In this article, we will take a look at the Most Successful Investors of All Time. Taking into account the net worth of other investors as well, we have compiled a full free list of 15 Most Successful Investors of All Time.
According to Forbes, the world saw an increase in the number of billionaires in 2024. There now exist 141 more billionaires as compared to last year, reaching a whopping 2,781 in number. This number is even higher than the record which was set in 2021. And no, this is not all; these people are richer than ever with their cumulative worth set at $14.2 trillion, up by $2 trillion year over year as of 2023. The most surprising thing to note here is that despite the global stock markets battling with political unrest, war, and inflation, the riches of these individuals strived and grew manifold.
Many of these billionaires are investors who have years of experience in the investment industry, who not only have built fortunes for themselves but have also enriched other investors who entrusted them with their money So what makes them so successful and stand out from other investors? While investors might not agree on a lot of things, one thing all successful investors agree on is having a strategy. It has been established that making money in the market comes with a steadfast strategy that is built around a set of rules. These rules range from Warren Buffett’s, “Do Your Research” to Bill Gross’s, “Have Conviction”. With these ranging rules, their investment strategies differ. On the one hand, we have value investors, and on the other, quantitative investors.
Value investing is an investment strategy that involves picking stocks that appear to be trading for less than their intrinsic value (real value). Value investors actively seek stocks they think the stock market is underestimating. When it comes to value investing, there is no bigger investor than the mighty Warren Buffett, who has the biggest stake in Berkshire Hathaway – a U.S.-based conglomerate MNC (multinational corporation), which recorded a net earnings figure of staggering $12.7 billion, according to company’s 2024 1st quarter results! The biggest advice from Warren Buffett for value investing is to look at the quality of the company before evaluating its price. Any new value investor should hold on to his golden words. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” Some of the other prominent names in this investment strategy are Benjamin Graham, David Dodd, and Charlie Munger, whom we are going to discuss shortly.
Coming onto the second investment strategy, quantitative investing, uses mathematical models and algorithms to identify investment opportunities. These strategies are systematic and remove much of the emotional element from investing. Some common approaches to quantitative investment strategies include statistical arbitrage, factor investing, risk parity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Jim Simson, a billionaire and an investing extraordinaire, was one of the most famous and successful quantitative investors. Jim used computer algorithms to buy and sell company shares in denominations of thousands with holding periods ranging from very short to forever.
Regardless of their investment strategy, the Most Successful Investors of All Time mentioned in this article has not only navigated the complexities of the market successfully and built fortunes but have also contributed to the broader financial discourse through their writings, teachings, and operations and establishment of influential financial institution like Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK).
Methodology
To come up with the Most Successful Investor of All Time, we scoured a number of sources across the web including US News, Motley Fool, Yahoo Finance, Investopedia, and Insider Monkey to compile a comprehensive list of successful investors. We then looked up their net worth as given in Forbes. For the investors who have passed away, their latest net worth provided by Forbes has been used, even though we recognize that their net worth could have continued to grow. With this approach, we picked the investor with the highest net worth.
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Is Warren Buffett the Most Successful Investor of All Time?
Net worth: $133 billion
Warren Buffet, with a net worth of whopping $133 billion, is the most successful investor of all time.
Warren Buffett, known as the Oracle of Omaha and arguably the most famous investor, learned from Benjamin Graham and also worked for him. He purchased Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) in 1965 and went on to turn it into a holding company for his investment portfolio. Buffett has made Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) into an industrial powerhouse holding insurance, energy, and industrial companies.
With this, he has established his own investing strategy which is value investing. This strategy has produced extraordinary returns over the past many years. Since 1965, Berkshire Hathaway has produced an average annual return of 20%, which is almost double the performance of the S&P 500 during the same period, according to Motley Fool.
You can see the full free list by going to 15 Most Successful Investors of All Time.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.