YebboFinance Global Investor Encyclopedia
100 of the world’s most influential investors & the 10 Mega-Stocks they converge on.
The Idea Behind the Mega-10
This encyclopedia, compiled by YebboFinance, a division of Yebbo Communication Network, brings together 100 legendary investors from value, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, angel investing, and financial education. Across decades of public portfolios, letters, and interviews, a small group of world-class companies appears again and again.
AAPL (Apple), GOOGL (Alphabet), AMZN (Amazon), MSFT (Microsoft), BRK.B (Berkshire Hathaway), META (Meta Platforms), TSLA (Tesla), NVDA (NVIDIA), BABA (Alibaba), and ABNB (Airbnb).
These names form the “Mega-10” — stocks frequently held, studied, or referenced by the investors in this book. The goal is not to recommend them, but to help you understand why so many great investors converge on a small number of exceptional businesses.
Nothing in this document is financial advice. It is a curated, educational overview of public information about these investors and the types of companies they are associated with. Always do your own research and use great care and caution before making any financial decision.
How to Use This Encyclopedia
Each profile highlights how the investor started, their key gains and losses, their core philosophy, the kinds of businesses they favor, and one distilled piece of advice or legacy quote. Read a few each day, reflect on the patterns, and ask: “What habits and principles can I borrow — and which risks should I avoid?”
Investor Biographies (1–100)
1. Warren Buffett
Known for: Chairman & CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; “The Oracle of Omaha.”
Early life & start: Bought his first stock at 11, filed taxes at 13, and later studied under Benjamin Graham at Columbia Business School.
Gains: Turned Berkshire into one of history’s greatest compounding machines, creating hundreds of billions in shareholder value.
Losses: Missed early tech giants like Google and Amazon, acknowledging that his circle of competence had limits.
Philosophy: Long-term value investing, wide moats, and emotional discipline: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.”
Common holdings: Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway.
Advice: “The best investment you can make is in yourself.”
2. Benjamin Graham
Known for: “Father of Value Investing;” author of The Intelligent Investor and Security Analysis.
Early life & start: Orphaned young, excelled at Columbia, and began on Wall Street in 1914, where he lived through booms and crashes.
Gains: Introduced the concepts of intrinsic value, margin of safety, and defensive investing that influenced generations.
Losses: Heavy losses during the 1929 crash convinced him that risk management must be baked into the process.
Philosophy: Buy securities well below their calculated value and insist on a margin of safety.
Common holdings: Asset-rich industrials, “net-nets” (trading below liquidation value), conservative bonds.
Advice: “The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.”
3. Peter Lynch
Known for: Managing Fidelity Magellan Fund (1977–1990), one of the best-performing mutual funds ever.
Early life & start: Started as a golf caddie, then an intern at Fidelity, working his way to running Magellan.
Gains: Delivered ~29% annualized returns for 13 years by spotting everyday winners before Wall Street did.
Losses: Missed certain tech revolutions and occasionally held cyclical stocks too long, but his process remained robust.
Philosophy: “Invest in what you know” and do your homework; individual investors can have an edge.
Common holdings: Consumer brands, retail chains, small caps with strong growth and understandable stories.
Advice: “Know what you own, and know why you own it.”
4. George Soros
Known for: Founder of Quantum Fund; famous for shorting the British pound in 1992.
Early life & start: Survived Nazi-occupied Hungary, moved to London, studied philosophy, then entered finance as an analyst and trader.
Gains: Earned about $1B in one day during the 1992 pound trade; generated enormous returns for decades.
Losses: Suffered setbacks in yen and tech trades, reminding even macro giants that markets remain unpredictable.
Philosophy: Reflexivity — market prices influence fundamentals, not just reflect them.
Common holdings: Currencies, bonds, global equities, and aggressive macro positions.
Advice: “It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.”
5. Sir John Templeton
Known for: Global value pioneer; founder of Templeton Growth Fund.
Early life & start: Bought 100 U.S. stocks under $1 during the Great Depression; most multiplied as the economy recovered.
Gains: Among the earliest Americans to invest heavily in Japan and other foreign markets, generating huge long-term gains.
Losses: Some early emerging-market bets failed, but the diversified global approach paid off overall.
Philosophy: Contrarian global value; “buy at the point of maximum pessimism.”
Common holdings: Japanese growth names, European blue chips, global value stocks.
Advice: “The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘This time it’s different.’”
6. Jack Bogle
Known for: Founder of Vanguard; creator of the first index mutual fund.
Early life & start: His Princeton thesis on mutual fund inefficiency became the blueprint for his life’s work.
Gains: Revolutionized investing by making low-cost index funds accessible to everyday savers.
Losses: Faced ridicule early on; index funds were called “un-American” before they took over the industry.
Philosophy: Own the market, keep costs low, stay the course.
Common holdings: Broad-market index funds (S&P 500, total stock market, global indexes).
Advice: “Don’t look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!”
7. Philip Fisher
Known for: Author of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits; pioneer of growth investing.
Early life & start: One of the first to stress qualitative research into management and company culture.
Gains: Earned enormous returns as a long-term shareholder in Motorola and other innovators.
Losses: Concentrated portfolios sometimes lagged in certain cycles.
Philosophy: “Scuttlebutt” — talk to suppliers, employees, and customers to understand a business deeply.
Common holdings: Technology, industrial innovation, and consumer brands with visionary leaders.
Advice: Hold outstanding companies for as long as their competitive advantage persists.
8. Charlie Munger
Known for: Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway; Buffett’s long-time partner.
Early life & start: Lawyer who shifted into investing and urged Buffett to buy “wonderful companies at fair prices.”
Gains: Key influence in Berkshire’s shift from cigar-butts to high-quality compounders.
Losses: Early real estate and leveraged bets that taught him to respect risk and simplicity.
Philosophy: Use mental models from many disciplines and avoid stupidity before seeking brilliance.
Common holdings: Berkshire Hathaway’s top positions: Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express, etc.
Advice: “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.”
9. Jim Simons
Known for: Founder of Renaissance Technologies and its famed Medallion Fund.
Early life & start: World-class mathematician and codebreaker who turned to finance, applying algorithms to trading.
Gains: Medallion Fund generated >35% annual net returns over decades after fees.
Losses: Early discretionary macro trades sometimes failed, which pushed him toward full quant.
Philosophy: Let data and models drive decisions, not emotions or narratives.
Common holdings: Highly diversified, short-term systematic positions across many markets.
Advice: Find real patterns in data and trust them more than your intuition.
10. Ray Dalio
Known for: Founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund.
Early life & start: Began investing at 12, started Bridgewater from his apartment, and nearly went broke in 1982.
Gains: Built All Weather and Pure Alpha strategies spanning global markets.
Losses: Early macro call gone wrong almost wiped him out, shaping his obsession with diversification and humility.
Philosophy: Understand the “economic machine,” diversify, and codify principles for decision-making.
Common holdings: Global bonds, equities, commodities, and currencies via systematic strategies.
Advice: “Pain + Reflection = Progress.”
11. Carl Icahn
Known for: Founder of Icahn Enterprises; one of the original corporate raiders.
Early life & start: Started as a stockbroker in the 1960s, then realized he could influence companies directly.
