Warren Buffett

The benchmark. For six decades Buffett wrote Berkshire Hathaway's letter himself, in plain English, as if to his sisters, explaining how insurance float funds the company and why he valued businesses as he did. The candour is what sets them apart: he called the Dexter Shoe purchase his worst deal and owned up to overpaying for Kraft Heinz. Start with any letter from the 1980s or the 2014 fiftieth-anniversary edition. He handed over the chief executive role, and the letter, at the start of 2026.