Warren Buffett's Top Book Recommendations

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

In 1991, Bill Gates asked Buffett for his favorite book. In reply, Buffett sent the Microsoft founder his personal copy of Business Adventures, a collection of New Yorker stories by John Brooks. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Brooks’s work is a great reminder that the rules for running a strong business and creating value haven’t changed. For one thing, there’s an essential human factor in every business endeavor. It doesn’t matter if you have a perfect product, production plan, and marketing pitch; you’ll still need the right people to lead and implement those plans. [source]

Michael Dell

CEO/Dell Computers

In this 1960s classic, Brooks, a longtime New Yorker contributor, tells the stories of 12 notable companies and how they navigated the trials and tribulations of corporate life in America back in the day. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

In his 2012 shareholder letter, Buffett praises The Outsiders as "an outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation." Berkshire Hathaway plays a major role in the book. One chapter is on director Tom Murphy, who Buffett says is "overall the best business manager I've ever met." [source]

Michael Dell

CEO/Dell Computers

Thorndike explores the importance of thoughtful capital allocation through the stories of eight successful CEOs. A good read for any business leader but especially those willing to chart their own course [source]

Austen Allred

This is the best book on being a CEO I’ve ever read https://t.co/snoEVOqJGk https://t.co/GUsZNlnlpn [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

I think this is one of the best books I've ever read. [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

In her book, Melinda tells the stories of the inspiring people she’s met through her work all over the world, digs into the data, and powerfully illustrates issues that need our attention―from child marriage to gender inequity in the workplace. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

I would say this even if I weren’t married to the author: The Moment of Lift is a terrific read. Melinda opens up about her personal journey from private citizen to public advocate. You see how she pushed our foundation to focus more on women’s empowerment. She shares insights about our marriage, the path we took to become equals in our work, and how she has helped me grow as a father and husband. But to me, what is really impressive about the book is the way Melinda combines her mastery of data with her ability to tell powerful stories about individual women she has met. In an especially memorable passage about how she handles seeing people in desperate circumstances, she writes: “All of us have to let our hearts break; it’s the price of being present to someone who is suffering.” Your heart will break more than once when you read this book. But more often, you will be enlightened and inspired. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

The best book I read last year. Phil is... a gifted storyteller. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

This memoir, by the co-founder of Nike, is a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like: messy, precarious, and riddled with mistakes. I’ve met Knight a few times over the years. He’s super nice, but he’s also quiet and difficult to get to know. Here Knight opens up in a way few CEOs are willing to do. I don’t think Knight sets out to teach the reader anything. Instead, he accomplishes something better. He tells his story as honestly as he can. It’s an amazing tale. [source]

Andre Agassi

Founder/ College Preparatory Academy

I've known Phil Knight since I was a kid, but I didn't really know him until I opened this beautiful, startling, intimate book. And the same goes for Nike. I've worn the gear with pride, but I didn't realize the remarkable saga of innovation and survival and triumph that stood behind every swoosh. Candid, funny, suspenseful, literary - this is a memoir for people who love sport, but above all it's a memoir for people who love memoirs. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

Buffett says that the former secretary of the U.S. Treasury's book about the financial crisis is a must-read for any manager. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

The central irony of Stress Test is that a guy who was accused of being a lousy communicator as U.S. Treasury Secretary has penned a book that is such a good read. Geithner paints a compelling human portrait of what it was like to be fighting a global financial meltdown while at the same time fighting critics inside and outside the Administration as well as his own severe guilt over his near-total absence from his family. The politics of fighting financial crises will always be ugly. But it helps if the public knows a little more about the subject—what’s at stake, what the options are, what has worked in similar situations—so that the loud talkers resonate a bit less and the knowledgeable ones a bit more. If Stress Test continues to attract lay readers, it could make at least a modest difference the next time around. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

To invest successfully over a lifetime does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information. What's needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. This book precisely and clearly prescribes the proper framework. You must provide the emotional discipline. [source]

Kevin Rose

Co-founder/Digg

The foundation for investing. A lot of people have used this as their guide to getting into investment, basic strategies. Actually Warren Buffett cites this as the book that got him into investing and he says that principles he learned here helped him to become a great investor. Highly recommend this book. It’s a great way understand what’s going on and how to evaluate different companies out there before you make an investment. [source]

DJ Vlad

The single biggest influence on how I buy and sell stocks. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

From 1733 to 1758, Ben Franklin dispensed useful and timeless advice through Poor Richard's Almanack. Among the virtues extolled were thrift, duty, hard work, and simplicity. Subsequently, two centuries went by during which Ben's thoughts on these subjects were regarded as the last word. Then Charlie Munger stepped forth. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Daniel Ek

I’ve been enjoying Charlie Munger’s speeches online for years; this is the ultimate collection of the best of them. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

In his 2014 shareholder letter, Buffett recommended reading this book over listening to the advice of most financial advisers. [source]

Kaya Thomas

@MegBartelt You’re welcome! Thanks for writing great content. You mentioned John Bogle which book do you recommend I start with, “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing”? [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

This is that rarity, a useful book. [source]

Henry Medine

Whenever I am assessing an investment decision I refer to Howard Marks (Oaktree Capital Management) The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor. He lays out explicit techniques for reaching second level thinking and outlines particular questions any investor should ask themselves before making an investment decision. I paraphrased the lessons I found most useful and refer to them whenever I am looking at an investment opportunity. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

While investor Philip Fisher--who specialized in investing in innovative companies--didn't shape Buffett in quite the same way as Graham did, Buffett still holds him in the highest regard. [source]

DJ Vlad

The 3rd most important book in my path to educating myself about the stock market. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

The funniest book ever written about investing, proclaimed in his 2006 shareholder letter, it lightly delivers many truly important messages on the subject. [source]

Jason Zweig

Even now, some 70 years later, this is still the funniest book ever written about Wall Street. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

In his 2001 shareholder letter, Buffett gleefully endorses Jack: Straight from the Gut, a business memoir of longtime GE executive Jack Welch, whom Buffett describes as [source]

Annika Falkengren

I read Jack Welch’s book back in 2003 and it was at the time a great source of inspiration. There were a couple of things that got stuck in my mind and in some cases changed my mind: that there are no shortcuts, that facts always must be faced no matter how brutal and that losing or failing had a value as long as your learn from them. His thoughts on how crucial the soft values are, inspired me a lot. It is really a genuine focus on people and mindset, or call it culture, that makes an organization excel in the long run. [source]

Tudor Mihailescu

In every industry, there would be many relevant books but nothing would replace being in touch with the customers and people in own organisation. It’s a vast of space to recommend books, but I would suggest that learning how proven entrepreneurs or managers have done this as a good start (read about Jake Welch – Straight from the Gut, Steve Jobs, Shoe Dog – Phil Knight or Elon Musk) – admittedly, some of them may set a very high bar. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

Reading Keynes will make you smarter about securities and markets, I'm not sure reading most economists would do the same. [source]

John Quiggin

Keynes was writing in 1930 or so, a time of deep depression, so it’s impressive he could have such an optimistic view of the potential for the future. [source]

Paul Krugman

This [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they’re the first thing I open and read. I always learn something, and that goes double for his book. [source]

Charlie Munger

Vice Chairman/Berkshire Hathaway

I always say, ‘There’s no better teacher than history in determining the future.’ Howard’s book tells us how to learn from history . . . and thus get a better idea of what the future holds. [source]

Ray Dalio

Founder/Bridgewater Associates

Howard Marks’s Mastering the Market Cycle is a must-read, because the cycles covered in this book are important and because Howard is one of the investing greats of his generation. [source]