Gains: Made billions forcing restructurings, buybacks, and strategic changes at underperforming firms.
Losses: Suffered big hits in 2008 and in various biotech and energy bets.
Philosophy: Aggressive activism — shake up management to unlock shareholder value.
Common holdings: Apple (historically), TWA, Herbalife, Occidental Petroleum.
Advice: “In this business, if you want a friend, get a dog.”
12. Jesse Livermore
Known for: Legendary trader in early 1900s; subject of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.
Early life & start: Began as a teenager in “bucket shops,” betting on price moves.
Gains: Made and lost several fortunes; earned millions shorting 1907 and 1929 crashes.
Losses: Overleveraged repeatedly and ultimately went bankrupt.
Philosophy: Trend-following, patience, and respect for the tape.
Common holdings: Major blue chips, commodities, and market indices of his time.
Advice: “The game taught me the game. And it didn’t spare the rod while teaching.”
13. Bill Ackman
Known for: Founder of Pershing Square Capital; famous activist and concentrated investor.
Early life & start: Started Gotham Partners in 1992; later founded Pershing Square in 2004.
Gains: Massive profits shorting credit in March 2020 and successful campaigns in companies like Chipotle and Hilton.
Losses: High-profile losses in Herbalife and Valeant Pharmaceuticals.
Philosophy: Concentrated, long-term bets on high-quality, misunderstood businesses.
Common holdings: Chipotle, Hilton, Restaurant Brands International, Lowe’s.
Advice: “Investing is about finding the highest-quality business you can and holding it forever.”
14. John Neff
Known for: Manager of Vanguard Windsor Fund (1964–1995).
Early life & start: Developed a low P/E, contrarian strategy focusing on unpopular stocks with strong fundamentals.
Gains: Delivered 13.7% annual returns over 31 years, beating the market by ~3% per year.
Losses: Occasionally lagged during market manias favoring high flyers.
Philosophy: Buy low P/E, high yield, solid earnings-growth companies.
Common holdings: Ford, Kmart, and dividend-paying cyclicals.
Advice: Focus on fundamentals, not fashions.
15. Seth Klarman
Known for: Founder of Baupost Group; author of the rare book Margin of Safety.
Early life & start: Harvard MBA; co-founded Baupost in 1982 with a strong focus on risk control.
Gains: Produced strong returns over decades by buying distressed and deeply undervalued assets.
Losses: Few publicized; known more for caution than blowups.
Philosophy: Capital preservation, margin of safety, and patient contrarianism.
Common holdings: Distressed debt, special situations, value equities like eBay and Liberty entities.
Advice: “The single greatest edge an investor can have is a long-term orientation.”
16. Michael Burry
Known for: Founder of Scion Capital; central figure in The Big Short.
Early life & start: Neurologist-turned-investor who ran a value-investing blog before starting his fund.
Gains: Earned hundreds of millions shorting subprime mortgages before 2008.
Losses: Suffered volatility and criticism for early or unpopular macro calls, including some post-2008 trades.
Philosophy: Deep value, independent analysis, and willingness to stand alone.
Common holdings: Cyclicals, water-related assets, gold, and occasionally index shorts.
Advice: “The greatest risk is not knowing what you’re doing.”
17. David Tepper
Known for: Founder of Appaloosa Management; owner of the Carolina Panthers (NFL).
Early life & start: Former Goldman Sachs bond trader who launched Appaloosa in 1993.
Gains: Made billions buying distressed financial stocks after the 2008 crisis.
Losses: Some drawdowns in energy and emerging markets, but long-term track record is stellar.
Philosophy: Opportunistic macro and deep value in distressed situations.
Common holdings: Big banks, airlines, cyclical stocks when they’re hated.
Advice: Be brave when markets offer rare bargains — but know the risks cold.
18. Li Lu
Known for: Founder of Himalaya Capital; only manager personally endorsed by Charlie Munger.
Early life & start: Tiananmen Square student leader who emigrated, studied at Columbia, and embraced value investing.
Gains: Early investor in BYD, a huge winner shared with Berkshire and Munger.
Losses: Few publicly known; famous for cautious, concentrated positions.
Philosophy: Ethical, long-term value investing bridging East and West.
Common holdings: BYD, Berkshire Hathaway, high-quality Asian and U.S. companies.
Advice: Temperament and integrity matter more than IQ in investing.
19. Mohnish Pabrai
Known for: Founder of Pabrai Funds; author of The Dhandho Investor.
Early life & start: Sold his IT business and launched a Buffett-style partnership with his own capital.
Gains: Achieved strong returns by “cloning” the best ideas of Buffett, Munger, and other greats.
Losses: Tough drawdowns during 2008, but later recovered and refined his approach.
Philosophy: “Heads I win, tails I don’t lose much.” Focus on asymmetric bets.
Common holdings: Auto companies (Fiat Chrysler), select emerging-market value names, and special situations.
Advice: Be patient, be humble, and copy proven strategies instead of reinventing the wheel.
20. Prem Watsa
Known for: CEO of Fairfax Financial; often called “the Canadian Warren Buffett.”
Early life & start: Immigrated to Canada with little money, worked his way up in insurance and founded Fairfax.
Gains: Huge profits from credit default swaps during the 2008 crisis.
Losses: Underperformance in long bull markets due to cautious hedging.
Philosophy: Value investing with an emphasis on downside protection.
Common holdings: Financials, insurance, select emerging-market equities.
Advice: Protect capital first; returns follow those who survive.
21. Joel Greenblatt
Known for: Founder of Gotham Capital; author of The Little Book That Beats the Market.
Early life & start: Wharton MBA; launched Gotham in 1985 with $7M in seed capital.
Gains: Generated ~50% annual returns over a decade using concentrated special-situation value plays.
Losses: Factor/value strategies struggled in some post-2008 environments.
Philosophy: “Magic Formula” — buy good companies (high ROIC) at cheap prices.
Common holdings: High-ROIC firms trading at modest earnings multiples.
Advice: Discipline and patience beat brilliance that lacks a process.
22. Howard Marks
Known for: Co-founder of Oaktree Capital; famed for his investing memos.
Early life & start: Studied at Wharton and University of Chicago; specialized early in high-yield and distressed debt.
Gains: Built Oaktree into a giant in distressed and alternative assets.
Losses: Temporary declines in crises, but he used them to buy more at better prices.
Philosophy: Second-level thinking, risk control, and understanding where you are in the cycle.
Common holdings: Distressed bonds, value stocks, and credit instruments.
Advice: “You can’t predict, but you can prepare.”
23. Stanley Druckenmiller
Known for: Lead portfolio manager at Quantum Fund; later ran Duquesne Capital.
Early life & start: Studied economics, worked as an analyst, then joined Soros in managing Quantum.
Gains: Helped execute the 1992 pound short; generated 30%+ annual returns with no losing years at Duquesne.
Losses: Took hits during the tech bubble burst but quickly recovered.
Philosophy: Macro trends plus conviction-sized positions when odds are in his favor.
Common holdings: Tech leaders, macro ETFs, currencies, and commodities.
Advice: “The best investors make large concentrated bets when the odds are strongly in their favor.”
