The Definitive List of Book Recommendations from Warren Buffett
This is the complete list of books recommended by Warren Buffett. This list compiles every book mentioned in the course of interviews, annual reports, and other mentions. We have aimed to provide a complete set of resources spanning the lexicon of value investing and the general world of business as mentioned by Buffett. In some instances, books mentioned by Charlie Munger are included as it is generally implied the material was within the former’s list as well.
The list is broken into the following sections:
- Core Investing Books
- Partnership Letters
- Direct publications
- Letters to Shareholders
- Public events and shareholder meetings
- Other books and published notes
- Buffett & Munger books
- Books not mentioned but are well known in the value investing universe
All of the materials in this list should be considered objectively. Investment knowledge, just like worldly wisdom, is best achieved by review of the source materials and not through commentaries about the source material. It should, therefore, be considered that the opinions of commentary works do not mirror the precise perspective found in the core source texts.
This list was created to be a self-study guide and is recommended for all interested in investing, economics, and business generally. In our own self-study of Berkshire, we found no comprehensive list of publications and reference material and worked to create one. Be reminded that the original ‘Deans’ of Wall Street considered philosophical structures concerning the investing universe to be the most valuable and long-lived models of the real world. The insight of their observation is that the world is a dynamic and vibrant but ever-changing place. The notion of change is as a constant is a fact long known to man. The Greek philosopher Heraclitus famously said, “You cannot step into the same river twice.” Core Investing Books - Required reading for every investor. This list won’t change.
- The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
- Theory Of Investment Value by John Burr Williams
- Wealth Of Nations by Adam Smith
- Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham & David Dodd
- General Theory Of Employment Interest And Money by John Maynard Keynes
- Buffett Partnership Letters by Warren Buffett
- Berkshire Letters To Shareholders by Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger
- Wesco Shareholder Letters by Charlie Munger, 1983 to 2009
- Three years of data are missing if such letters exist.
- Blue Chip Stamps by Charlie Munger 1978 to 1982
- Table of earnings and revenue growth
Partnership Letters - Books mentioned in the partnership letters
- Investment Companies and Their Securities by Arthur Wiesenberger (1943) – 1960 letter
- The Money Game by Adam Smith - 1968 letter
Letters to Shareholders – Berkshire Hathaway – mentions in1965 to 2014 shareholder letters
- The Farmer From Merna – A Biography of George J. Mecherle and a History of the State Farm Insurance Companies of Bloomington, Illinois
- The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets from the Berkshire Hathaway Managers by Robert P. Miles
- Jack – Straight From The Gut by Jack Welch
- Common Sense On Mutual Funds by Jack Bogle
- Take On the Street: What Wall Street and Corporate America Don't Want You to Know by Arthur Levitt
- Chad (Charles K. Gifford) on banking – see various works
- Bull! : A History of the Boom and Bust, 1982-2004 by Maggie Mahar
- The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron by Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind, Joe Nocera
- Rational Choice In An Uncertain World by Robyn Dawes, Reid Hastie
- The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes
- Poor Charlie’s Almanac by Charlie Munger
- Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe by Graham T. Allison
- Seeking Wisdom From Darwin To Munger by Peter Bevelin
- Where Are The Customers Yachts by Fred Schwed
- MiTek: A Global Success Story, 1981-2011
- A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers From Warren Buffett by Peter Bevelin
- Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything by Carol Loomis
- Common Stocks And Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher
- The Outsiders : Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success - by William Thorndike
- Investing Between the Lines: How to Make Smarter Decisions By Decoding CEO Communications by L.J. Rittenhouse
- Non-Book Recommendations made in letters:
- Wesco Annual Letters and Annual Reports – see above
- Financial Times – see below
- Fortune Magazine – see below
- Writings of Walter & Edwin Schloss
- See this post on every known major article by and about Walter Schloss https://www.walterschloss.com/
Direct Publications:
Books
- Poor Charlie’s Almanac – Charlie Munger
Fortune Magazine - All articles written by Warren Buffett published in Fortune MagazineLink to all source Fortune articles: https://fortune.com/author/warren-Buffett/
