The Best Books on Warren Buffett

For a man who turned 93 in August 2023, Warren Buffett still gets around. Drop by the financial section of any bookstore, and you are likely to see his face at least once and his name several more times. Buffett has never written a book of his own, but he has shared his thoughts for decades in interviews and his famous Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) shareholder letters. These books draw on that material and other sources to probe the secrets of the legendary investor's success and how the rest of us might hope to learn from them.

1. "The Warren Buffett Way," by Robert G. Hagstrom

If you're mostly looking for investing lessons drawn from the impressive record Buffett has compiled over the years, Hagstrom's book may be all you need. "The Warren Buffett Way," now in a third edition released in 2013, lays out the principles Buffett follows in investing and walks the reader through them with case studies from Buffett's own investment portfolio.

These include well-known rules like buying businesses you understand and ignoring Mr. Market (an imaginary, emotional investor devised by Benjamin Graham, Buffett's mentor), along with many others. It is a great book for investors just starting out, and it continues to be a good read even when you think you know what you're doing.

2. "The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America," by Warren Buffett and Lawrence Cunningham

While Buffett has never written a book himself, his decades of shareholder letters add up to the equivalent of several books—though, if read back-to-back, they suffer for the lack of an editor. Lawrence Cunningham solved that issue, going through the letters and organizing Buffett's thoughts around topics.

Cunningham imposed something of an editorial voice—possibly a necessary step to tie everything together—but the content is Buffett's, and so is the investing philosophy. Now in an eighth edition, released in 2023, "The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America" takes on a larger scope than "The Warren Buffett Way" and isn't solely aimed at the individual investor, although you will still learn a lot about investing.

3. "The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets From the Berkshire Hathaway Managers," by Robert P. Miles

"The Warren Buffett CEO," from 2003, is less about Buffett as an investor and more about him as a leader and manager. The book describes how Buffett selects the CEOs for Berkshire's many subsidiaries and how he oversees them. It tells that story through the Berkshire executives themselves. 

"The Warren Buffett CEO" isn't an investment manual, but you will learn a lot about great companies and great management, two things every investor needs to keep in mind—not to mention aspiring managers and business professionals. More important, the book shows a side of Warren Buffett that is often overshadowed by his portfolio performance. Buffett is a great manager and a great investor.

4. "Dear Mr. Buffett: What an Investor Learns 1,269 Miles from Wall Street," by Janet Tavakoli

This is a Buffett book that really isn't about Buffett, although he is one of the main characters. Janet Tavakoli is a structured finance expert whose previous books focus on collateralized debt obligations (CDO). She met with Buffett and, following the financial mess of 2009, started to put greater value on Buffett's philosophy and his value investing methods.

This book can help you see Buffett differently, through someone else's eyes. It is a pure pleasure read, though some of the insights will be unsettling for investors, particularly the systematic abuses that triggered the subprime mortgage meltdown, which in turn led to the onset of the Great Recession.

5. "Buffett: Making of an American Capitalist," by Roger Lowenstein

If you've read through the Buffett canon and still feel you haven't absorbed enough, Buffett biographies provide insightful looks at the life and times of the Oracle of Omaha. "Buffett, Making of an American Capitalist" was first published in 1995, though a more recent audiobook version features some revisions and updates by author Lowenstein, a veteran reporter at The Wall Street Journal.

6. "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," by Alice Schroeder

"The Snowball," Schroeder's massive book (over 900 pages), was first published in 2008 and written with Buffett's cooperation.

Neither this biography nor "Buffett: Making of an American Capitalist" may add much to your knowledge of Buffett's investment strategies (other than to emphasize that his approach evolved over time), but both do have a lot to offer about the man himself, his life, and his experiences.

The Bottom Line

None of these books may be as satisfying—and financially rewarding—as owning Berkshire Hathaway stock, Class A shares of which were recently selling at over $546,000 apiece in September 2023. But there's a lot of wisdom and enjoyment to be found in their pages all the same. Any of them could make a great gift for the aspiring investor in your life or a valuable addition to your own library of investment-related titles.