24. William H. Gross (“Bill Gross”)
Known for: Co-founder of PIMCO; dominant fixed-income manager for decades.
Early life & start: Reputed blackjack card counter, then bond trader; founded PIMCO in 1971.
Gains: Managed hundreds of billions in bonds with strong risk-adjusted returns.
Losses: Later performance and internal conflicts led to his departure from PIMCO.
Philosophy: Macro-driven bond investing with careful duration and credit risk management.
Common holdings: U.S. Treasuries, mortgage bonds, corporate debt.
Advice: Stay humble, flexible, and never bet the farm on one outcome.
25. David Swensen
Known for: Architect of the Yale endowment strategy.
Early life & start: PhD in economics; took over Yale’s endowment in 1985.
Gains: Delivered ~14% annual returns over three decades with a heavy tilt to alternatives.
Losses: Some illiquid assets were stressed in crises but paid off over time.
Philosophy: Diversification across private equity, venture, real assets, and public markets, with a long horizon.
Common holdings: Private equity funds, hedge funds, global equities, real assets.
Advice: “Invest, don’t speculate — and match your portfolio to your time horizon.”
26. Julian Robertson
Known for: Founder of Tiger Management; mentor to many “Tiger Cub” hedge funds.
Early life & start: Launched Tiger in 1980 with $8M, focusing on long-short equity.
Gains: Grew AUM to $22B by the 1990s with strong performance.
Losses: Closed Tiger in 2000 after volatile tech markets.
Philosophy: Deep fundamental research, long/short strategies, and intense analyst culture.
Common holdings: Tech, financials, and global large caps.
Advice: Back smart, driven managers and give them room to act.
27. Michael Steinhardt
Known for: One of the original hedge fund managers; Steinhardt Partners.
Early life & start: Started managing money in 1967 using an aggressive multi-asset approach.
Gains: Averaged ~24% annual returns for nearly 30 years.
Losses: Sharp drawdowns at times, but recovered with quick adaptation.
Philosophy: Flexible, macro-aware, and opportunistic across stocks, bonds, and currencies.
Common holdings: Equities, bonds, currencies, options.
Advice: Learn from your mistakes early and don’t repeat them.
28. Philip Town
Known for: Author of Rule #1 and Payback Time; educator in Buffett-style investing.
Early life & start: Former Green Beret who learned about value investing from a mentor after the military.
Gains: Built wealth and a teaching platform focusing on simple, rule-based investing.
Losses: Mostly educational, emphasizing avoiding big mistakes.
Philosophy: “Rule #1: Don’t lose money. Rule #2: Don’t forget Rule #1.”
Common holdings: High-quality, moat-based companies bought at a discount.
Advice: Treat investing like buying a business, not trading a ticker.
29. Cathie Wood
Known for: Founder & CEO of ARK Invest; focuses on disruptive technologies.
Early life & start: Economics graduate; started ARK in 2014 to focus on high-conviction innovation themes.
Gains: Huge gains in 2020 as tech and innovation stocks soared.
Losses: Sharp drawdowns (up to 70%) during 2021–2022 tech unwind.
Philosophy: Invest in disruptive innovation: AI, EVs, genomics, space tech.
Common holdings: Tesla, Roku, Coinbase, Zoom, CRISPR names.
Advice: Innovation solves problems and ultimately wins, but volatility is the price of admission.
30. Bill Miller
Known for: Managed Legg Mason Value Trust; beat the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years.
Early life & start: Former Army intelligence officer; joined Legg Mason in the 1980s.
Gains: Early believer in Amazon and other tech names as value stocks in disguise.
Losses: Suffered big losses in 2008 financial crisis but rebuilt wealth later.
Philosophy: Value and growth are not opposites; seek mispriced great businesses.
Common holdings: Amazon, Meta, Bitcoin, financials.
Advice: “Great opportunities come when people forget how to value things.”
31. Hetty Green
Known for: “The Witch of Wall Street;” first major female financier in the U.S.
Early life & start: Inherited money young and managed it herself with intense frugality.
Gains: Increased her fortune by buying bonds and real estate during panics.
Losses: Avoided speculation; had few major financial blowups.
Philosophy: Cash discipline and buying quality assets at distressed prices.
Common holdings: Railroad bonds, municipal debt, income-producing properties.
Advice: Be patient, liquid, and ready when others are forced to sell.
32. J. Pierpont Morgan
Known for: Founder of J.P. Morgan & Co.; key figure in U.S. industrialization.
Early life & start: Began in banking and quickly became central to large corporate and government finance deals.
Gains: Financed U.S. Steel, General Electric, and stabilized markets during crises.
Losses: Criticized for monopolistic power, but financially rarely lost.
Philosophy: Control and structure over chaos; strong governance and consolidation.
Common holdings: Railroads, steel, energy, and large industrials.
Advice: “Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.”
33. Jay Gould
Known for: Railroad magnate and one of the most feared speculators of the Gilded Age.
Early life & start: Started as a surveyor and small-time entrepreneur, then moved into railroads.
Gains: Controlled major rail lines and telegraph networks; became one of the richest men of his era.
Losses: Involved in the 1869 Black Friday gold scandal; reputation damaged but fortune survived.
Philosophy: Aggressive use of leverage, information, and control.
Common holdings: Railroads, Western Union, gold speculation.
Advice: Historical example of power and excess more than a model to copy.
34. Chris Hohn
Known for: Founder of The Children’s Investment Fund (TCI); activist with philanthropic focus.
Early life & start: Harvard MBA; launched TCI in 2003, linking fund performance fees to charity.
Gains: Notable wins in campaigns involving ABN AMRO, Deutsche Börse, and global infrastructure companies.
Losses: Volatile episodes around financial crises but strong long-term returns.
Philosophy: High-conviction activism for efficiency, governance, and shareholder value.
Common holdings: Alphabet, Canadian National Railway, large global monopolies.
Advice: Activism is a tool to enforce accountability, not just to create noise.
35. Chuck Akre
Known for: Founder of Akre Capital; “three-legged stool” investing framework.
Early life & start: Started as a small-town broker before building a high-quality portfolio strategy.
Gains: Achieved strong long-term results via a small set of “compounding machines.”
Losses: Occasional underperformance in frothy markets but resilient through cycles.
Philosophy: Great business, great people, and great reinvestment opportunities.
Common holdings: Mastercard, Moody’s, American Tower.
Advice: Focus on return on capital, not just growth.
36. Lou Simpson
Known for: Ran investments for GEICO under Buffett.
Early life & start: Joined GEICO and developed a philosophy closely aligned with Buffett’s.
Gains: Outperformed the S&P 500 by wide margins over decades.
Losses: Minimal long-term setbacks; patient and conservative.
Philosophy: Concentrate in predictable, high-quality businesses and hold them.
Common holdings: Berkshire Hathaway, financials, select industrials.
Advice: Accept underperformance in the short term if your thesis is sound.
37. Terry Smith
Known for: Founder of Fundsmith; often called the “UK’s Warren Buffett.”
Early life & start: Analyst and CEO before launching Fundsmith in 2010.
Gains: >15% annualized returns with a concentrated portfolio of world-class companies.