- How Inflation Swindles the Equity Investor (Fortune – May 1977)
- Warren Buffett on The Stock Market v1 (Fortune ver) (Fortune – November 22, 1999)
- Warren Buffett on The Stock Market v2 (Updated after 2 yrs) (Fortune – December 10, 2001)
- America’s growing Trade Deficit (pdf) (Fortune – November 10, 2003)
- Warren Buffett: What Worries Me (Fortune – March 3, 2003)
- Investing in Stocks Today (Fortune – March 3, 2003)
- Berkshire Hathaway and Junk Bonds (Fortune – March 3, 2003)
- Squanderville Versus Thriftville (Fortune – October, 2003)
- Cut your gains! by Warren Buffett (Fortune – March 6, 2006)
- Marking to myth in Crisis Counsel (Fortune – August 17, 2007)
Washington Post –All articles written by Warren Buffett published in the Washington Post
- An FDIC for Insurers by Warren Buffett (Washington Post – November 19, 2001)
- Stock Options and Common Sense (Washington Post – April 9, 2002)
- Dividend Voodoo (Washington Post – May 20, 2003)
- Fuzzy Math And Stock Options (Washington Post – July 6, 2004)
The New York Times – All articles written by Warren Buffett published in The New York Times
- Who Really Cooks the Books? (NYT – July 24, 2002)
- Buy American. I Am. (The New York Times – October 17, 2008)
- The Greenback Effect (The New York Times – August 19, 2009)
- Pretty Good for Government Work ( The New York Times – November 16, 2010)
Forbes – All articles written by Warren Buffett published in Forbes
- You Pay A Very High Price In The Stock Market For A Cheery Consensus ( Forbes – August 6, 1979)
WSJ – All articles written by Warren Buffet published in the Wall Street Journal
- Better Than Raising the Minimum Wage (The Wall Street Journal – May 21, 2015)
Other Publications:
- The Security I Like Best (The Commercial and Financial Chronicle – December 6, 1951)
- The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville (1984)
- The Inside Story of Warren Buffett (April 11, 1988)
- College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Fall – 2001)
- Warren Buffett’s Memo to All Stars 1 (BRK – September 26, 2001)
- Warren Buffett’s Memo to All Stars 2 (BRK – September 27, 2006)
- Warren Buffett’s Memo to All Stars 3 (BRK – July 23, 2008)
- Warren Buffett writes Preface for SEC Handbook (SEC – August 19, 2010)
- What You Should Know About the Jewelry Business (Borsheims Website – April 26, 2011)
External letters to others
- Letter to Walter Schloss (February 3, 1976)
- Letter to John Dingell: Early Fears About Index Futures (March 5, 1982 published in Fortune in December 7, 1987 issue)
- Letter to Salomon Employees (November, 1991)
- 1991 Salomon Testimony (1991)
- Email Exchange With Microsoft’s Jeff Raikes (August 1998)
- Letter to TMC’s Tracey Schelmetic (More) (August 18, 2004)
- Warren Buffett Responds to Shai Dardashti’s Letter (Shai Dardashti – April 20, 2007)
- Buffett Letter to Hank Paulson (October 6, 2008)
- Berkshire’s letter to MBIA by Ajit Jain (February 2008)
Mentions In Public Events And Shareholder Meetings Items mentioned in previous iterations writings may be double referenced; general public mentions between meetings are not included. Double referenced items are not linked.
Pre-1994 – see to partnership letters and annual letters.
1994
Keynes’s Letters To His Co-Trustees
- “[Read his] Letters to colleges and life insurance societies that you will find interesting” – WB
The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money – see above
- ‘ Chapter in the General Theory – markets and the psychology of markets - that aside from Ben Graham’s chapters in the intelligent investor – you will get some wisdom from that – it jumps out to you…. Keynes and Graham – came to the same conclusion at about the same time in the 30s as to the soundest way to invest over time. Keynes believed in diversification less than Graham. …Keynes switched to fundamental analysis in the 30s and realized you couldn’t predict market cycles.” – WB
1995
Fortune Article On Derivatives by Warren Buffett – linked above
If you have not read that already, I encourage you to read it.
Warren Buffet
Person of Interest - Phil Carret
- Ran a fund for 55 years starting after serving as a pilot in WWI and is considered one of Warren Buffett's role models as the founder of one of the first Mutual Funds in the United States. His 55 years track record, an investment of $10,000 became $8 million (13.2% per annum); a record not held by most mutual fund managers. His fund is one of the only surviving funds.
- At the 1995 Annual meeting, Warren Buffett stated that Carret had "The best long term investment record of anyone I know.” – WB.
Books By Phil Carret - In the same meeting he also mentioned his book being released soon:
- Buying a Bond. Fraser Publishing Company. Carret, Philip L. (1996).
- First editions are available – but very expensive
- The Art of Speculation. Martino Fine Books. Carret, Philip L. (2012).
