Benjamin Graham Net Worth

Last Updated on January 15, 2024 by Ben

Naturally, many investors are interested in Benjamin Graham’s wealth. We’ll look into his net worth and how it was generated in this piece.

American economist and seasoned investor Benjamin Graham. He was born on May 8, 1894, in London, England, and died in New York City, USA, on September 21, 1976.

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Graham is widely considered the founding father of value investing, and his ideas still influence investors today. The famous work “The Intelligent Investor,” regarded as one of the most influential books on investing ever written, is one of the many works he has produced.

Graham’s theories have influenced many investors’ approaches to the stock market, and his legacy is still honored by investors worldwide.

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What is Benjamin Graham’s Net Worth?

At the time of his death, Benjamin Graham’s net worth was thought to have been over $50.2 million. Our projection was based on the idea that Graham made money as an investor for 30 years.

Benjamin Graham Biography

On May 9, 1894, Benjamin Graham was born in London, England. He immigrated to the country with his family at the age of one and eventually made New York his permanent home. Graham’s father went away when he was nine years old, which is unfortunate.

Despite Graham’s mother’s struggles raising three young children, he eventually received a scholarship to Columbia University. There he received the class salutatorian award in 1914 after graduating. He received a job offer from Columbia University to remain there as a math, Greek, or English professor.

However, Benjamin Graham had other ideas and decided to work on Wall Street. As a bored boy, he began his employment with the brokerage firm Newburger, Henderson, and Loeb. Working on Wall Street as a recent college graduate was unusual back then.

Despite his lowly beginnings as a broker, his intelligence shone through, and by 1920, he had advanced to the position of partner and was earning $50,000 annually. The equal amount in 2022 dollars is $744,277.

Graham established his brokerage firm with Jerome Newman, another Wall Street dealer, in 1926. They used a method that was thought to be novel at the time, and they were Purchasing shares of one business while concurrently offloading shares in another.

North Pipeline Incident

Over 10 years, the method gave investors a return of 670 percent. Graham discovered another finding that year. In 1911, Standard Oil was divided into 34 distinct corporations. The Interstate Commerce Commission mandated the submission of financial statements by all pipelines in 1926.

Graham discovered that the company possessed railroad bonds worth $95 even though its shares were trading for $65. He requested that the board give the extra money to the company’s stockholders. He won the support of other shareholders’ proxy votes when the board rejected him.

The board was forced to pay the Rockefellers, whom he had also contacted, $70 per share in surplus liquid assets at the next meeting using his proxy votes and their votes. Unknowingly, Graham had made a name for himself as a successful shareholder activist and astute analyst.

When Graham left his job as an investor in 1956, he relocated to California. He began lecturing at the Anderson School of Management in New Mexico and the University of California, Los Angeles.

In addition to being a prolific writer, Benjamin Graham published several works on investing and monetary policy. Security Analysis and Intelligent Investor are two of his best-known works.

How Did Benjamin Graham Build His Wealth?

Graham amassed his money by combining his vocation as a writer and teacher with his successful investing. He was a successful investor in his own right, and he was able to produce impressive returns for both his clients and himself through the use of investment strategies that centered on locating cheap securities.

Through his writing and instruction, Graham also made substantial contributions to the world of investing. He published several investment books that are still read and relevant today. He also spoke at the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University, where he impacted a new generation of investors, including Warren Buffett.

Graham had a successful career as a financial analyst and money manager in addition to investing and writing. He was a founding partner of the financial company Graham-Newman Corporation, which managed funds for several well-known clients.

Overall, Benjamin Graham amassed his wealth through his profession as a financial analyst and money manager, as well as his writing and teaching.

How is Benjamin Graham’s Net Worth Calculated?

Benjamin Graham’s interests are not disclosed in the public domain, nor are there any accounts of the amount of fortune he may have amassed. Therefore, we calculated Benjamin Graham’s income in 1926 using a commonly used figure.