Losses: Temporary setbacks in periods when defensive quality underperformed.
Philosophy: “Buy good companies, don’t overpay, and do nothing.”
Common holdings: Microsoft, L’Oréal, PepsiCo, Novo Nordisk.
Advice: Trading less is often the smartest move.
38. Nick Sleep
Known for: Co-founded Nomad Investment Partnership.
Early life & start: Managed a small, highly concentrated fund focusing on exceptional businesses.
Gains: Produced >20% annualized returns over years before returning capital to investors.
Losses: Minimal; his biggest risk was being early to unpopular ideas like Amazon.
Philosophy: “Scale economies shared” — companies that share their efficiencies with customers.
Common holdings: Amazon, Costco, Berkshire Hathaway.
Advice: Patience is the rarest and most valuable edge in investing.
39. Robert Vinall
Known for: Founder of RV Capital; “Business Owner” investing approach.
Early life & start: Consulting background; launched RV Capital in 2006.
Gains: Strong long-term returns through concentrated ownership of a few high-quality companies.
Losses: Short-term underperformance in cyclical downturns.
Philosophy: Think and act like a long-term business owner, not a trader.
Common holdings: Alphabet, Markel, niche industrial leaders.
Advice: True investing happens on a decade-long time frame.
40. Guy Spier
Known for: Manager of Aquamarine Fund; author of The Education of a Value Investor.
Early life & start: Harvard MBA; transformed his career after being inspired by Buffett and a lunch meeting with him.
Gains: Built a solid long-term record by following Berkshire-like principles.
Losses: Early Wall Street missteps taught him to prioritize ethics.
Philosophy: “Inner scorecard” — investing should align with personal integrity.
Common holdings: Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet, Nestlé.
Advice: The best investment journey begins with becoming a better person.
41. Mario Gabelli
Known for: Founder of GAMCO Investors; specialist in value and special-situation investing.
Early life & start: Son of Italian immigrants; studied under value legend Roger Murray at Columbia.
Gains: Built GAMCO into a multibillion-dollar asset manager with decades of market-beating performance.
Losses: Periodic drawdowns in recessions and during value-unfriendly cycles.
Philosophy: “Private market value” — buy public companies at a discount to what a rational buyer would pay for the whole business.
Common holdings: Media, industrials, and conglomerates like Viacom, Deere, and others.
Advice: Think like an owner, not a trader.
42. Chris Davis
Known for: Portfolio manager at Davis Advisors; third-generation value investor.
Early life & start: Grew up in a family of money managers and continued the Davis value tradition.
Gains: Built a record of long-term outperformance with emphasis on financials and durable franchises.
Losses: Took heavy hits in financial stocks during the 2008 crisis but stayed invested.
Philosophy: Buy durable businesses with honest management and hold for many years.
Common holdings: Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, Capital One, global financial leaders.
Advice: Wealth comes from time in the market, not timing the market.
43. Donald Yacktman
Known for: Founder of Yacktman Asset Management; focused on cash-generative blue chips.
Early life & start: Harvard MBA; managed mutual funds before starting his own firm.
Gains: Long record of strong returns with a low-turnover, low-risk approach.
Losses: Underperformed in speculative bull markets driven by non-dividend growth stocks.
Philosophy: Buy good businesses at good prices with strong free cash flow and shareholder-friendly policies.
Common holdings: Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, consumer staples.
Advice: Patience is more important than prediction.
44. David Abrams
Known for: Founder of Abrams Capital; former protégé of Seth Klarman.
Early life & start: Worked at Baupost Group before launching his own Boston-based fund in 1999.
Gains: Excellent long-term record across stocks, credit, and special situations.
Losses: Keeps a low profile; known for risk control more than blowups.
Philosophy: Flexible, long-term, deep value across the capital structure.
Common holdings: Alphabet, TransDigm, financials, and media-related assets.
Advice: You don’t need many bets — just a few very good ones.
45. Glenn Greenberg
Known for: Founder of Chieftain Capital and later Brave Warrior Advisors.
Early life & start: Yale graduate; built a reputation for extreme focus and patience.
Gains: Beat the S&P 500 for decades with a small number of high-confidence positions.
Losses: Significant short-term volatility when a concentrated name went out of favor.
Philosophy: Own only a handful of outstanding companies you know deeply.
Common holdings: Alphabet, Berkshire Hathaway, Mastercard, other high-ROE businesses.
Advice: Diversification is protection against ignorance — not a requirement if you truly understand what you own.
46. Tom Gayner
Known for: Co-CEO of Markel Corporation; “mini-Berkshire” style investor.
Early life & start: Accountant turned investor; joined Markel and built its equity portfolio.
Gains: Compounded book value at strong rates by owning high-quality businesses inside an insurance framework.
Losses: Modest declines during recessions, but resilient due to conservative leverage.
Philosophy: Buy profitable, well-managed businesses at fair prices and let compounding work.
Common holdings: Berkshire Hathaway, Alphabet, Home Depot, consumer and financial franchises.
Advice: Focus on business quality first, valuation second, and activity last.
47. Cliff Sosin
Known for: Founder of CAS Investment Partners; extremely concentrated investor.
Early life & start: Former Credit Suisse analyst; launched CAS in 2012.
Gains: Big wins in misunderstood companies like Carvana and Credit Acceptance.
Losses: High volatility due to small number of positions and cyclical exposures.
Philosophy: Deep research, independent thinking, and willingness to be early and lonely.
Common holdings: Carvana, Floor & Decor, other niche consumer/credit businesses.
Advice: If everyone already agrees with you, the opportunity is probably gone.
48. Tom Russo
Known for: Partner at Gardner Russo & Quinn; specialist in global consumer franchises.
Early life & start: Columbia Law & Business graduate; influenced by Buffett and global value thinkers.
Gains: Delivered strong compounding over 30+ years through brand power and international expansion.
Losses: Occasionally lagged when consumer staples underperformed growth tech.
Philosophy: “Capacity to suffer” — allow companies to reinvest heavily for long-term global scale.
Common holdings: Nestlé, Heineken, Berkshire Hathaway, other global consumer giants.
Advice: Give great brands time to conquer new markets.
49. John Paulson
Known for: Founder of Paulson & Co.; made one of history’s biggest trades in 2008.
Early life & start: Worked in M&A before starting his own event-driven hedge fund.
Gains: Made ~$4B personally by shorting subprime mortgage securities before the financial crisis.
Losses: Later underperformance and large losses in various macro and gold positions.
Philosophy: Event-driven, merger arbitrage, and macro-informed special situations.
Common holdings: Gold, financials, merger-arbitrage deals, and real estate-related plays.
Advice: Look for mispriced risk where the payoff is asymmetric.
50. James D. Slater
Known for: UK investor and author of The Zulu Principle; popularized small-cap investing.
Early life & start: Accountant-turned-entrepreneur who shifted to investing and writing after financial setbacks.
Gains: Built fortunes multiple times focusing on fast-growing smaller companies.
Losses: Went bankrupt in the 1970s but rebuilt his wealth through investing expertise.
Philosophy: Specialization — narrow your focus and become an expert in one field (“Zulu Principle”).
Common holdings: UK small caps with high earnings growth and reasonable value.
