Top 25
Value Investors
of All Time

Gotham Capital, Magic Formula · b. 1957

Special situations and quantitative value. His magic formula combines high earnings yield with high return on capital. Gotham Capital returned 50% annualized for a decade. He literally wrote the book on spinoffs and restructurings.

“Choosing individual stocks without any idea of what you're looking for is like running through a dynamite factory with a burning match.”

Fidelity Magellan Fund · b. 1944

Invest in what you know. Lynch ran Magellan to a 29% annualized return over 13 years. He classified stocks into six categories and taught individual investors they have an edge over institutions because they see consumer trends first.

“Know what you own, and know why you own it.”

Templeton Growth Fund · b. 1912 · d. 2008

Global contrarian investing. Templeton was buying Japanese stocks in the 1960s when nobody else would touch them. He famously bought every NYSE stock trading under $1 during the Depression. Maximum pessimism is the best time to buy.

“Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism, and die on euphoria.”

Walter J. Schloss Associates · b. 1916 · d. 2012

Pure Graham. Schloss worked for Graham at Graham-Newman and then ran his own fund for 49 years, returning 15.3% annualized vs. 10% for the S&P 500. He never used a computer, never visited companies, and relied entirely on financial statements. The purest value investor who ever lived.

“Try to buy assets at a discount rather than buying earnings. Earnings can change dramatically in a short time. Usually assets change slowly.”

Kahn Brothers Group · b. 1905 · d. 2015

The original Graham disciple. Kahn was Benjamin Graham's teaching assistant at Columbia in 1928 and invested actively until age 109. He was the oldest active investor on Wall Street when he died at 109. Patient, disciplined, and genuinely long-term.

“You must have the discipline and temperament to resist your impulses. Human beings are driven by fear and greed. You need to harness these emotions.”

T. Rowe Price & Associates · b. 1898 · d. 1983

Growth stock investing as a form of value. Price identified that some companies deserve premium valuations because they can compound earnings for decades. He founded T. Rowe Price, which now manages over $1.4 trillion.

“No one can see ahead three years, let alone five or ten. Competition, new inventions, and all sorts of things can change the situation in twelve months.”

Fisher & Company · b. 1907 · d. 2004

The scuttlebutt method and growth investing. Fisher taught that a great company at a fair price beats a mediocre company at a great price. His 15-point checklist for evaluating companies is still used today. Buffett says he is 85% Graham and 15% Fisher.

“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.”

Pabrai Investment Funds, Dakshana Foundation · b. 1964

Heads I win, tails I don't lose much. Pabrai distilled value investing into the Dhando framework: low risk, high uncertainty, high reward. He concentrates heavily, clones the best ideas from other great investors, and gives most of his money away through Dakshana.

“Cloning is good. I'm a shameless cloner. I clone Buffett, I clone Munger, I clone everyone I can learn from.”

Himalaya Capital · b. 1966

The Graham-Buffett-Munger framework applied to Asian markets. Li Lu is the only outside money manager Charlie Munger ever used. He introduced Munger to BYD, leading to one of Berkshire's most profitable investments. From Tiananmen Square survivor to billionaire value investor.

“I owe my intellectual framework to Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, and Charlie Munger. They showed me that investing is not about predicting the future -- it's about understanding the present.”

Pershing Square Capital · b. 1966

Concentrated, activist value investing. Ackman takes large positions in a handful of companies and pushes for change. His style is high-conviction, high-profile, and unapologetically public. The COVID hedge in March 2020 may be the greatest single trade ever made.

“I don't invest in what I don't understand. If I can't explain it to a twelve-year-old, I don't invest.”

Greenlight Capital · b. 1968

Deep fundamental analysis and short selling. Einhorn famously shorted Lehman Brothers before it collapsed and Allied Capital before it was exposed. He reads every filing, models every scenario, and is fearless about being contrarian.

“Unloved, under-followed, and misunderstood -- that is where the opportunities are.”

Scion Capital, The Big Short · b. 1971

Independent analysis to the point of obsession. Burry read thousands of mortgage bond prospectuses to identify the housing bubble. He bets against consensus when his analysis says consensus is wrong, regardless of how long it takes to play out.

“I wasn't wrong. I was just early. And in the markets, being early is the same as being wrong.”

Icahn Enterprises · b. 1936

Activist value investing at its most aggressive. Icahn buys undervalued companies, takes board seats, and forces change. He has unlocked billions in shareholder value by pressuring management to sell, restructure, or return capital. The original corporate raider turned value creator.

“In life and business, there are two cardinal sins: the first is to act precipitously without thought, and the second is to not act at all.”

GAMCO Investors · b. 1942

Private Market Value with a Catalyst. Gabelli estimates what a company would be worth in a private transaction and then looks for a catalyst that will close the gap between public price and private value. He has been doing this for over 40 years.

“The key to investing is to figure out what something is worth and pay a lot less for it.”

First Eagle Global Fund · b. 1940

Global value investing with a deep margin of safety. Eveillard ran First Eagle for over two decades, avoided the dot-com crash entirely by refusing to buy overvalued tech, and proved that patience and discipline beat chasing returns.

“I would rather lose half my shareholders than half my shareholders' money.”

Tweedy, Browne Fund · b. 1920 (founded)

The firm that literally traded with Benjamin Graham. Tweedy Browne started as the broker for Graham-Newman and evolved into one of the most consistent value investing firms in history. Their paper 'What Has Worked in Investing' is one of the most cited studies in value investing.

“Buying cheap stocks works. It has worked for decades, across countries, and across asset classes.”

Third Avenue Management · b. 1924 · d. 2018

Safe and cheap investing. Whitman focused on companies with strong balance sheets trading at deep discounts to net asset value. He specialized in distressed securities and bankruptcies, finding value where others saw only risk.

“If the price is low enough, almost any security -- and certainly any senior security -- is a buy.”

Fairholme Capital Management · b. 1958

Concentrated, contrarian value investing. Berkowitz was named Morningstar's Fund Manager of the Decade in 2010. He takes enormous positions in deeply out-of-favor companies and holds through extreme volatility. His conviction in financial stocks during and after 2008 defined his career.

“We try to be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy. It sounds easy. It's not.”

Tweedy, Browne Company · b. 1946 · d. 2009

International value investing in the Graham tradition. Browne expanded Tweedy Browne's approach globally, proving that buying cheap stocks works in every market on earth. His book 'The Little Book of Value Investing' distilled decades of Tweedy Browne's research into an accessible guide.

“Value investing requires patience, discipline, and a willingness to look foolish in the short term.”