Graham probably made even more than his $50,000 salary that year with his bonus and personal investments. We rounded the amount and developed an income trajectory that increased until 1956 when he retired. The amount probably accumulated by 1956 was then adjusted into a value in dollars for 2022.

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Benjamin Graham’s Investment Style

Finding company stocks underpriced about their book value was a core principle of Benjamin Graham’s investing philosophy. He used this standard throughout his career as an investor and is regarded as the inventor of the investment approach known as value investing.

Graham held that a security’s market price frequently differed from its intrinsic value and that long-term investors may make significant returns by buying securities selling below their actual value.

Graham used several methods to determine whether a company was underpriced on the stock market. The Net-Net analysis was among his most well-known works, and this ratio examines a company’s net current asset value (NCAV) per share.

When calculating net-net, total current assets and cash equivalents are subtracted from total liabilities, and the result is divided by the number of outstanding shares. Graham would consider investing in that company when the stock price was no higher than 67 percent of the NCAV.

He also had a long-term investing strategy, distinguishing him from speculating. He developed a diversified portfolio since he was confident that risk should be distributed across several businesses and industries.

Benjamin Graham’s View on Alternative Investments

Although they should be used cautiously, Graham thought unconventional investments might play a significant role in a well-rounded portfolio.

One of Graham’s core ideas was that investors should consider its intrinsic value rather than focusing on an asset’s market price. This entails considering the asset’s underlying fundamentals rather than just depending on market movements or speculation, such as its ability to generate income or the caliber of its management.

This technique can be beneficial when analyzing alternative investments, which are frequently less liquid and transparent than conventional stocks and bonds. Graham also stressed the value of diversification in investment portfolios, which also holds for alternative investment forms.

For instance, it can be smarter to spread your investment across several properties in various places rather than investing all your money in one piece of real estate. Doing so may lower your overall risk and ensure that no one investment in your portfolio dominates it.

The concept of margin of safety was crucial to Graham’s approach to alternative investments. This refers to the concept of purchasing an asset for a sum that is considerably less than its actual value. To protect against probable losses, a cushion has been created.

Overall, the emphasis on intrinsic value, diversification, and margin of safety characterized Benjamin Graham’s views on alternative investments. These guidelines are still applicable today and may be helpful for those wishing to diversify their portfolios with alternative investments.

Who Else Invests Like Benjamin Graham?

Different investors have different investing philosophies. Check out some of the profiles listed below to compare other investors to Benjamin Graham:

  • Dr. Michael J. Burry
  • Jim Cramer
  • Bruce Flatt
  • Jane Fraser
  • Jonathan Gray
  • Abigail Johnson
  • Peter Lynch

Want to Invest Like Benjamin Graham?

It would help if you comprehended Benjamin Graham’s fundamental ideas to invest like him. Invest only in businesses that are undervalued and that have a promising future. Then diversify the firms and industries represented in your stock portfolio.

Graham thought that the typical investor should have at least 30 different equities to provide balance and protection, and he also thought that alternative assets were essential. When investing through a self-directed IRA, you can benefit from a tax-beneficial setting. You may read our evaluations of the top businesses on our list here.

Pros and Cons Benjamin Graham’s Net Worth

Pros

  • Known as the founder of modern investment
  • He contributed to developing value investing, which is practiced today.
  • Pioneered the use of quantitative metrics to evaluate equities and diversification as investment strategies

Cons

  • Some investors have attacked his strategies as being archaic.
  • Value investing is sometimes considered a more cautious strategy and only sometimes produces outperformance.

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Final Thought – Benjamin Graham Net Worth

Investors have appreciated and contested Benjamin Graham’s value-investing legacy for many years. Even if some think his approaches are outdated, his lessons on diversification, securities selection, and risk assessment have had a long-lasting effect on the investment world. Despite his detractors, many investors who believe in the effectiveness of long-term buy-and-hold strategies continue to favor his approaches.

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