Advice: You can’t outperform if you know only as much as everyone else.
51. David Einhorn
Known for: Founder of Greenlight Capital; value investor known for famous shorts.
Early life & start: Started Greenlight in 1996 with under $1M; made a name with forensic analysis.
Gains: High-profile short of Lehman Brothers before its collapse; strong early track record.
Losses: Significant losses shorting Tesla and in long value bets during growth-dominated years.
Philosophy: Deep value with a skeptical stance toward overhyped companies and accounting tricks.
Common holdings: GM, financials, and special situations; occasional high-conviction shorts.
Advice: Being early can feel wrong for a long time — manage risk so you can survive to be right.
52. Ralph Wanger
Known for: Manager of Acorn Fund; champion of small-cap investing.
Early life & start: Engineer-turned-fund manager who saw opportunity where big funds could not tread.
Gains: Outperformed by focusing on nimble, under-followed growth companies.
Losses: Underperformed during markets that favored mega-cap “blue chips.”
Philosophy: Look where others are not looking — small caps with room to grow.
Common holdings: U.S. small-cap industrials, tech, and consumer names.
Advice: To do better than the crowd, you must do something different from the crowd.
53. William J. O'Neil
Known for: Founder of Investor’s Business Daily; creator of the CAN SLIM method.
Early life & start: Youngest person to buy a seat on the NYSE; built a database-driven stock-picking system.
Gains: Popularized a blend of fundamentals and technicals for growth stock investing.
Losses: Short-term volatility and whipsaws in momentum markets.
Philosophy: Focus on earnings growth, leadership, new products, and strong chart patterns.
Common holdings: Leading growth stocks in each bull market cycle.
Advice: Cut losses quickly and let winners run.
54. Alfred Lin
Known for: Partner at Sequoia Capital; early backer of Airbnb, DoorDash, and Zoom.
Early life & start: Former CFO/COO of Zappos; joined Sequoia to focus on operations-heavy consumer tech.
Gains: Turned early-stage positions in multiple unicorns into multi-billion dollar outcomes.
Losses: Some e-commerce and consumer bets failed, especially in highly competitive markets.
Philosophy: Back world-class operators solving huge problems with relentless execution.
Common holdings: Airbnb, DoorDash, Zoom, Instacart.
Advice: Execution beats ideas; the right team matters more than the original pitch.
55. Reid Hoffman
Known for: Co-founder of LinkedIn; partner at Greylock; investor in many network-effect businesses.
Early life & start: Studied philosophy; joined and built early social and payment platforms before founding LinkedIn.
Gains: Backed companies like Facebook, Airbnb, and PayPal at formative stages.
Losses: Several early social networking experiments failed before LinkedIn’s success.
Philosophy: Bet on network effects, compounding data, and founders who iterate fast.
Common holdings: LinkedIn, Airbnb, OpenAI-related ventures, emerging AI and network businesses.
Advice: “If you’re not embarrassed by your first product, you launched too late.”
56. Peter Thiel
Known for: Co-founder of PayPal and Palantir; early investor in Facebook.
Early life & start: Stanford-trained lawyer; formed the “PayPal Mafia” that seeded many tech giants.
Gains: Turned a $500k stake in Facebook into over $1B; built Palantir into a major software company.
Losses: Missed or exited too early from some later tech waves.
Philosophy: Contrarian futurism: build monopolies, don’t compete in crowded markets.
Common holdings: Palantir, SpaceX, early-stage AI/defense tech, Stripe, others.
Advice: “Competition is for losers — build something where you’re one of one.”
57. Neil Shen
Known for: Founding partner of Sequoia China; one of Asia’s most influential VCs.
Early life & start: Worked in finance, then co-founded Ctrip and Home Inn before moving full-time into venture capital.
Gains: Early investor in Alibaba, Meituan, ByteDance, and other Chinese tech titans.
Losses: Faced regulatory headwinds as China cracked down on large internet platforms.
Philosophy: Back founders with global ambition navigating China’s massive market.
Common holdings: Alibaba, Meituan, JD.com, ByteDance.
Advice: Invest in people before products; in the long run, the founder makes the difference.
58. Vinod Khosla
Known for: Co-founder of Sun Microsystems; founder of Khosla Ventures.
Early life & start: IIT graduate, Stanford MBA; helped build Sun into a major computing company.
Gains: Backed companies in clean tech, fintech, and AI with outsized success like Square and DoorDash.
Losses: Many clean-energy and hardware bets failed; he embraces high failure rates.
Philosophy: Embrace high risk for high impact; invest in “black swan” potential.
Common holdings: DoorDash, Square, Impossible Foods, deep-tech startups.
Advice: Failure is data — the key is to learn faster than others.
59. Douglas Leone
Known for: Former global managing partner at Sequoia Capital.
Early life & start: Engineering and sales background; joined Sequoia in 1988 and rose to lead the firm.
Gains: Involved in investments in Google, ServiceNow, WhatsApp, and other giants.
Losses: Like all VCs, many portfolio companies failed quietly along the way.
Philosophy: Back bold, technically strong founders and push aggressively for scale.
Common holdings: Google, ServiceNow, security and cloud software companies.
Advice: The world rewards the bold — but only if they’re prepared.
60. Fred Wilson
Known for: Co-founder of Union Square Ventures; early backer of Twitter, Tumblr, Etsy, and Coinbase.
Early life & start: Wharton MBA; co-founded USV in 2003 focusing on web-based networks and platforms.
Gains: Huge wins from early entries into social media, marketplaces, and crypto platforms.
Losses: Crypto bear markets and some social/platform failures hit later funds.
Philosophy: Open networks, user empowerment, and decentralized platforms.
Common holdings: Coinbase, Twitter (pre-acquisition), Etsy, OpenSea and other Web3 ventures.
Advice: Build for users first; profits follow when you truly solve their problems.
61. Marc Andreessen
Known for: Co-founder of Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
Early life & start: Built Netscape Navigator, one of the first mainstream web browsers, in his 20s.
Gains: Through a16z, backed Airbnb, Coinbase, Meta, and many foundational software companies.
Losses: Netscape lost the browser war to Microsoft; some early VR and hardware bets lagged.
Philosophy: “Software is eating the world” — invest in software that rewires industries.
Common holdings: Airbnb, Coinbase, Meta, OpenAI-related ventures, dev tooling and infra.
Advice: Don’t wait for permission to innovate.
62. Mike Speiser
Known for: Managing Director at Sutter Hill Ventures; incubated Snowflake.
Early life & start: Engineer-turned-investor; pioneered an incubation model inside a VC firm.
Gains: Helped found and grow Snowflake, Pure Storage, and other high-impact infra companies.
Losses: Some stealth projects and infra bets never found product–market fit.
Philosophy: Build foundational technology quietly, with hands-on investor-operator help.
Common holdings: Snowflake, Pure Storage, Sumo Logic.
Advice: The best way to predict the future is to quietly build it.
63. Ben Horowitz
Known for: Co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz; author of The Hard Thing About Hard Things.
Early life & start: Engineer at Netscape; co-founded Loudcloud/Opsware, sold to HP for $1.6B.
Gains: Backed Coinbase, Slack, Okta, and other major enterprise and consumer companies.