- A Money Mind at Ninety. Fraser Publishing Company. Carret, Philip L.; Hanley, Richard (1991).
Person of Interest -Tomas Hunt Morgan, Nobel Laureate
- Charlie Munger commented on how he ran the biology department at Cal Tech. It is implied that Munger has read about this individual. In particular the connections was made regarding scientific method and discount rates – they want the decision to be obvious enough to make. They don’t want to fill in all the variables.
- “How the great Nobel laureate ran it. Banned the computer of the era in the department, we are picking up nuggets of gold with resources available, we don’t need to do placer mining, this is the way Berkshire works.” - CM
Person of Interest – Bertrand Russell
- Complete works
- “I read a lot of [Bertrand] Russell” – WB
Person of Interest -Janet Lowe
- Benjamin Graham on Value Investing: Lessons from the Dean of Wall Street – March 1, 1996
- “ Janet Lowe is here today. She wrote a really good book on Ben Graham today; I’d recommend that anyone of you who haven’t read it go out and buy a copy.” - WB
On What Version Of Security Analysis To Use And Buffett Prefers:
- Janet Lowe argues that the 1st and 2nd editions of Security analysis are what Buffett prefers and not the 4th version.
‘ I prefer the 2nd edition – it’s not because of differences in value and Growth; it’s because the reasoning is better throughout. And this is the last one that Ben & Dodd were both responsible for. I am concerned that the book has gotten away from how Graham expressed himself.But I have no quarrel with later editions; if you are a real student of security analysis, you should do alright.’{ In effect he states the books say the same thing but the examples are different.}What was said in the later editions was not said as well’
Warren Buffet
The 4th edition is more geared towards Growth and Value being joined at the hip.
Person of Interest - Abe Briloff –his books on accounting are recommended.
- “If the accounting confuses you, forget about it as a company… It is a very bad sign… Abe Briloff used to write for Barron’s quite frequently on various accounting machinations” – WB
Fortune Magazine – ‘ the latest issue from Fortune on the decade by decade return on equity ‘ – WB – referring to a 1995/6 publication.
- We have not definitively identified this specific article mentioned however we believe these three articles relate to the particular topic in order of relevance.
- What's Driving Return On Equity You Need To Look Beyond The Single Number To Understand Why Roe I Booming
- Investing Yes, You Can Beat The Market With Value Stocks--And Some Discipline--It Is Possible To Outrun The Crowd, Just Like These Pros
- Finding Stocks That Pack A Wallop/An Interview With Ed Brown President Of Brown Capital Management
- WB reads the fortune articles on a company going all the way back to the 1930s “ I like a lot of historical background on things to understand what has been permanent vs what has not been permanent.” I probably have been doing that for fun, more than anything.
Value Line – (https://www.valueline.com/ ) Market screening publication
- “Read the value line numbers on the log scale paper going back 15 years” - CM‘That is the best quick guide to measuring one business against another are the value line numbers.’- WB
- The one shot set of numbers that exists for big businesses in America. Don’t pay attention to their timeliness ratings or stock ratings, ‘none of that means anything’ – WB
- ‘ The value line figures, they cycle it every 15 weeks, if you go through that you will have a really good idea of what is going on.
- ‘Charlie Munger’ – I would like to have that material going all the way back
- ‘I keep the old copies in my office’ - WB
A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class - Joe Nocera
- “But it came out about six months to a year ago. It’s a terrific history of the credit card business. – WB
- “That is a fabulous book. Most of the people who are here will not be able to put it down. I mean, for a book about an economic development, it captures the human background in a very interesting way.” – CM
Judgment in Managerial Decision Making – Max H. Bazerman
- “It’s used in some of the business schools, and it’s actually quite a good book.” – CM
Books that were criticized in the meeting:
- The Warren Buffett Way byHagstrom
- This book had a major temporary effect on buying of Berkshire Hathaway stock during the year. Buffett does not acknowledge this book as correct. He argues it is not precisely correct during the 1995 annual meeting. As ‘what he does is not so precise.’- CM – 1995 BRK meeting
- The Beardstown Ladies
- Following a question raised by a shareholder. “I always question people who have specific advice that they will openly share with everyone else” – WB 1995 annual meeting >>( I would not include this in the list. )
- “I have not read this book”– WB
- This was revealed to be an inadvertent fraud and they were, in fact, underperforming the market index
- Following a question raised by a shareholder. “I always question people who have specific advice that they will openly share with everyone else” – WB 1995 annual meeting >>( I would not include this in the list. )
1996
- The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins – CM
- Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits – Philip A. Fisher – WB
- Paths to Wealth Through Common Stocks – Philip A. Fisher – WB
- Regarding Phil Fisher “They’re very good books.” – WB
