Benjamin Graham
About
Benjamin Graham was a Columbia Business School professor and money manager who effectively invented the discipline of security analysis. In 1934 he co-wrote Security Analysis with David Dodd, and in 1949 he wrote The Intelligent Investor — the book Warren Buffett has called "by far the best book on investing ever written."
Graham's core ideas — the "margin of safety" (buy so far below intrinsic value that even bad outcomes leave you protected) and the "Mr. Market" allegory (imagine the market as a moody partner who quotes you a price every day; you decide whether to trade with him) — remain the foundation of value investing.
Warren Buffett studied under Graham at Columbia and worked for him at Graham-Newman before starting his own partnership. Almost every serious value investor traces their intellectual lineage back to Graham.
- "Margin of safety" — never pay so much for a stock that a mistake or bad luck ruins you.
- The "Mr. Market" allegory — the market's daily prices are offers to trade, not verdicts on value.
- Widely attributed via Buffett: "In the short run, the market is a voting machine; in the long run, it is a weighing machine."
From the record
Historical positions — for education, not a current portfolio.
- GEICO — Graham-Newman's landmark investment in the insurer that later became a cornerstone of Berkshire Hathaway.
- Northern Pipe Line — Graham's early activist campaign that pushed the company to distribute excess assets to shareholders.
Read Benjamin in their own words
The Intelligent Investor
The definitive value-investing primer — Buffett has called it "by far the best book on investing ever written."
Find on AmazonSecurity Analysis
The founding textbook of modern security analysis.
Find on AmazonBook links go to Amazon search. We may earn a commission once our Amazon Associates program is active.
Almost every serious value investor traces their intellectual lineage back to Graham. Margin of safety and the Mr. Market allegory are still the mental scaffolding modern investors learn first.