Thomas W. Phelps Net Worth

Thomas William Phelps (1902-1992) was a distinguished financial journalist, Wall Street economist, investment counselor, and author whose single book — '100 to 1 in the Stock Market' — became one of the most influential investment texts ever written. His five-word philosophy, 'Buy right and hold on,' has guided generations of investors toward the patience required to achieve extraordinary returns.

Phelps's career spanned over fifty years across journalism and finance. He began as a city editor at age 17 in Rochester, Minnesota, became chief of the Wall Street Journal's Washington Bureau, served as editor of Barron's, was a partner at the elite brokerage Francis I. du Pont & Company, worked as an economist at Socony Mobil Oil, and spent his final decade before retirement as a partner at the venerable investment counsel firm Scudder, Stevens & Clark.

In 1972, drawing on his lifetime of observation, Phelps published his study of 365 stocks that returned at least 100 times their purchase price between 1932 and 1971. His central finding was revolutionary in its simplicity: the greatest obstacle to making 100x on your money is not finding the right stock — it is the irresistible temptation to sell too early. Patience, he argued, is the rarest and most valuable quality an investor can possess.

Phelps graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota and received its Outstanding Achievement Award in 1956. He retired to Nantucket in 1970 and died there in 1992 at age 90, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire the buy-and-hold movement to this day.