Benjamin Graham, 1894-1976

Benjamin Graham is widely acknowledged as the father of modern security analysis. He grew up in New York City and graduated from Columbia University. When he graduated, he was offered teaching positions in English, mathematics and philosophy. But as fate would have it, he started his career on Wall Street working for Newburger, Henderson and Loeb as a runner delivering checks and securities. His talent was soon recognized and within a few months he was writing one of its daily market letters. Mr. Graham soon became one of Wall Street’s most successful investors and later co-founded Graham-Newman, investment advisors.

His reputation as the father of value investing can be dated from 1928 when he started teaching Advanced Security Analysis at his old college. He had been thinking of writing a book, and he reasoned that the best way to accomplish his goal was to prepare and teach the material in a classroom setting.

The notes from the course were transcribed by David Dodd and formed the basis of the investment classic Security Analysis which was published in 1934. His timeless Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor are still considered the “bibles” for both individual investors and Wall Street professionals.

Graham’s classes were often attended by financial analysts who freely acted on the tips given by Graham. In fact, many admitted that his courses were so profitable that they attended them over consecutive years. Graham influenced subsequent investment gurus Warren Buffett, Mario Gabelli, John Neff, Michael Price and John Bogle. His classes and the Graham and Dodd book were the foundation of a whole new approach to the investment industry based on principles that appealed to common sense but were at the same time exceedingly effective. “Understand the difference between price and value” and “always allow for a margin of safety” are two examples