Let’s look at the best Warren Buffett book recommendations.
Warren Buffett is a businessman and the most successful investor of all time. He owns Berkshire Hathaway, one of the richest companies in the world, and is known to be very philanthropic by donating his money to causes all around the world.
How much does Warren Buffett read?
Warren Buffett has said that reading takes up about 80% of his day. When he first became an investor, he read anywhere from 600 to 1000 pages per day! He said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”
He’s been quoted as saying, “Look, my job is essentially just corralling more and more and more facts and information, and occasionally seeing whether that leads to some action.”
Another time he said, “We don’t read other people’s opinions. We want to get the facts, and then think.” He goes on, “I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business.”
Is reading how Warren Buffett is so successful?
What is Warren Buffett’s favorite book genre?
Warren Buffett seems to love books about business, and especially investing. That makes sense since his life has been made with successful investments!
Warren Buffett Book Recommendation List
Since Warren Buffett is such a successful investor, and a major reader, the books he recommends should be held to high regard. Here is a full list of Warren Buffett book recommendations:
- The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
- The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
- Where Are The Customers’ Yachts? Or a Good Hard Look at Wall Street by Fred Schwed
- A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
- Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher
- The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike
- The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham was published in 1949, but the values still hold to this day. It is around 640 pages long, and is a staple in Warren Buffett’s book recommendations.
Benjamin Graham, the author, taught people valuable information as one of the greatest investment advisors of all time. He uses a principle called “value investing”. The goal is to help investors mitigate risk, while teaching them how to create a long term investment strategy.
There are 5 investing takeaways that Graham goes over in the book. Some of these include the difference between price and value, risk is not short term, being psychologically prepared, coming to terms with the fact that you can’t predict the future, and how to invest safely.
There is a lot to learn in this massive investing book, but the lessons in it are well worth the read.
Why does Warren Buffett recommend the book The Intelligent Investor?
Warren Buffett read this book when he was just 19 years old, and claims that it was one of the luckiest moments of his life because it gave him a better understanding of investing. We all know how that turned out.
He called it “By far the best book on investing ever written.” That’s quite a compliment coming from Warren Buffet.
Warren Buffett loved the book so much, it’s the reason that he applied to Columbia Business School just to study under Benjamin Graham. Later in life, Buffett also worked for Graham.
When Warren Buffett recommended the book, he also said, “To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book precisely and clearly prescribes the proper framework. You must provide the emotional discipline.”
Because Warren Buffett read The Intelligent Investor at a young age, he was able to turn the principles in the book into a very successful investing career.
The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
The Moment of Lift was written by Melinda Gates, who is the ex-wife of entrepreneur and philanthropist, Bill Gates. The book is 304 pages long, and was published in January of 2021.
Melinda Gates is known for her charity work and philanthropy in the last twenty or so years. No matter where in the world they live, she wants to find solutions to the problems of the people with the most urgent needs. In her book, she explains that if you want society to be successful you have to stop keeping women down.
Melinda Gates has done a lot of traveling around the world and met a lot of people. In The Moment of Lift, she wants to share the stories of the people that she has met, especially those who have given her life a new purpose. She wants her ideas to lift women up, and make them feel empowered.
Gates goes through many issues in her book including gender inequality, child marriage, and inadequate access to contraceptives. Not only does she share the stories of women she has met throughout her journey, she also touches on her personal life, her relationship with Bill Gates, and pulls many of her views and thoughts from that.
Be introduced to amazing women, and see the power of connection in The Moment of Lift.
You can see some of Melinda Gates book recommendations.
What does Warren Buffett have to say about The Moment of Lift?
When Warren Buffett recommended the book The Moment of Lift, he did so in an interview on CNBC.
He stated, “I read it one sitting, it captivated me so much. It’s a story, but you also learn much about the world that you should know and I would say most people don’t know. This is a story of her experiences that is absolutely sensational.”
Not only did Warren Buffett recommend The Moment of Lift, but this was one of Barack Obama’s book recommendations too!
Where Are The Customers’ Yachts? Or a Good Hard Look at Wall Street by Fred Schwed
Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? Or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street was published in 1940, written by Fred Schwed, and is only about 200 pages long.
Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? is a play on a story where someone is visiting the rich in New York City. While admiring the rich investors yachts, he thinks to himself, where are all the customers’ yachts? Obviously, no matter what the customers do, they will never be able to afford a yacht.
The book is about the true world of investing, where the rich get richer, and the customers lose all of their money. While this book is funny, it also shows you the true nature of Wall Street, including the ignorance and hypocrisy.
He exposes Wall Street’s greed, speculation, the belief they can analyze the markets, belief that they know the best stocks to buy, and belief they can predict the financial future.
While this book was written in 1940, the reality of Wall Street hasn’t changed much.
