Great Money Minds
Date Added: May 5th, 2005
By Chris Stallman
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Wouldn't
it be great to have a corporate jet, a loyal entourage, business
lunches with politicians and investors at classy restaurants, and
a few billion dollars to throw around at your will? Of course
it would! But it isn't a completely distant thought because
a number of great businessmen over the last 100 years have done
it, and maybe you can too.
Warren Buffet
Chairman, Berkshire Hathaway
Famous quote: "If past history was all there was to the game, the
richest people would be librarians"
Ask any one of the thousands of loyal investors who
trek to Omaha, Nebraska each spring for the Berkshire Hathaway annual
conference about who they think they greatest investor of all time
is. You'll only receive one response: Warren Buffet.
I guess when you're the 2nd richest man in the world, you would
expect that kind of response.
With his
love of money and his strong understanding of math at an early age,
he began his ascent to uberwealth as a kid selling Washington Post
newspapers. About thirty years later, he ended up buying a
considerable share of the newspaper, as well as large shares in
other famous investments like ABC, Gillette, and Coca-cola.
Warren Buffet attributes his financial success to his
method of investing: the value approach. He seeks to buy shares
of stock in companies that are trading at "cheap" prices relative
to their underlying value. The idea is that continued success
in the business will result in a considerable increase in the stock's
price. By following this approach taught to him by Benjamin
Graham, he has amassed a fortune worth $39 billion dollars!
Not only has Warren Buffet made himself a considerable amount of
money; he's also made his investors a ton too! In fact, had
you invested $10,000 in Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when he bought
the textile company and turned it into a holding company, you would
have $35.6 million today!
Peter Lynch
Former fund manager, Fidelity
Magellan Fund
Famous quote: "I've said before, that an amateur who devotes
a small amount of study to companies in an industry he or she knows
something about can outperform 95 percent of the paid experts who
manage the mutual funds, plus have fun doing it."
Peter Lynch
is one of those incredibly successful investors who is known not
only on Wall Street but throughout the world as well. Before
writing his famous books (Beating
the Street, One
Up on Wall Street, and Learn
to Earn), he was the fund
manager for the Fidelity Magellan Fund.
Using his strategies of investing in both growth and
value stocks, Peter Lynch uncovered a number of gems on Wall Street.
Much of his success is attributed to his 14 years of operating on
a punishing schedule, working six or seven days a week talking to
company managers and brokers.
Peter Lynch took a few risks but helped grow the Fidelity
Magellan Fund from $22 million in assets when he took over to nearly
$14 billion when he retired at the age of 46. Today,
the fund manages so much money ($55 billion) that it has had to
close itself off from taking in new investors. Had you been
one of those lucky few who invested in the fund when he took over
in 1977, you would have earned a 29% annual compounded return!
George Soros
Principal Investment Advisor,
Quantum Fund
Famous quote: "Markets are constantly in a state of uncertainty
and flux and money is made by discounting the obvious and betting
on the unexpected."
Perhaps the
greatest currency speculator of all time, George Soros is a legend
among those on Wall Street. His work with the Quantum Fund
has been the major reason behind it being the single highest-returning
investment fund in the world.
One of the greatest stories behind George Soros involves
his willingness to take big risks in search of big returns.
Perhaps the most famous of these stories centers around his involvement
with the British Pound in 1992, in which he shorted (betted that
the currency would depreciate) the pound and netted a one day gain
of $1 billion! Even the likes of Bill Gates can't match that.
As I had mentioned, he was also principal investment
advisor with the Quantum Fund. Had you invested $100,000 (the
minimum investment at the time) in 1969, you would have made $150
million in just 25 years!
These investment managers are incredible standouts
on Wall Street. Very few people have been able to match their
level of success. Very few are able to say that they have
as loyal of a following as they do. However, that's not to
say that you're not the next George Soros, Warren Buffett, or Peter
Lynch. Remember, they too started with little before building
their investment empires that we now see today.
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