Losses: Some enterprise and consumer bets failed, especially in highly competitive SaaS segments.
Philosophy: Support founders through chaos; leadership is forged in the hard times.
Common holdings: Coinbase, Slack, Okta, Roblox, enterprise & dev-tool companies.
Advice: Embrace the struggle — that’s where greatness is built.
64. Mary Meeker
Known for: Former Kleiner Perkins partner; author of the famous Internet Trends reports.
Early life & start: Morgan Stanley analyst who chronicled the early internet boom.
Gains: Early supporter of Amazon, Google, Facebook; later backed high-growth consumer platforms.
Losses: Criticized during the dot-com crash but ultimately vindicated by long-term internet growth.
Philosophy: Follow data, adoption curves, and user behavior — not hype.
Common holdings: Airbnb, Spotify, Stripe, high-scale consumer and fintech platforms.
Advice: The numbers will tell you where the world is going if you know how to read them.
65. Michael Dell
Known for: Founder of Dell Technologies; major tech investor and operator.
Early life & start: Started building PCs in his dorm room at 19 and dropped out to focus on the company.
Gains: Took Dell private, restructured it, then took it public again, creating massive value.
Losses: Lost market share to competitors in early 2000s before pivoting to enterprise solutions.
Philosophy: Efficiency, scale, and constant reinvention in technology.
Common holdings: Dell Technologies, VMware (historically), security and infra firms.
Advice: Ideas matter — but execution is everything.
66. Travis Kalanick
Known for: Co-founder and former CEO of Uber; later founder of CloudKitchens.
Early life & start: Serial entrepreneur; launched Uber in 2009 and rapidly expanded it globally.
Gains: Built Uber into a transportation giant, transforming how people move and work.
Losses: Ousted as CEO after governance and culture controversies.
Philosophy: Aggressive disruption, rapid scaling, and regulatory arbitrage.
Common holdings: Uber, CloudKitchens, logistics and mobility startups.
Advice: You can’t disrupt an industry without making people uncomfortable.
67. Jeff Bezos
Known for: Founder of Amazon; investor in Blue Origin and media assets.
Early life & start: Left a Wall Street job to start an online bookstore in 1994, betting on the internet’s future.
Gains: Built Amazon into one of the largest companies in history, spanning retail, cloud, and media.
Losses: Massive early operating losses and numerous failed experiments.
Philosophy: Customer obsession, long-term thinking, and willingness to endure short-term pain.
Common holdings: Amazon, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, other early-stage tech bets.
Advice: “Your margin is my opportunity.”
68. Elon Musk
Known for: CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; founder of multiple frontier tech companies.
Early life & start: Co-founded Zip2 and X.com (PayPal), then poured his capital into Tesla and SpaceX.
Gains: Built multi-hundred-billion-dollar enterprises in electric vehicles and reusable rockets.
Losses: Near-bankruptcy in 2008; ongoing volatility and controversy around his companies and leadership style.
Philosophy: Build for humanity’s long-term future, not quarterly earnings.
Common holdings: Tesla, SpaceX, X (Twitter), Neuralink, The Boring Company.
Advice: “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
69. Mark Zuckerberg
Known for: Co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms (Facebook).
Early life & start: Built Facebook in a Harvard dorm in 2004, focusing on real-identity social networking.
Gains: Turned Facebook into a global social and advertising powerhouse; acquired Instagram and WhatsApp.
Losses: Heavy spending on metaverse and VR projects with uncertain payoff.
Philosophy: “Move fast and build things;” iterate quickly and scale globally.
Common holdings: Meta, Instagram, WhatsApp, metaverse and VR-related initiatives.
Advice: The biggest risk is not taking any risk.
70. Steve Jobs
Known for: Co-founder of Apple; key figure behind the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
Early life & start: Dropped out of college; co-founded Apple in a garage with Steve Wozniak.
Gains: Transformed multiple industries: computing, music, phones, and animated film (via Pixar).
Losses: Fired from Apple in 1985; learned from failure and returned to lead its renaissance.
Philosophy: Innovation through simplicity and intense focus on user experience.
Common holdings: Apple, Pixar (sold to Disney), Disney stock thereafter.
Advice: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
71. Bill Gates
Known for: Co-founder of Microsoft; major philanthropist and investor.
Early life & start: Dropped out of Harvard; licensed MS-DOS to IBM, catalyzing Microsoft’s dominance.
Gains: Built Microsoft into a software empire; became one of the richest individuals in history.
Losses: Missed mobile revolution; faced antitrust actions and regulatory scrutiny.
Philosophy: Platform power, scale, and later, impact-focused philanthropy.
Common holdings: Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, Canadian National Railway, and diversified assets via the foundation.
Advice: People overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten.
72. Larry Ellison
Known for: Co-founder and longtime leader of Oracle Corporation.
Early life & start: College dropout; founded Oracle in 1977 to commercialize relational databases.
Gains: Built Oracle into one of the world’s largest enterprise software companies.
Losses: Missteps in cloud transition; later course-corrected with acquisitions and strategy shifts.
Philosophy: Aggressive competition, acquisitions, and controlling key data infrastructure.
Common holdings: Oracle, Tesla, large real estate, and Hawaiian island properties.
Advice: When you innovate, be ready for people to call you crazy.
73. Sergey Brin
Known for: Co-founder of Google; leader of Alphabet’s X (moonshot) projects.
Early life & start: Emigrated from the Soviet Union; met Larry Page at Stanford and created PageRank.
Gains: Built Google into the dominant search and online ad company; led efforts in self-driving cars and more.
Losses: Some moonshot projects and hardware efforts failed commercially.
Philosophy: Curiosity-driven innovation and moonshot thinking.
Common holdings: Alphabet, Tesla, SpaceX, early-stage science projects.
Advice: Always deliver more than expected.
74. Larry Page
Known for: Co-founder of Google; CEO of Alphabet during its expansion into many fields.
Early life & start: PhD student in computer science; co-created PageRank with Brin.
Gains: Turned Google into a trillion-dollar company and built Alphabet as a collection of future-oriented businesses.
Losses: Costly experiments in hardware and some moonshot projects without clear payoff.
Philosophy: 10x, not 10% — aim for radical improvement, not incremental gains.
Common holdings: Alphabet, Tesla, aviation and autonomous-vehicle projects.
Advice: You never lose a dream; it just incubates as a hobby.
75. Michael Bloomberg
Known for: Founder of Bloomberg LP; former mayor of New York City.
Early life & start: Fired from Salomon Brothers; used severance to create Bloomberg terminals.
Gains: Built a global financial data empire; amassed a multibillion-dollar fortune.
Losses: Expensive political campaigns that didn’t result in office, but increased influence.
Philosophy: Data, transparency, and constant innovation in information delivery.
Common holdings: Bloomberg LP, diversified index funds, philanthropy vehicles.
Advice: The more you talk about doing something, the less likely you are to actually do it.
76. Jack Ma
Known for: Founder of Alibaba Group and Ant Group.
Early life & start: English teacher who discovered the internet and built Alibaba from his apartment.
Gains: Turned Alibaba into one of the world’s largest e-commerce and cloud companies.