- Intelligent Investor linked above – “Ch 8 and 20” – WB
- Forbes article about the occupational profile of the US- not identified
- “There was a very good article in Forbes about one issue ago that showed the occupational profile of the U.S. at a couple of different intervals, going back to 1900. And one problem you can see, just by looking at that profile, is that, if you assume 20 percent of the — the bottom 20 percent — however you measure it, in terms of employability — whether it’s measured by IQ, or interest in working, or energy level, or whatever you want to do — they fit, very well, most of the jobs that were available a hundred years ago.” - WB
- Granite North Carolina Bank – John Frolines
- “I recommend any of you in the banking business to get his report because there is nothing magic about the community of Granite, North Carolina. “it makes all of the other records look silly - Mr. [John] Forlines, - WB
- Fortune article – references article in ROE – in the “fortune 500 issue” - not identified
- WSJ Article - Philip Carret Knows What Long-Term Investing Is About
Person of Interest
- Phil Carret Persons of Interest
- Gene Abegg in Rockford – Illinois National bank
- Lou Simpson – Former CEO of Geico, investor
1997
- Common Stocks as Long Term Investments - Edgar Lawrence Smith - 1924
- The Petersburg Paradox and the Growth Stock Fallacy - David Durand - 1957
- A Lesson on Elementary, Worldly Wisdom – Charlie Munger - 1994
- Charlie Munger’s speech to the University of Southern California Business School students in 1994
- “I think every investor in the world ought to read that talk before they invest. I think that’s a classic” - WB
- Only the Paranoid Survive – Andy Grove
Persons of Interest
- Mason Hawkins who runs Southeastern Asset Management – donated several million to focus on teaching the Graham approach
- Tom Murphy – Former CEO of Cap Cities (see The Outsiders – referenced above); regard as an exceptional manager by CM and WB
- Phil Fisher- referenced above
1998
- The Expanded Quotable Einstein Enhanced edition by Albert Einstein
- "I read a little easier book. I'm not sure of the title, but it's something to the effect of The Quotable Einstein. It's a lot of his commentary over the years. Great reading." - WB
- Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.
- “And it’s a marvelous book. And the way the guy’s mind works would be useful in business. He’s got a mind that is always asking why. Why, why, why. And he’s very good at coming up with answers. …. I would say it’s the best work of its kind I have ever read.” – CM
- The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, latest Edition by Lawrence A. Cunningham, Warren E. Buffett
- “ I think Larry Cunningham, the fellow who held the symposium at the Cardozo School at Yeshiva, did the best job, actually, of sort of reconstructing the various things that have been written at Berkshire into sort of the best-organized presentation of our philosophy.” – WB
- The Fermat Theorem by Simon Singh
- “That’s a very interesting book. One of our shareholders from Sweden gave me a copy of that when I was in New York and I’ve enjoyed it.” – WB
- Value line – see above
- “We get incredible value out of it”. … “But the snapshot it presents is an enormously efficient way for us to garner information about various businesses.” - WB
- “Well, I think the Value Line charts are a human triumph. It’s hard for me to imagine a job being done any better than is done in those charts. An immense amount of information is put in very usable form. And if I were running a business school we would be teaching from Value Line charts.” - CM
- Coca Cola - Annual reports - WB
- Patterson Cash register 1904 annual report – “This guy can’t lose” - CM
Persons of Interest
- Milton Freidman – Economist
- Phil Carret – see above - “Phil is a hero of mine”- WB
- Person of Interest - Sandy Wiel – related to Pfizer - “His record is proven” - WB
Books that were criticized in the meeting:
Buffetology by Mary Buffett
- “Well, it was written by two authors. But I would say that — no, I would say that in a general way, it gets at the investment philosophy. But I wouldn’t say that — it’s not the book I would’ve written” – WB
1999
- You Only Have To Get Rich Once by Walter Knowlton Gutman, 1964
- Titan: the Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr by Ron Chernow, 1995 “That’s one of the best business biographies I have ever read” – CM
- The Wealth and Poverty of Nations Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor by David Lande, 1999 “I would heartily recommend” – CM
- Personal History by Katharine Graham, 1998 “It is one terrific book.” – WB
- Common Sense on Mutual Funds, by Jack Bogle “Certainly recommend to everybody” - WB
- Alice Shroder’s report on Berkshire Hathaway – Note: does not recommend as valuation guide
- The Warren Buffett Way & The Warren Buffett Portfolio – by Robert G. Hagstrom
[Robert] Hagstrom sent me chapters of his latest book on Warren Buffett called, “The Buffett Portfolio.” And I didn’t read them because I thought his first book was a respectable book, but didn’t contribute too much to human knowledge, and — (Laughter)[ He ]sent me the second book, a full version, and I read it and I was flabbergasted to find it not only very well written, but a considerable contribution to the synthesis of human thought on the investment process. And I would recommend that all of you buy a copy of Hagstrom’s second Buffett book.
