11 Investing Books Billionaire Warren Buffett Wants You to Read

8. “The Outsiders” by William Thorndike, Jr.

Buffett described this book as “an outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation.” It also resonated well with the readers, garnering an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Out of the 228 reviewers, 76% gave it 5 stars. Buffet and his company were in one of the chapters. He was described by Capital Cities/ABC Inc. director Tom Murphy as “overall the best business manager I’ve ever met.”

What is it about? The full title of this book is “The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success.” It looks at how the leaders of General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Capital Cities Broadcasting, TCI, and Teledyne deliver exceptional performance. Author William Thorndike brings his analytic wisdom as a successful investor in analyzing how these CEOs have shared values in focusing on per share value rather than sales growth or company earnings, have a remarkable ability in talent and capital allocation, and have strong belief that cash flow determines the long-term value of a company.