Losses: Regulatory crackdown in China forced Ant’s IPO to be halted and reduced his influence.
Philosophy: Persistence, customer focus, and empowerment of small businesses.
Common holdings: Alibaba, Ant Group, related tech platforms.
Advice: Never give up — today is hard, tomorrow is worse, but the day after tomorrow is sunshine.
77. Masayoshi Son
Known for: Founder and CEO of SoftBank; architect of the Vision Fund.
Early life & start: Immigrant family background; built SoftBank from a small software distributor into a global conglomerate.
Gains: Early investment in Alibaba became one of the greatest VC wins ever.
Losses: Huge losses in WeWork and other Vision Fund portfolio companies during tech downturns.
Philosophy: Massive, visionary bets on paradigm-shifting technologies.
Common holdings: Alibaba, ARM, multiple ride-sharing and delivery platforms.
Advice: To change the world, you must be willing to look crazy.
78. Yuri Milner
Known for: Founder of DST Global; early investor in Facebook and other internet giants.
Early life & start: Physicist-turned-investor; built a global internet-focused fund.
Gains: Major wins from early investments in Facebook, Alibaba, Twitter, and others.
Losses: Geopolitical and regulatory risks complicated perceptions of his work after 2022.
Philosophy: Back global consumer internet platforms with strong network effects.
Common holdings: Facebook, Alibaba, Spotify, Airbnb, ByteDance.
Advice: Technology crosses borders faster than politics ever can.
79. Robert F. Smith
Known for: Founder of Vista Equity Partners; leading software-focused private equity investor.
Early life & start: Chemical engineer; moved into tech investment banking and then PE.
Gains: Built Vista into a firm managing over $100B, focused on enterprise software.
Losses: Faced tax and legal issues, resolved with settlements; reputational impact but continued success.
Philosophy: Buy, improve, and scale mission-critical software companies with rigorous process.
Common holdings: Ping Identity, Marketo, Datto, many vertical software leaders.
Advice: Take responsibility for both profit and progress in the communities you touch.
80. Stephen Schwarzman
Known for: Co-founder and CEO of Blackstone Group.
Early life & start: Worked at Lehman Brothers before launching Blackstone in 1985.
Gains: Built Blackstone into the world’s largest alternative asset manager with over $1T in AUM.
Losses: Some deals struggled, but diversification and scale mitigated damage.
Philosophy: Patient, institutional capital focused on real assets, private equity, and credit.
Common holdings: Real estate, infrastructure, private companies via Blackstone funds.
Advice: Persistence and resilience matter more than any single deal.
81. Henry Kravis
Known for: Co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR); early architect of leveraged buyouts.
Early life & start: Started in investment banking at Bear Stearns; co-founded KKR in 1976.
Gains: Led some of the largest buyouts in history, including RJR Nabisco.
Losses: Faced backlash and risk in highly leveraged deals, especially during downturns.
Philosophy: Use leverage and operational improvement to unlock value in mature companies.
Common holdings: Industrial, retail, and infrastructure businesses via KKR funds.
Advice: You only learn who’s swimming naked when the tide goes out.
82. George Roberts
Known for: Co-founder of KKR; cousin and partner of Henry Kravis.
Early life & start: Also from Bear Stearns; helped develop modern private equity structures.
Gains: Long-term wealth creation via transformative LBOs and global expansion of KKR.
Losses: Some deals overleveraged; reputational critiques of “corporate raiding.”
Philosophy: Long-term ownership with an operational and financial engineering toolkit.
Common holdings: KKR portfolio firms across sectors and regions.
Advice: Partnerships and trust are the backbone of big, complex deals.
83. David Rubenstein
Known for: Co-founder of The Carlyle Group; global private equity leader and interviewer of business icons.
Early life & start: Lawyer and White House aide under President Carter; shifted into finance after politics.
Gains: Built Carlyle into a massive global investment firm across defense, aerospace, and more.
Losses: Some high-profile deals drew criticism; performance varied by fund and cycle.
Philosophy: Long-horizon investing in strategic sectors, with policy and macro awareness.
Common holdings: Aerospace, defense, energy, infrastructure via Carlyle funds.
Advice: True wealth comes from creating value for others, not just yourself.
84. Marc Rowan
Known for: Co-founder and CEO of Apollo Global Management.
Early life & start: Protégé of Leon Black; specialized in complex credit and insurance structures.
Gains: Helped build Apollo into a $600B+ asset manager focused on credit and alternatives.
Losses: Reputation risk during Apollo leadership transitions; some distressed deals underperformed.
Philosophy: Use complexity and distress as edges in credit and insurance investing.
Common holdings: Athene, Caesars, credit and insurance-related assets.
Advice: Crises create the best opportunities for those who prepared beforehand.
85. Jim Breyer
Known for: Partner at Accel Partners; early investor in Facebook.
Early life & start: Harvard MBA; joined Accel in 1987 and focused on software and consumer internet.
Gains: Turned a $12.7M investment in Facebook into over $5B.
Losses: Some cross-border bets, especially in China, faced challenges.
Philosophy: Bridge Silicon Valley with global innovation ecosystems.
Common holdings: Facebook, Etsy, Spotify, Marvel and other media/tech firms.
Advice: Seek companies that change how people interact and communicate.
86. Bill Gurley
Known for: General partner at Benchmark; early backer of Uber and Grubhub.
Early life & start: Former Wall Street analyst; joined Benchmark in 1999.
Gains: Major wins in Uber, Grubhub, Zillow, and other network/marketplace businesses.
Losses: Missed some AI waves; some portfolio companies struggled after IPO.
Philosophy: Back outlier founders solving real user problems at scale.
Common holdings: Uber, Zillow, Nextdoor, various marketplace platforms.
Advice: Great entrepreneurs are stubborn on vision but flexible on execution.
87. John Doerr
Known for: Partner at Kleiner Perkins; early investor in Google, Amazon, and Netscape.
Early life & start: Engineer at Intel; joined Kleiner Perkins in 1980 and focused on high-growth tech.
Gains: Massive returns from backing Google and Amazon early.
Losses: Some Web 2.0 and green tech bets struggled or failed.
Philosophy: Mission-driven capital: invest where innovation and purpose meet.
Common holdings: Google, Amazon, Sun Microsystems, cleantech ventures.
Advice: Ideas are easy; execution is everything.
88. Roelof Botha
Known for: Partner at Sequoia Capital; former CFO of PayPal.
Early life & start: Grandson of a South African prime minister; joined PayPal, then Sequoia.
Gains: Backed YouTube, Instagram, Square, Unity, WhatsApp and more.
Losses: Some consumer and fintech bets did not scale, but the winners overshadowed them.
Philosophy: Partner early with exceptional founders and help them navigate inflection points.
Common holdings: Square, Unity, Stripe, high-scale consumer and fintech apps.
Advice: You win by aligning with exceptional people as early as possible.
89. Chris Dixon
Known for: General partner at Andreessen Horowitz; leads its crypto/Web3 fund.
Early life & start: Built and sold two startups; joined a16z to focus on frontier technologies.
Gains: Early investor in Coinbase, OpenSea, and key Web3 infrastructure projects.