Charlie Munger
Persons of Interest
- Monish Parabi – Shareholder turned investor
2000
- Damn Right ! by Jannet Lowe
- Aesop’s Fable – Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
- Fortune Article – Sent to shareholders in 2000 – “It is a must read” – CM
- The Ground Rules – see above, in partnership letters
- Value line
- The Security I Like Best byWarren Buffett – Linked above
- The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, latest Edition by Lawrence A. Cunningham, Warren E. Buffett – see above
Persons of Interest
- Andrew Carnegie – Famous American
- Tom Gayner – Well-known value investor
- Andy Grove - mentioned in passing and how he thinks about economics of businesses.
- Michael Porter – “Ive never read him” But suggests he agrees with him largely. “Study the people that have been successful against people with lots of capital” – WB
- Phil Phishers and his books – see above
Books Criticized
- Buffetology – Written by Mary Buffett – WB’s former daughter in law; WB says this tries to be too precise and is not correct.
2001
- Genome by Matt Rigley – CM
- Models of my Life by Herbert A Simon, 1996 – CM
- Read Moody’s manuals of every company
- Personal History by Katharine Graham. – Linked above
- “It is very honest. I know if I were writing my autobiography, I'd make myself look like Arnold Schwartzneger."- WB
- Damn Right ! by Jannet Lowe
Persons of Interest
- Hetty Green - “the Witch of Wall Street”
- Educators – Related to Value Investing Education
- Bruce Greenwalt Class at Columbia – and his books
- University of Florida – Value based class
- Missouri Value investing Courses;
- Jack McDonald Course at Stanford business school. Bob Kirby helps Jack McDonald as well.
2002
- Ice Age by John Gribbin, Mary Gribbin – CM
- How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It - Arthur Herman, 2002 – CM
- The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets from the Berkshire Hathaway Managers by Bob Miles –
- "Everyone who reads it comes away singing its praises" (back cover) – WB
- Living Within Limits – Garrett Hardin - CM
- ‘I recommend John Bogle's books’ - WB
Persons of Interest
- AW Jones– one of the founders of the first hedge fund
2003
- Berkshire Owner’s Manual by WB & CM
- The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams and John Underwood
- "Ted Williams, in his book The Science of Hitting, talked about how he carved up the strike zone into different zones and only swung at pitches that were in his sweet spot. Investing is the same way." - WB
- The Autobiography Of Jim Clayton by Jim Clayton, Bill Retherford
- Microeconomics by Greg Mankiw
- “Intelligent people make their decisions based on opportunity cost.” - CM
Persons of Interest
- Mark Byrne - Value Capital LLP
2004
- Deep Simplicity: Bringing Order to Chaos and Complexity by John Gribbin - CM
- Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – WB
- Les Schwab Pride in Performance: Keep It Going - Les Schwab - CM
- The Petersburg Paradox and the Growth Stock Fallacy – linked above
- Warren Buffet’s Fortune article on dividends – see above
Persons of Interest
- Philip A. Fisher – both books mentioned – see above
- Sam Walton – Walmart
- Sir Isaac Newton
- Persons of Interest – Sandy Gottesman and Bill Ruane – investors Buffet knows and admires and has referred people to in the past.
