Benjamin Graham (/ɡræm/; né Grossbaum; May 9, 1894 – September 21, 1976)[1][2] was a British-born American financial analyst, economist, accountant, investor and professor.

He is widely known as the "father of value investing",[3] and wrote two of the discipline's founding texts: Security Analysis (1934) with David Dodd, and The Intelligent Investor (1949).

His investment philosophy stressed independent thinking, emotional detachment, and careful security analysis, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing the price of a stock from the value of its underlying business.

After graduating from Columbia University at age 20, Graham started his career on Wall Street, eventually founding Graham–Newman Corp., a successful mutual fund.

[10] Graham excelled as a student, graduating as salutatorian of his class at Columbia, finishing his studies in three-and-a-half years after entering at age 16.

[11] Graham chose instead to help support his widowed mother by taking a job on Wall Street, where he later ran private partnerships and, starting in 1936, the Graham-Newman fund.

Later, Graham patented two innovative hand-held calculators, wrote a Broadway play called "Baby Pompadour," [14] and taught himself Spanish so he could translate a major Uruguayan novel, Mario Benedetti’s The Truce, into English.

So the defensive investor seldom trades, renouncing the attempt to forecast market behavior and security prices, instead holding for the long term.

By that he meant that investing, like running a business, is a systematic effort to maximize the likelihood of earning a reasonable return and to minimize the probability of suffering a severe loss.

"[23] Graham's favorite metaphor is that of Mr. Market, a fellow who turns up every day at the investor's door offering to buy or sell his shares at a different price.

[24] Graham was critical of the corporations of his day for obfuscated and irregular financial reporting that made it difficult for investors to discern the true state of the business's finances.

He also criticized those who advised that some types of stocks were a good buy at any price, because of the prospect of potentially unlimited earnings growth, without a thorough analysis of the business's actual financial condition.

[35] While many value investors have been influenced by Graham, his most notable investing disciples include Charles Brandes, William J. Ruane, Irving Kahn, and Walter J. Schloss.

In addition, Graham's thoughts on investing have influenced hedge-fund managers Bill Ackman, Seth Klarman, Whitney Tilson, and Nancy Zimmerman.

[40] Graham regarded this currency theory as his most important professional work; it gained renewed attention decades after his death in the aftermath of the 2007–2008 financial crisis.