In no particular order, as the investors shortlisted come from different schools of investment theory and it would be hard to say who is better without personal bias for investment style coming into play.
Warren Buffet: famous American stock market investor, one of the richest men in the world, known as the Oracle of Omaha.
Investment Style- Invests with the goal never to lose any money regardless of market conditions.
Looks for companies with good management and selling below intrinsic value. Avoids companies with excessive debt.
Benjamin Graham: mentor of Warren Buffet, regarded by many to be the father of value investing
Investment Style- Looks for companies trading below their intrinsic value. Goes for companies with strong sales, that pay out dividends and are in good financial shape.
Peter Lynch: former Fidelity Magellan Fund Manager and author, grew Fidelity Magellan Fund from 18 million in 1977 to 14 billion in 1990
Investment Style- Never had one specific investment style, changed strategies with changes in market. Believes in investing in what you know and to always be fully invested. Looks for these three qualities in a good company : profitability, price and a good business model.
John Templeton: Known for creating some of the world’s largest and most successful international investment funds
Investment Style: Searched for companies around the world that offered low prices and an excellent long-term outlook.
George Soros: founder of Soros Fund Management, known as “the man who broke the bank of England”
Investment Style: Short term speculator, has said that he made his buy and sell decisions based on his instincts.
Philip Fisher: One of the pioneers in the growth stock school of investing.
Investment Style: Invested in well-managed high quality growth companies, which he held for the long term. Had fifteen points he looked for in a common stock, some of which included good management, good long-term outlook and an above-average sales organization.
Carl Icahn: ranked 46th richest in the world by Forbes 2008, viewed as one of history’s most ruthless corporate raiders
Investment Style: Targets companies that are poorly run and whose stocks are trading below value. Accumulates enough to get an ownership position in the company and attempts to force changes to increase the value of his shares.
James D. Slater: Credited with inventing the price-earnings to growth-ratio(PEG), known as one of U. K’s most successful professional investor
Investment Style: Used the PEG ratio to find small growth companies that were undervalued by the market.
William H. Gross: Known as the “king of bonds” and the world’s leading bond fund manager
Investment Style: Believes that successful investment in the long run rests on two foundations: the ability to formulate and articulate a secular long term outlook and having the correct structural composition within one’s portfolio over time.
Thomas Rowe Price, Jr: Considered by many to be “the father of growth investing”.
Investment Style: Pioneered growth investing by focusing on well- managed companies whose earnings and dividends were expected to grow faster than inflation and the general economy.