2005
- Poor Charlie’s Almanac by Peter D. Kaufman, Charles T. Munger
- Travels with Barley: A Journey Through Beer Culture in America by Ken Wells
- Note, this book is conjecture as title not shared - BRK Annual Meeting 2005
Persons of Interest
- Elihu Root – Secretary of State and Secretary of War (link)
- “The correct system is the Elihu Root system. If a person is not fit to leave the office at any time he is not fit to lead the office.” – CM
- Howard Marks of Oak Tree Capital - Howard Marks' letters
2006
Persons of Interest
- Frank Martin (site) – books are linked in a later year
- “Frank has just brought out a book, incidentally, that’s a history of some of his annual letters. It’s a good book, and I recommend you get it.” – WB
- Jerry Goodman – see Adam Smith above
- Gordon Wallace – Teledyne
- Bill Gross – famous investor who was at PIMCO
- Don Kio – of Coca-Cola
- Tom Murphy – of Capacities
Criticized book
- “Jeremy Siegel, the second book, “Why the Tried and the True Triumph Over the Bold and the New.” – “I think hes demented” - CM
2007
- The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by Jonathan Alter 2007
- Supermoney by Adam Smith
- "In this book, Adam Smith says I like baseball metaphors. He's right. So I will just describe this book as the equivalent of the performance of Don Larsen on October 8, 1956. For the uninitiated, that was the day he pitched the only perfect game in World Series history." – WB
- The Money Game by ‘Adam Smith’ 1976 -“A classic”- WB
- The Richest Man In Babylon by George S Clason - “It worked”- CM
- New Breed on Wall Street by Martin Mayer– Note: This book is inferred as it refers to the start of hedge funds and the topic of discussion
- Frank Martin (site)
- “You’ve written a good book too, Frank.” – WB
- A Decade of Delusions: From Speculative Contagion to the Great Recession by Frank Martin, John Bogle
- "For many years I've enjoyed reading Frank Martin's letters. This collection contains much investment wisdom and, just as important, sets a standard for the advisor-client relationship." Warren Buffett - (from the front cover).
- Speculative Contagion: An Antidote for Speculative Epidemics by Frank K. Martin
Persons of Interest
- John Templeton – investor
- Sandy Goddesman and his investment firm
2008
- Foods You Will Enjoy - The Story of Buffett`s Store by Bill Buffett. - WB
- Influence by Cialdini- CM
- Yes! by Cialdini
- “Cialdini has a new book—it is called Yes! It is not as good as Influence, but I recommend it and recommend adding both of those books to your repertoire” - CM
- The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, latest Edition by Lawrence A. Cunningham, Warren E. Buffett – See above
2009
- The Great Crash by John Kenneth Galbraith – WB
- Jamie Diamond’s letter to shareholders 2008 – CEO of JPM Chase – WB
2010
- Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates Sr. & Mary Ann Mackin.
- “Bill Senior is as wise as his son is brilliant. I’ve learned a lot from both of them and believe everyone can benefit from the insights Bill Senior shares in this book." – WB (back cover)
- John Maynard Kaynes – General Theory – Chapter 12
- “The best description of “in my view, probably Charlie’s too, the best description of the way capital markets function, the real way people operate. It’s prescriptive, it’s descriptive.”- WB
- Letter to John Dingell: Early Fears About Index Futures (March 5, 1982 published in Fortune in December 7, 1987 issue) – see above
- Phil Fisher – see above
2011
- In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives by Steven Levy – CM
- Damn Right ! by Janet Lowe
- Jamie Diamon’s - JMP CEO - annual letter - WB
- Bob Wilmer’s letter at M&T
- “It’s one of the best annual reports that’s ever came out of banking. Right out of Buffalo.” - CM
Persons of Interest
- Sir William Osler –created a medical school and his processes and philosophy.
- John M. Keynes - chapter 12 of general theory
2012 - none
2013
- Biography of a Bank: The Story of Bank of America N.T. & S.A. by Marquis James, Bessie R. James, 1954
- “Book I read 50 years ago” - WB
- Value Line - Data
- Wheeler and Munger Partnership – note, these letters are not available. See Blue Chip Stamps information above. Information about Charlie Munger’s partnership can be found in the books by Janet Lowe.
Persons of Interest
- Henry Singleton – Teledyne “Enormously talented man” – CM “Took advantage of stockholders”-WB “ but spoke highly of him.
- Katherine Graham
- Phil Phisher - Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits – see above
- Biography on Joe Kennedy (various) –note the title was not stated
- “Edwards & Magee” – Book (was a classic) “Garfield Drew” - Stated that these didn’t really help him. These might be more technical analysis.
