The Best Investors Of All Time

John Templeton

John Templeton was not only a great investor buy a big time philanthropist as well. He built a billion dollar empire by being one of the first investors to promote diversified mutual funds. Templeton had a knack for being able to select the right stock at the right time. Money magazine named him the greatest stock picker of the past century. His company Franklin Templeton investments still stands today with its wide array of diversified mutual funds.

Carlos Slim

Carlos Slim has surpassed Bill Gates as the richest man in the world with a net worth of nearly $54 billion dollars. Slim has built much of his fortune through shrewd investments in Latin American companies. The bulk of Slim's fortune consists of Mexican telecommunication companies including America Movil SAB. Slim had the foresight to invest heavily in mobile communications in Latin America when few investors were doing so.

Whitney Tilson

Whitney Tilson is the epitome of a value investor. Tilson has made a lot of money for himself and his clients by buying distressed companies selling at extremely low valuations. Over the past two years Tilson has made great calls on BP, General Growth Properties, and Wells Fargo. He gobbled up these companies at bargain prices and has made a sizeable profit for his investors.

Charlie Munger

Most people only know Charlie Munger as Warren Buffett's sidekick. Before Munger joined with Buffett, he ran a very successful investment partnership firm himself that outperformed the Dow by 400%. Munger is also the brains behind Berkshire Hathaway's Wesco Financial subsidiary. His investment philosophy differs somewhat from Buffett's in that he has been known to invest heavily in his best ideas. He may place 30 or 40% of his portfolio in one single investment.

Benjamin Graham

Benjamin Graham is a great example for all of the beginners investing. Graham started his investing career on Wall Street at the age of 20 and was made a partner in a Wall Street firm at the age of 25. He started the Graham Newman partnership at the age of 32 and generated a 17% annual return over the next 30 years. Graham is considered one of the fathers of value investing and one of the pioneers of fundamental analysis. His books, The Intelligent Investor and Security Analysis remain investing classics to this day.