Finance
Wrote The Intelligent Investor, father of value investing
Benjamin Graham codified value investing, empowering generations of investors to seek enduring wealth through rational analysis and disciplined capital deployment.
“The margin of safety.”
10 Courses · 60 Lessons · 8 Hours
Biography
Born in London in 1894 and emigrating to New York as a child, he lost his father at nine years old and experienced poverty after his mother's finances were ruined by the 1907 crash. This experience instilled in him a lifelong obsession with capital preservation.
Brilliant, he graduated from Columbia and went to Wall Street as a runner, then an analyst. The 1929 crash and the Great Depression hit him hard: he lost much of his wealth, and from those ruins, he built a method that relied not on predictions but on balance sheet numbers.
In 1934, he published “Security Analysis” with David Dodd, effectively creating the profession of financial analyst, followed by “The Intelligent Investor” in 1949. His firm, Graham-Newman, achieved excellent returns by buying companies trading below their net current asset value.
Three ideas, all his own: the margin of safety, the distinction between price and intrinsic value, and the parable of Mr. Market, the bipolar partner who offers a different price each day and whom you can safely ignore. Investing, he stated, is an operation that promises safety of principal and an adequate return; anything else is speculation.
He taught at Columbia, mentoring Buffett, Walter Schloss, Irving Kahn, and an entire generation. He died in 1976, leaving behind the mental framework upon which every value investor still relies today.
His library
10 Courses · 60 Lessons · 8 Hours. Select a course to see every lesson inside it.
New to Benjamin? Start here
Master the foundational framework for making sound, long-term investment decisions.
Beginner
6 lessons
Distinguishing Investing from Speculation
8 min readThe Perils and Promises of Mr. Market
8 min readThe Essential Margin of Safety Principle
8 min readAsset Allocation for the Defensive Investor
8 min readWhen to Buy and When to Sell
8 min readMaintaining Investment Discipline in Volatility
8 min readTiptico courses are independent educational analyses based on publicly available information, writings, interviews, speeches and documented decisions. The individuals featured are not instructors, employees, partners, sponsors or endorsers of Tiptico unless explicitly stated.
Join Tiptico
One membership at $49/month: the entire catalog, new Originals every month, cancel anytime.
Minds who think along the same lines as Benjamin.
Warren Buffett
Built Berkshire Hathaway into a $900B empire
10 Courses · 60 Lessons · 8 Hours
John Templeton
Pioneered global investing with Templeton Growth Fund
8 Courses · 40 Lessons · 5 Hours
Philip Fisher
Wrote Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits
8 Courses · 40 Lessons · 5 Hours
John Bogle
Founded Vanguard and invented the index fund
8 Courses · 40 Lessons · 5 Hours
Charlie Munger
Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's partner
10 Courses · 60 Lessons · 8 Hours
Peter Lynch
Ran Fidelity Magellan to 29% annual returns
10 Courses · 60 Lessons · 8 Hours
