Lesson 18 – What We Can Learn from Famous Value Investors

Value Investing 101

"If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." – Isaac Newton

The modern principles of value investing weren’t developed by a single person, but built on the insights of various thinkers, investors, and entrepreneurs. Below is a brief look into the minds of ten value investors who have personally influenced me the most. Each of them teaches us something valuable about risk, discipline, behavior, or analysis.

1. Benjamin Graham – The Father of Value Investing

Graham is rightly considered the father of value investing. He developed his philosophy during the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, a time when the market was dominated by speculation. His book The Intelligent Investor remains essential reading to this day.

Core Idea: Margin of safety. Only buy a stock if its market price is significantly lower than its calculated intrinsic value. This buffer protects you from mistakes and uncertainty. For Graham, investing was mostly about rational calculations, emotional control, and capital preservation.

2. Warren Buffett – The Master of Simplicity

Buffett is without doubt the most well-known investor in the world. He combined Graham’s number-crunching with Fisher’s eye for quality. As CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, he built an impressive track record by buying companies with durable competitive advantages, trustworthy management, and predictable cash flows.

What’s often overlooked is that Buffett built his fortune through what we now call "deep value" investing—buying extremely cheap companies. That’s also how he ended up sticking with Berkshire Hathaway, which was just a textile mill at the time.

Core Idea: Buy great companies at a reasonable price. Investing doesn’t have to be complex. What matters is that you understand what you're buying, have a long-term horizon, and keep your emotions in check. “It’s better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”

One nuance worth noting: Buffett has never paid “up” for a great business. Even those top companies were bought at very attractive prices. His idea of a “fair price” isn’t market value, but a price that’s attractive to him.

3. Charlie Munger – The Multidisciplinary Thinker

Munger was called the architect of Berkshire Hathaway by Buffett himself. His influence was crucial in shifting away from “cigar butts” (very cheap stocks with little future) toward high-quality companies. Munger quickly realized that this model was much more scalable than constantly buying and selling bargain stocks. Berkshire simply became too large—a problem we, as individual investors, fortunately (or unfortunately?) don’t face.

Munger’s style is marked by clear thinking, a broad intellectual base, and a sharp eye for human irrationality.

Core Idea: Avoid dumb mistakes by building broad knowledge and using mental models. Successful investing requires a strong moral compass, calmness, and logical reasoning. For Munger, character is more important than IQ.

4. Philip Fisher – The Pioneer of Quality Investing

Fisher emphasized a company’s quality and growth potential rather than just the numbers. His book Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits introduced the idea of deep qualitative research: interviews with customers, suppliers, competitors, and so on.

Core Idea: The Scuttlebutt Method. Good investments require a true understanding of the business. Fisher believed in buying extraordinary companies and holding them for years—even if they seem “expensive” in the short term.

5. Seth Klarman – The Cautious Capitalist

Klarman is a modern torchbearer of Graham’s thinking. In his rare book Margin of Safety, he warns against overconfidence, euphoria, and underestimating risk. He’s known for his patience, caution, and ability to sit still when there’s nothing worth buying.

Core Idea: Only invest when there’s a clear margin of safety. Capital preservation always comes first. Patience and discipline are your greatest strengths in uncertain markets.

6. Joel Greenblatt – The Formula Thinker

Greenblatt became known for his “Magic Formula”: a systematic approach to buying quality companies at low prices. His book The Little Book That Beats the Market made value investing accessible to a broad audience.

He earned his early spectacular returns by investing in “special situations”—mergers, spinoffs, restructurings, etc. With his fund Gotham Capital, he achieved an average annual return of around 40% between 1985 and 2005, still over 30% after fees. His book You Can Be a Stock Market Genius is a must-read for anyone interested in these complex but highly profitable strategies.

That approach, however, came with high volatility—causing many investors to enter and exit at the wrong times and miss out on the returns. This led Greenblatt to develop the Magic Formula.

Core Idea: Buy the best possible combination of good and cheap companies. Investing doesn’t have to be complicated, as long as you stay true to your process. Consistency matters more than brilliance.

7. Peter Lynch – The People's Investor

Lynch managed the Magellan Fund with an average annual return of over 29%. He believed that ordinary people, with a sharp eye and common sense, could be just as successful as professionals.

Core Idea: Invest in what you know, and understand why the company can grow. Lynch often used everyday observations—busy stores, popular products—as starting points for his analysis. His mantra: “Know what you own, and know why you own it.”

8. John Templeton – The Global Contrarian

Templeton built his wealth by systematically buying the cheapest stocks worldwide, often in sectors or countries others avoided. His approach was sober, contrarian, and deeply fundamental.

Core Idea: Buy when others are panicking. Templeton went where others fled. He believed the greatest returns came from venturing into uncomfortable territory. He also believed in broad diversification, discipline, and inner peace.

9. Walter Schloss – The Quiet Numbers Guy

Schloss was a student of Graham and worked without computers, Bloomberg terminals, or Wall Street connections. He analyzed thousands of small companies using simple ratios and a sharp sense of value.

Core Idea: Buy cheap stocks without trying to predict the future. He focused on balance sheet data and bought companies trading below book value. His secret? Clear thinking, consistent application, and avoiding pressure.

10. Guy Spier – The Introspective Investor

Spier might be lesser-known, but his book The Education of a Value Investor offers a rare and honest look into the inner struggles of an investor. He evolved from a competitive, insecure analyst into a calm, value-driven investor.

To me, Guy Spier is in a category of his own. While I only know the others through their books, talks, and interviews, I know Guy personally. Since 2020, I’ve been honored and grateful to be part of the ValueX network he founded. He likely doesn’t realize how much his warm invitation—and the entire ValueX community—has meant to me, both as an investor and as a person. I can only hope that one day I’ll be able to offer the same to others.

Core Idea: Create an environment that supports good behavior. Spier emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, ethics, and mental calm. Investing is as much a psychological process as a rational one.

In Closing

What unites these ten investors isn’t a single strategy, but a shared mindset: sobriety, patience, discipline, and a deep respect for risk. They show that value investing isn’t a trick—it’s a way of thinking and living.

You don’t need to follow all of them. But if you understand the principles that made them successful, you’ll stand stronger on your own. I’ve deliberately limited this to one key idea per person, but of course, there’s so much more to learn from each of them.

The most important lesson: Know yourself—good investing starts with you.