2014
- Dream Big: How the Brazilian Trio behind 3G Capital by Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Beto Sicupira
- Farmer From Merna – linked above
- Fisher and Grhamm & Dodd – linked above
2015
- Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, 1776 – linked above
- Where Are The Customers Yachts – linked above
Persons of Interest
- David Ricardo – Economics of comparable advantage – various works
- Lee Quan Yu – founding father of Singapore
- Henry Singleton - Teledyne
2016
- Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco by Bryan Burrough – WB
2017
- Jeff Bezos – “Read his 1997 annual report”– WB
Persons of Interest
- Jack Bogle – linked above
- 3G Capital – linked above
- Milton Freidman, Economist
- Phil Phisher - Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Phil Phisher – linked above
2018
Persons of Interest
- Rockefeller Sr, – see ‘Titan’ above
- Phil Phisher, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits – linked above
2019
- How We Work and Why: Running a Precision Railroad by E. Hunter Harrison
- “It describes the — his procedure toward railroading. It’s an interesting read if you’re interested in railroading.” – WB
Persons of Interest
- Lee Quan Yu – founding father of Singapore
2020 – TBD
- Keeping At It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government by Paul Volcker, Christine Harper
- The Great Crash by John Kenneth Galbraith – WB – linked above
Other Books and published items recommended by WB & CM:
- The Money Masters by John Train. Note: This book is different from "The new money masters" or "Money masters of our time".
- Recommended by Warren Buffett - (August 8, 1996)
- Charlie Munger’s opinion of author during the 2001 Wesco annual meeting: "He's a gifted writer with moderate insights into the investment process."
- Essays in Persuasion by John Maynard Keynes.
- "I especially recommend Keynes' essays on persuasion. Reading Keynes will make you smarter about securities and markets. I'm not sure reading most economist would do the same." - Warren Buffett - (OID June 23, 1989).
- The People V. Clarence Darrow : The Bribery Trial of America's Greatest Lawyer by Geoffrey Cowan. Recommended by Warren Buffett - (OID June 23, 1994).
- The General Theory of Employment Interest and Money by John Maynard Keynes. Chapter 12, "The State of Long-Term Expectation”, recommended by Warren Buffett (OID June 23, 1994).
- Benjamin Graham on Value Investing : Lessons from the Dean of Wall Street by Janet C. Lowe.
- "One of the luckiest events in my life was when I met Ben Graham...and anyone with an interest in investments will relish this book" - WB (from the front cover of the book)
- A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class by Joseph Nocera.
- Recommended by Warren Buffett - (OID August 10, 1995).
- Will America Grow up Before it Grows Old : How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family and Your Country by Peter G. Peterson.
- Father, Son & Co : My Life at IBM and Beyond by Thomas, Jr. Watson. Bantam
- Note: This book is conjecture as a source for this article suggests it was discussed at a meeting
- Memos from the Chairman by Alan "Ace" C. Greenberg.
- "Many years ago, Where are the customers' Yachts?, through a humorous look at Wall Street, dispensed some of the best investment advice ever written. In this book, Ace has applied the same treatment to managerial advice with equal success." - Warren Buffett (from the Foreword)
- Jack Welch Speaks: Wisdom from the World's Greatest Business Leader by Janet Lowe.
- "Jack Welch has long been one of my heroes. When you read this book you will understand why." - Warren Buffett (back cover)
- John Bogle on Investing: The First 50 Years by John C. Bogle
- "Any investor who owns or is thinking of owning shares in a fund should read this book cover to cover" - Warren Buffett (from the back cover of the book)
- Quality Financial Reporting by Paul B. W. Miller & Paul R. Bahnson. 304 pages, 07/2002.
- "Accounting is the language of business. In recent years, too often language has been distorted to the point of becoming unintelligible. This book is a step toward restoring its usefulness." - Warren Buffett (from the front cover of the book)
- Running On Empty: How The Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It by Peter G. Peterson.
- "Today, too many of our country's key economic decisions are being made with an eye to the next election rather than to the next generation. This book explains in simple but powerful terms why it's imperative that our attention must be refocused now." - Warren Buffett (from the frontcover).
- The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley by Leslie Berlin
- "Leslie Berlin does an excellent job of capturing the Bob Noyce I knew: part small-town boy, part big-time genius and always a wonderful friend and citizen." - Warren Buffett - (from the back cover).
- The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (Little Book Big Profits) by John C. Bogle.
- "Most investors, both institutional and individual, will find that the best way to own common stocks is through an index fund that charges minimal fees" - Warren Buffett - (from the front cover).
Books On Major Stock holdings Of Berkshire Hathaway
- 101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway by Robert P. Miles. Wiley & Sons, Inc.
- "Robert Miles clearly understands the company well"- Warren Buffett
- The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets From the Berkshire Hathaway Managers by Robert P. Miles.
- "I recommend Robert Miles's book, The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets of the Berkshire Hathaway Managers. I know you couldn't have a better group of people. You'll like your investment better after reading it." -WB - 2002 Wesco Annual Meeting
- Pleased, but Not Satisfied by David Sokol -Foreword by Warren Buffett and Preface by Walter Scott, Jr.