Why does Warren Buffett recommend the book Where Are The Customers’ Yachts? Or a Good Hard Look at Wall Street?
Warren Buffett recommended this book during Berkshire Hathaway’s 2006 annual shareholder meeting in a letter. In the letter he was quoted as saying “The funniest book ever written about investing. It lightly delivers many truly important messages on the subject. Its wisdom and humor are truly priceless.”
Not only did he recommend Where Are The Customer’s Yachts? in a 2006 shareholder letter, but again in 2014!
This is a list of Warren Buffett book recommendations, but this book has been recommended by so many successful investors and business people including Michael Bloomberg.
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything was written by Bill Bryson, who wrote other popular books like A Walk in the Woods, A Sunburned Country, The Body, At Home, and many, many more. This book was published in 2003, and is around 544 pages long.
Bill Bryson said he wrote the book A Short History of Nearly Everything because he was dissatisfied with his scientific knowledge. The thing about this book is it really does go into the history of nearly everything. Bill Bryson teaches us how we got to where we are in science today starting from the Big Bang.
There are so many interesting facts in this book that you probably never knew about. Like did you know that they almost named Uranus, George?
He explains everything in the book simply, so that everyone can understand things like the size of the universe, or how humans came to be, to how we created civilizations and became more modern.
What happens if Earth gets struck by a meteorite? What happens during other natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and mass extinctions?
A Short History of Nearly Everything will teach you the basics of general science.
Why does Warren Buffett recommend the book A Short History of Nearly Everything?
When Warren Buffett recommended this book said, “It’s very impressive to read about people pondering how to figure out the weight of the Earth or something in the 18th century.”
He was interested to see how humans were able to solve problems and figure things out even though they didn’t have the modern tools and technologies that we have today.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher
One of the best Warren Buffett book recommendations is Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher. This was published in 1958, and is 320 pages of investment advice by one of the most influential investors of all time.
This book goes into investment theory including the basic fundamentals of investing that are important no matter what the year is. These fundamentals being what to look for when determining which company to invest in.
There are a few key principles that are taught by Fisher in this book. They include how to figure out if a company is overvalued or undervalued, why stock price doesn’t really matter while you are doing research on a company, and how to look for the perfect buying opportunity while relying on data instead of feelings.
By the end of the book you will learn whether you are a high-risk investor or a conservative investor, and will be able to use this knowledge to make smarter decisions when investing.
Why does Warren Buffett recommend the book Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits?
Warren Buffett holds the author and investor Philip Fisher in high regard.
Warren Buffett recommended the book in a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting, calling it “a very very good book”.
When he recommended Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, he added, “I sought out Phil Fisher after reading his Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. A thorough understanding of the business, obtained by using Phil’s techniques enables one to make intelligent investment commitments.”
Warren Buffett was also quoted as saying, “I am an eager reader of whatever Phil has to say, and I recommend him to you”
It’s safe to say that Philip Fisher and Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits have had an impact on Warren Buffett.
The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success was written by William N. Thorndike and published in 2012. It is 272 pages long.
William Thorndike has had a successful career in investing, and is able to use his knowledge to analyze leaders of high performing companies.
In The Outsiders, William Thorndike asks the question “What makes a successful CEO?” Many people believe that a successful CEO is a great leader, charismatic, strong, and confident. But the answer is something else. A successful CEO is someone who brings long-term returns for their shareholders.
In the book, you will look at eight CEOs from successful companies who outperformed the S&P 500. These companies are General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Capital Cities Broadcasting, TCI, and Teledyne.
In the book you find out what makes the leaders of these companies so great. How they went a different way than the mainstream and were coined “outsiders”.
These CEOs shared specific traits that helped launch them to success. Some of those traits are being able to allocate talent and resources, and making cash flow determine their long term value.
Whether you are interested in becoming a leader at a company or just looking into investing in a company with a certain CEO, The Outsiders will share a lot of lessons and stories that will put you on the path to success.
Why does Warren Buffett recommend the book The Outsiders?
Like a lot of the other Warren Buffett book recommendations, he had The Outsider on his Recommended Reading List in the 2012 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Letter.
He called it, “An outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation.”
One particular chapter that Warren Buffett was fond of talked about Capital Cities Broadcasting CEO, Thomas Murphy. Buffett once called him, “overall the best business manager I’ve ever met.”
Warren Buffett Plug: The Essays of Warren Buffett
We can’t have a post about Warren Buffett book recommendations without mentioning writings from the man himself.
The Essays of Warren Buffett is a collaboration between Professor Lawrence Cunningham and Warren Buffet. Cunningham has put together this book of all of Warren Buffett’s best writing.
The book is around 352 pages and includes both Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters, and essays written about his philosophies.