in which brokers get rich while their customers go broke, this book continues to open the eyes of investors to the reality of Wall Street. A liked, fun read, and something you definitely want to pick up to have a laugh, and more importantly, learn about the world of brokers and managers so you don't lose out on your money. Essays in Persuasion by John Maynard Keynes Essays in Persuasion, written by legendary author John Maynard Keynes, is widely considered to be one of the top 100 greatest books of all time. The essays in this volume show Keynes' attempts to influence the course of events by public persuasion over the period of 1919-40. With startling accuracy, Keynes forecast the economic fluctuations that were to beset the economies of Europe and the United States, and even proposed measures which, if he did at the time, might have warded off an era of worldwide depression. His views on Soviet Russia, on the decline of l'assez-faire, and the possibilities of economic growth are as relevant today as when Keynes originally set them forth. Mr. Buffett has flagged this collection of writings from the noted economist both for the importance of its ideas and the clear way they're presented. While Mr. Keynes is now known, and in some quarters vilified, for his work as an economist, he also devoted a fair amount of time to stock picking. Mr. Buffett has deemed him brilliant at both callings. Reading Keynes will make you smarter about securities and markets, he told Outstanding Investor Digest in 1989. I'm not sure reading most economists would do the same. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by Jack Bogle Jack Bogle, the CEO of the Vanguard Group, is a prolific investor best known for creating the first index fund. An author of multiple books, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is probably his most famous work. In a time when everyone tried to beat the market with great stock picks and then charge expensive fees for it, he thought, why not just mimic what the indexes are doing and not manage anything? This little thought turned into one of the most prevailing investment ideas of the following century, and one of the most respected investment companies in the world. The book shows you an alternative to actively, poorly-management, overpaid funds by introducing you to low-cost, passive index funds as a sustainable investing strategy, which gets you the retirement savings you need without the usual hassle of stock investing. He claims that the majority of your money is best invested in safe, low-cost index funds, and you can't go wrong by just choosing the cheapest index fund. For the record, Mr. Buffett himself has frequently said most investors are better off buying low-cost index funds. Poor Charlie's Almanac, The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, edited by Peter Kaufman. This is a book very close to Mr. Buffett. It comes from Charles Munger, the vice president of Berkshire Hathaway, a man Warren Buffett described as his closest partner and right-hand man. Mr. Buffett hasn't been shy about attributing much of Berkshire's success to his right-hand man, in no small part for saying no to some of Mr. Buffett's stupider ideas. Mr. Munger is a deep thinker on human behaviour and human frailties, and has spoken often about how investors can shoot themselves in the foot. This book is a biography that chronicles Charlie's growth from his humble Omaha childhood to his phenomenal financial success. His Midwest values prepared him well for his long, illustrious journey. The book also summarises his approach to life, decision-making, learning and investing. It talks about his unconventional method of thinking and his astonishing work ethic, that is, the twin fonts of his remarkable success. There is a special Mungerism's Charlie Unscripted section that holds a collection of scathing remarks he had made at previous Wesco Financial and Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings. This book also includes the talks and speeches that he had given in a specific 20-year period. The book not only will help you with direct tips on investment, but reading through Mr. Munger's experiences will definitely help you hone your investing skills and to identify better investments. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham If you're watching this video, I am 100% sure you already know this book. It's considered the Bible of investing, the book that started it all for Buffett. A classic on the basics of value investing, Warren Buffett once said about the book, Picking up that book was one of the luckiest moments in my life. After reading it, Mr. Buffett enrolled in Columbia University so he could take classes from Mr. Graham and later went on to work for him. Even now, when asked a question about his approach to investing, Mr. Buffett is liable to cite specific chapters from the book. The book teaches readers strategies on how to successfully use value investing in the stock market. The Intelligent Investor is notable today, with many famous investors praising it for helping them learn how to determine value in the stock market and successfully pick stocks for their portfolios. Graham's main investment approach outlined in The Intelligent Investor is that of value investing. Value investing is an investment strategy that targets undervalued stocks of companies that have the capabilities as businesses to perform well in the long run. Value investing is not concerned with short term trends in the market or daily movements of stocks. This is because value investing strategies believe the market overreacts to price changes in the short term, without taking into account the company's fundamentals for long term growth. In its most basic terms, value investing is based on the premise that if you know the true value of a stock, then you can save lots of money if you can buy that stock on sale. This book is an absolute must-read for starters to understand how to truly evaluate the market and not be swayed by trends. The Most Important Thing – Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor by Howard Marks Howard Stanley Marks is an American investor and writer. He is the co-founder and co-chairman of Oak Tree Capital Management, the largest investor in distressed securities worldwide. The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today's volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways. Marks expounds on such concepts as second-level thinking, the price-value relationship, patient opportunism, and defensive investing. Frankly and honestly assessing his own decisions and occasional missteps, he provides valuable lessons for critical thinking, risk assessment, and investment strategy. In today's post-pandemic global market where companies are still finding their footing, these are important values to find a solid investment. The Outsiders by William Thorndike Jr. A book that was number one on Warren Buffett's recommended reading list on the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Letter 2012, The Outsiders details the extraordinary success of CEOs who took a radically different approach to corporate management. In this refreshing, counter-intuitive book, author Will Thorndike brings to bear the analytical wisdom of a successful career in investing, closely evaluating the performance of companies and their leaders. Thorndike talks about eight individualistic CEOs whose firms' average returns outperformed their S&P 500 by a factor of 20. In other words, an investment of $10,000 with each of these CEOs, on average, would have been worth over $1.5 million 25 years later. Some of the companies on this list are highly recognizable names like the Washington Post company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, and more. Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these outsiders shunned Wall Street and the press and shied away from the hottest new management trends. The book is a must-read to learn the traits and methods striking for their consistency and relentless rationality that helped these unique leaders achieve such exceptional performance. The Clash of the Cultures – Investment vs. Speculation This is another book from Buffett's 2012 letter. In this book, legendary investor John Bogle talks about the changing culture in the mutual fund industry. For regular investors like you and I, Bogle shares his list of ten simple rules of common-sense investing. According to Bogle, it may not be the best strategy ever devised, but the number of strategies that are worse is infinite. Dream Big by Christian Correa This book was originally published in Portuguese, and after Buffett's recommendation, English copies of the book were virtually sold out from every store. In this book, Author shares the story of the Brazilian trio behind 3G Capital, the private equity firm that owns Anheuser-Busch InBev and has partnered with Berkshire on deals to acquire H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foods Group, Inc. While Berkshire's partnerships with the firm are recent, Mr. Buffett's relationship with 3G's Jorge Paulo Lenman goes back for years. My friend and now partner Jorge Paulo and his team are among the best businessmen in the world, Mr. Buffett said. He is a fantastic person and his story should be an inspiration to everybody, as it is for me. That's it for today. Smash that like button if you enjoyed the video.