Losses: Crypto winter and regulatory uncertainty hit valuations and sentiment.
Philosophy: Decentralization, open protocols, and permissionless innovation.
Common holdings: Coinbase, OpenSea, Uniswap, on-chain infra startups.
Advice: What the smartest people do as a hobby today will be what everyone does for a living tomorrow.
90. Howard Schultz
Known for: Longtime CEO and chairman of Starbucks.
Early life & start: Grew up in public housing; bought a small Seattle coffee chain and turned it into a global brand.
Gains: Built Starbucks into a multi-billion-dollar company and lifestyle icon.
Losses: Overexpansion and political ventures sometimes hurt the brand.
Philosophy: Invest in people, culture, and experience as much as in product.
Common holdings: Starbucks, various consumer and hospitality ventures.
Advice: Success is best when it’s shared.
91. Richard Branson
Known for: Founder of Virgin Group; entrepreneur across airlines, music, telecom, and space.
Early life & start: Started a student magazine at 16, then Virgin Records in his early 20s.
Gains: Built a global brand with hundreds of companies under the Virgin umbrella.
Losses: Multiple failed ventures such as Virgin Cola and Virgin Brides.
Philosophy: Adventure, risk-taking, and brand-driven disruption.
Common holdings: Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Media, various ventures.
Advice: Business opportunities are like buses — there’s always another one coming.
92. Oprah Winfrey
Known for: Media icon, producer, and investor; built a multi-billion-dollar empire from broadcasting.
Early life & start: Overcame poverty and trauma; rose to fame through TV and built Harpo Productions.
Gains: Created OWN Network; made successful investments and partnerships (e.g., Weight Watchers).
Losses: Some media ventures and cable networks struggled before stabilizing.
Philosophy: Purpose, authenticity, and emotional connection with audiences.
Common holdings: OWN, partnerships with Apple and Weight Watchers, media and wellness brands.
Advice: The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.
93. Mark Cuban
Known for: Entrepreneur, investor, and former majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks; “Shark Tank” star.
Early life & start: Built and sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! for $5.7B.
Gains: Active angel investor in tech, sports, and health; built a large, diversified fortune.
Losses: Many startup bets failed; some tech and media ventures didn’t scale.
Philosophy: Hustle, realism, and relentless learning about new industries.
Common holdings: Cost Plus Drugs, sports tech, AI and health startups.
Advice: Work like someone is trying to take everything from you — because they are.
94. Ashton Kutcher
Known for: Actor turned successful venture/angel investor; co-founded A-Grade Investments and Sound Ventures.
Early life & start: Used his Hollywood success to gain access to Silicon Valley and tech founders.
Gains: Early stakes in Airbnb, Uber, Spotify, and other major consumer apps.
Losses: Several entertainment and app startups failed or were acquired cheaply.
Philosophy: Bet on strong teams and products he personally understands and uses.
Common holdings: Airbnb, Uber, Spotify, Robinhood, consumer internet startups.
Advice: Surround yourself with people smarter than you, then actually listen to them.
95. Paul Buchheit
Known for: Creator of Gmail; early Google engineer; prolific angel investor.
Early life & start: Helped design Gmail and AdSense prototype at Google before becoming an investor.
Gains: Early investor in Dropbox, Reddit, Stripe, and many YC startups.
Losses: Many seed-stage bets naturally failed — part of the angel portfolio math.
Philosophy: Support builders and product-focused founders at very early stages.
Common holdings: Dropbox, Reddit, Stripe, numerous YC alumni.
Advice: Don’t fear change — fear staying the same while the world moves on.
96. Naval Ravikant
Known for: Founder of AngelList; early investor in Uber, Twitter, and Notion; internet philosopher on wealth and freedom.
Early life & start: Built startups before creating AngelList to democratize startup investing.
Gains: Early stakes in multiple unicorns and a large personal brand around “how to get rich without getting lucky.”
Losses: Many small angel checks went to zero; he views them as part of the process.
Philosophy: Leverage code, media, and capital to gain freedom; seek wealth, not status.
Common holdings: AngelList, Uber, Notion, various early-stage tech companies.
Advice: Learn to build, learn to sell — if you can do both, you will be unstoppable.
97. Ron Conway
Known for: Founder of SV Angel; early investor in Google, Facebook, and hundreds of startups.
Early life & start: Began angel investing in the 1990s; built a vast Silicon Valley network.
Gains: Massive wins from early bets on Google, Facebook, Airbnb, and more.
Losses: High failure rate at the seed stage, offset by a few spectacular winners.
Philosophy: Back great founders early and support them through introductions and advice.
Common holdings: Google, Facebook, Airbnb, Twitter, numerous seed-stage startups.
Advice: Relationships are the most valuable currency in startup investing.
98. Peter Mallouk
Known for: CEO of Creative Planning; leading U.S. financial advisor and author.
Early life & start: Built Creative Planning into a nationwide RIA serving tens of thousands of clients.
Gains: Grew client assets through diversified, low-cost, goal-focused portfolios.
Losses: Minor relative to scale; emphasizes risk management and planning.
Philosophy: Simplicity, diversification, and aligning investments with client goals.
Common holdings: Broad index funds, blue-chip stocks, ETFs, and planning-oriented portfolios.
Advice: Investing success is 90% behavior and 10% strategy.
99. Ric Edelman
Known for: Founder of Edelman Financial Engines; popular radio host and author on personal finance.
Early life & start: Former journalist who shifted to financial planning and built one of the largest advisory firms.
Gains: Helped millions learn about investing, retirement, and long-term planning.
Losses: Emphasizes steady planning over speculation, so blowups are rare.
Philosophy: Long-term, diversified, goal-based investing for ordinary people.
Common holdings: Index funds, ETFs, diversified retirement plans.
Advice: The best strategy is the one you can stick with through thick and thin.
100. YebboFinance
Known for: A division of Yebbo Communication Network, dedicated to democratizing financial knowledge and cross-border market awareness.
Early life & start: Born from a mission to serve diaspora communities and emerging investors with information, translation, and digital tools.
Gains: Compiled the stories and lessons of 100 legendary investors and identified 10 globally significant “Mega-10” stocks they converge on.
Losses: Like all educational projects, faces the challenge that information without action doesn’t compound.
Philosophy: Knowledge is compound interest for the mind — empower people first, capital will follow.
Common focus: Financial literacy, investor education, AI-assisted research, and global market awareness.
Advice: Use this encyclopedia not as a tip sheet, but as a map: study the principles, respect the risks, and always invest with care and caution.
What the 100 Greatest Investors Agree On
Across centuries, asset classes, and continents, these 100 investors echo the same core truths: start small but think long, respect risk, learn from losses, avoid what you don’t understand, and keep improving your mind. Technology, globalization, and capital markets have changed — but human psychology has not.
The mega-cap leaders that so many of them hold in common — Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, Meta, Tesla, NVIDIA, Alibaba, and Airbnb — are today’s expression of an old idea: own exceptional businesses that can compound value over long periods of time.
YebboFinance presents this encyclopedia as a study guide, not as a stock tip sheet. Use it to sharpen your judgment, question your assumptions, and design an approach to money that fits your values, timeline, and temperament.
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