Best Books on Warren Buffett

Nov 24, 2023 By Susan Kelly

It isn't easy to believe that each commentator has a unique and definitive perspective on Warren Buffett, either as an investor or a person. It is pretty unlikely that several of them even addressed him at all. Most of the time, they get the information they need from the shareholder letters that Warren Buffett sends for Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) or from other common source material. That being said, there is a lot to learn from those letters.


Which of these books you should read depends on whether you want to learn how to invest from the guy himself or if you are more interested in learning about the man as an investor. Even though reading these books undoubtedly won't provide the same level of fulfillment as holding Berkshire shares did over the last 45 years, one may still get a great deal of information and pleasure from perusing their pages. These are the five books on Warren Buffett that are the best.


1. Robert G. Hagstrom's Book Entitled "The Warren Buffett Way."


This book by Hagstrom may be all you need if you are searching for lessons in investing based on the outstanding record that Buffett has compiled throughout his career. The Warren Buffett Way, now in its third edition, details the rules of thumb Buffett employs when it comes to investing and guides the reader through them using case studies taken from Buffett's investment portfolio. These include well-known practices such as buying businesses that you understand and ignoring Mr. Market, in addition to some more profound lessons drawn from the real-life investments that the Oracle from Omaha has made.


2. Lessons for Corporate America, Co-Written by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham and Titled the Essays of Warren Buffett


Surprisingly, Buffett is not the author of any books in his own right. However, when taken as a whole, his shareholder letters equal to the same amount of content as multiple volumes, even though when read in order, they demonstrate the effects of the absence of an editor. This problem was answered by Lawrence Cunningham, who read through all of Buffett's letters and organized his opinions into categories based on the subjects they addressed.


The material is Buffett's, and so is the concept, but he has placed his editorial voice on it, which may have been a necessary step in bringing everything together.Not solely aimed at the individual investor; however, you will still learn a lot about investing from reading it. The book is titled "The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America."



3. Robert P. Miles's Book "The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets from The Berkshire Hathaway Managers."


The Warren Buffett CEO focuses less on Buffett's abilities as an investor and more on his leadership skills as a manager. This book explains how Berkshire Hathaway's CEO, Warren Buffett, chooses the heads of the company companies and how he manages them. This narrative is told from the perspective of the executives of Berkshire. Although Warren Buffett's CEO is not a guide to making investments, you will get a lot of knowledge about significant firms and outstanding management, two things every investor should remember. More crucially, the book illuminates a facet of Warren Buffett that is often obscured by the success of his investment portfolio. Buffett is known for his excellence as both a manager and an investor.


4. What an Investor Learns 1,269 Miles from Wall Street, written by Janet Tavakoli and Titled "Dear Mr. Buffett."


Even though he is featured prominently throughout the book, author Warren Buffett doesn't take the spotlight in this biography. Expert in structured finance Janet Tavakoli has written many publications, most centered on collateralized debt obligations. After the economic crisis of 2009, she had the opportunity to speak with Buffett. As a result, she began to emphasize the tenets of Buffett's value investing theory.



5. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and The Business of Life and Buffett: Making of an American Capitalist, Both Written by Alice Schroeder and Roger Lowenstein


These two Buffett biographies offer comprehensive views into the life and times of the Oracle of Omaha. The original edition of Buffett: Making of an American Capitalist was released in 1995; however, the audiobook version includes specific edits and updates made by the author, Lowenstein, a veteran writer for The Wall Street Journal. . Even though reading these books undoubtedly won't provide the same level of fulfillment as holding Berkshire shares did over the last 45 years.

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