- Behind the Berkshire Hathaway Curtain: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Top Business Leaders" by Ronald Chan.
- "Berkshire is where it is today because of the all-stars running our various operating businesses. This book captures what makes them special." - Warren Buffett (from the book cover)
- I'd Like the World to Buy a Coke: The Life and Leadership of Roberto Goizueta by David Greising.
- The Real Thing : Truth and Power at the Coca-Cola Company by Constance L. Hays.
- American Express: The Unofficial History of the People Who Built the Great Financial Empire by Peter Z. Grossman.
- The Pillars of the Post: The Making of a News Empire in Washington by Howard Bray.
- Katharine Graham's Washington by Katharine Graham (Editor).
- Katharine Graham : The Leadership Journey of an American Icon by Robin Gerber.
Books related to Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries
- Ackme Brick - "Colossus in Clay: Ackme Brick Company. The Story Of The Largest American-owned Brickmaker " by Edwin E. Lehr
- Benjamin Moore - "Exterior Style: Inspiring Color Ideas and Expert Painting Advice" by Benjamin Moore & Co.
- Buffalo News - "From Butler to Buffett: The Story Behind the Buffalo News" by Murray B. Light.
- The Original Berkshire Hathaway - "Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. A saga of courage" by Stanton Seabury.
- This book is the transcript of a speech given during a "Business diner" by Seabury Stanton, President of Berkshire Hathaway, in November 1961. It describes the history of Berkshire Hathaway before Warren Buffett bought the company.
- First a Dream: Clayton's story of growing up during the Depression. by Jim Clayton. – see above
- A Model of Business Success: GEICO CORPORATION by Richard M. Rockwood.
- Financial Shenanigans : How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports by Howard Schilit.
- Recommended by Lou Simpson - 2002 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting
- What I Learned Before I Sold to Warren Buffett: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Developing a Highly Successful Company by Barnett Helzberg.
- I Am Loved (True Stories of True Love from People Like You) by Rich Davis, Barnett Helzberg
- Santa's Gift: True Stories of Courage, Humor, Hope and Love by Jeffrey W. Comment with reflections by Sir Elton John, Warren Buffett
- "In his Santa activities, Jeff has redefined ‘family,’ embracing all children as if they were his own. His stories about those children will inspire you as they have me." - Warren Buffett(from the back cover of the book)
- R.C. Willey - How to Build a Business Warren Buffett Would Buy: The R. C. Willey Story by Jeff Benedict.
- See's Candies - See's Famous Old Time Candies: A Sweet Story by Margaret Moos Pick. Preface by Warren Buffett and introduction by Charles N. Huggins.
- Shaw Industries: A History by Randall L. Patton.
- The Pampered Chef, Ltd - The Pampered Chef : The Story Behind the Creation of One of Today's Most Beloved Companies by Doris Christopher. Foreword by Warren Buffett
- Come to the Table: A Celebration of Family Life by Doris Christopher.
Notes:
- For investors, we would recommend that you read everything. However, the most valuable works, based on our experience, are the core, source texts as defined in the first section of this list. We contend that nearly all the information needed as a basis for rational investment is included in those works.
- Books referenced within books are not included in this list. We have elected to not include sub mentions because we only wanted to include direct references to works mentioned by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. The only caveat to this is found in the mentions from partnership letters and forewords in other books which we feel constitutes a mention.
- Where possible we have attempted to reference the specific date of the mention.
- Items where certainty of attribution is unclear will be marked as such.
- Countless tv and media appearances are not considered in this list – while we have consumed a majority of that data, the most concise and salient data is presented in the permanence of his writing and formal appearances.
- Finally, we believe that there may be mentions which are not yet included in this list and welcome contributions backed with credible sources. We will verify any specific item before it is included in the list.
Sources:
- Sources for materials are the original text or documented event. In the case where information has never formally been printed in public circulation – references are to the original documents which we have tried to hosted on our server when possible.
- http://Buffettfaq.com/
- https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/
- https://Buffett.cnbc.com/annual-meetings/
- https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/wesco/WescoHome.html
- https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/valueinvesting/research
- https://warrenBuffettoninvestment.com/articles/
- http://futile.free.fr/wbbiblious.html
- http://futile.free.fr/carretus.html
- http://www.valueinvestorconference.com/valueinvestorbooks.html
- http://www.valueinvestorconference.com/valueinvestorprevioustranscripts.html
- https://warrenBuffettresource.wordpress.com/
- https://www.tilsonfunds.com/buffettmungerspeeches.html
- https://www.tilsonfunds.com/